Hope

In light of the Supreme Court decision, some hope. I was on both the IDR and PSLF programmes (you have to be on an income-driven plan before or at least while you're in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness programme]. I was on the IDR programmes for most of my adult life, being underemployed as I have always been [as I librarian I was always part-time and had to get 1-2 additional jobs to make ends meet, and my current job, while I love it, only requires a high school education and I have bachelor's and master's degrees, but the master's was in a field difficult to get a job in within my area, something I did not know when I took out the loans, and I had obligations to stay here.] I was able to get my loans forgiven under the expanded PLSF requirements during the pandemic due to my work in non-profits. I would urge you to see if you qualify for either of these plans or the Teacher Forgiveness one. IDR has fewer qualifications but takes decades. PSLF is back to normal in terms of qualifications, but they've taken a lot of steps to 'fix' it as an NPR article a few years ago exposed it as a sham at the time (people were paying for years without their payments being counted, for example, with very few loans forgiven--that has been rectified, and it's part of the reason the programme was temporarily expanded.} Anyway, even with the decision by the Court, there is hope.

3 ways federal student loan borrowers can have their debt forgiven—without the Supreme Court

Thank God

for the Kentucky Assembly, Governor Andy Beshear, and a desire to fall in line with federal guidelines regarding cigarette taxes, as of September 2022.

Student debt won't be taxed as income in Kentucky

Originally it would have been. 

In shock

March 31st is a recurring important day in my life. In 1992, it was the day I found out my divorce was final, freeing me from a very bad marriage. In 1997, I was laid off from a job I loved as a librarian after 20 years, which would be very sad except they asked me back in another capacity a few weeks later, and I still work there, someplace with a wonderful mission with people who feel like family. So it wasn't a sad ending, but a transition, although it felt sad at the time.

Fast forward to today, 2023. I just got a notice from MOHELA, the student loan servicer my account has been transferred to because I applied under the temporary limited waiver of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness programme that after applying credits for all necessary payments, I have fulfilled the programme's requirements and my loans have been forgiven. I thought it was a spam email, so I went to the website to verify. My balance is $0. All $220,667 was forgiven. My student loans have hung over my head since I was 17 years old. I struggled to make payments, and over the years my loans only grew with capitalised interest, bringing the amount owed up by almost $100,000. I was on income-contingent plans that never made a dent in the amount owed. Now, because of working for all that time in a qualified nonprofit and credits plus the required amount of payments, they're gone. I'm in shock. I thought I'd be paying till I was on Social Security or my death. I'm incredibly relieved. Now I just need to know if Kentucky follows the federal guidelines on taxes (in which case, no taxes will be due) or not (in which case I may be in a world of hurt next year come tax time). But I'm not going to worry about that right now. I'm going to be happy at the moment. This is probably the best birthday present in recent memory.

Wow

So I called my student loan servicer because I had received an e-mail saying my forbearance was ending, I was on an income-driven plan, and oh, by the way, your first payment is more than you make in an entire month. So I called and apparently, not in the e-mail, was the fact that they were waiting for a $5 payment to switch me over to a plan that is only $111.02 a month. Much different than over $1,800. Much different. Anyway, I get paid tonight so I set it up for tomorrow and it should reflect the new amount in 3-5 business days, then the new plan will start in about 45 days. Go me for being proactive. :)

I have an early appointment tomorrow

for my annual checkup with the podiatrist who did my ankle surgery a few years ago--he now follows me for my diabetes in terms of any foot issues. I just got home, and I paid my cell phone bill after getting into some comfy clothes. I'm off work tomorrow because I have the appointment, some cleaning to do, primarily in the bedroom, and then I'm meeting a friend who lives in Harrodsburg at the 127 junction with the Bluegrass Parkway and bringing her and one of her friends up to something we're doing tomorrow afternoon with friends. Then later we're going to go to Masala and eat. :) I've been saving what I can to make sure I can get some vegetable korma and some Peshawari naan. Yum.

I've been feeling a little oversensitive and stressed today, probably because it's my time of the month. I had a full schedule with work and then two appointments that were right after one another. I was late for mine, despite leaving at a reasonable time from work, hitting every red light I could. Then I waited about 10 minutes in line to be checked in. I was lucky to catch the doctor just before he left. Then I had to get across town to YKWIA's house, pick him up, and take him downtown for his appointment, which we managed to do, only being about 5 minutes late. I think I spent most of the time he was in there just calming down. Later, at his house, I helped A with something, and then fixed YKWIA some food and watched an episode of 'Lost Girl' with him. He sent me to the store for a few things, and then I came home. So it's been a productive, if stressful, day.

I really should make some bread tonight, but I think I'll wait on that. Tomorrow for lunch I can make pasta or macaroni and cheese, and then there's Indian food tomorrow night. So I'm set tomorrow. It's after that I'm worried about. The coming week before payday is going to be very difficult, but I'll make it. I sent in the income-based repayment plan application to my student loan servicer today, and that should help things. I'm hoping once my payments resume that I'll wind up with a payment date in the latter part of the month. Part of the problem I've been having is too much has been due at the same time as my rent, and I simply haven't had the money to spend. The IBR should bring my payment down from more than I make a month to something doable. I'm glad I was able to get some help from them; I really thought I was going to go into default.

Okay, I should go on to bed since tomorrow comes early.

PS I've been listening to that playlist some more at home and at work. I'm up to the S's, with 'Something to Sing About' by the cast of 'Buffy: the Vampire Slayer' from their musical episode, Once More, with Feeling, followed by 'Somewhere They Can't Find Me' by Simon & Garfunkel. :)

A pretty decent day--maybe things are starting to turn around for me

I worked very steadily today, both for the library and the revenue cycle, and in fact forgot to call about the air conditioning because I was busy. Oddly enough, it's sitting more than a degree cooler than it was this morning, after I've had it off all day. It's 78 degrees and just a bit stuffy, so I went into the bedroom and turned the fan on, and am typing this on the laptop. So that's not so bad.

My main goal tonight was to call my student loan servicer; I was scheduled to default as of tomorrow and right now I have slightly under $2 between both my bank accounts, so I couldn't make a payment. But I called anyway. A few months ago they'd told me there was nothing they could do. This time I was able to get a temporary forbearance so I could renew my income-driven status. So, yay. I'm going to try to get back on track. Also, the physical therapy office I went to audited my account and found an overpayment of $40, so they sent me a cheque. So yay again, I can get gas and something to eat. I am sooooooo tired of peanut butter sandwiches.

It looks like YKWIA and A don't really need me tonight, so I actually am at home early in the evening--and I'm not sleepy, my back isn't hurting, etc., etc. I am hungry. Part of me wants to go put the cheque in the ATM and get something cheap but satisfying like Taco Bell, but the other part of me says to eat the macaroni and cheese I have here and save the rest for tomorrow. I think I'll stick with the latter. Or I could make mini-farfalle and put some sauce on it. I'm good on pasta; there isn't much else in the house, except cheese and tortillas, a small bag of potatoes, and a little cereal and milk. Okay, I'll be back. Must go make something to eat.

Hmmm... baked potatoes with butter, salt, pepper, and cheese (but sadly, no sour cream). Still...I think that's the winner.

Not feeling the best tonight

A walk was out of the question today as I've been having a lot of pain in my knee. This has been going on since the beginning of May, and I think it's past time to have it looked at. Unfortunately, when I got home there were storms coming in, so no pool visit, either. So I watched the news for a bit and then propped my leg up on some pillows where it felt better for a good long while.

I'm hormonal, and while I was doing fine at work, interacting with my best friend, which is sometimes difficult (think dealing with Sheldon Cooper from 'Big Bang Theory' or PL Travers from Saving Mr Banks) was nigh on impossible. So I took him to an appointment and then dropped him off at home so I could go sit in the hut alone and away from folks and wait for my menstruation to begin, which it is just now starting to, so hopefully I will feel better soon. I'm not weepy or anything like that, just a little irritable and not thinking at my best.

I found out that my colleague at our hospital in Los Angeles had her position eliminated, leaving even fewer librarians in our system. Today I also found out that the job I'd applied for at the Lexington Public Library was filled. So that was disappointing, and I'm starting to feel more stressed over job security. I mean I have none, we know the library won't be going to the new building in a couple of years, but I'm afraid they'll make cuts before then, and the job hunt, while pretty active, is not going well. I've revised my résumé, which I'll update soon online, that is more concise, leaving the full list of things for more of a vita. But there's nothing in the area that I can drive to in a reasonable commute at the moment.

Tomorrow I have to:

1. Call my family doctor and make an appointment about my knee and also to get my refills renewed.
2. Call my dentist to see about adjusting the partials, which I haven't been wearing because I can't get them in.
3. Call my student loan administrator about recertifying my income contingent repayment and discuss some issues with them.
4. Call my optometrist and order new contacts.

All that in addition to a full day tomorrow at work. Then there's the season finale of 'The 100' to watch with YKWIA, assuming I'm up to company tomorrow night.

Okay, time for bed. Good night. Hopefully tomorrow will not be quite so depressing.

Hell has frozen over

I was in college for a very long time, way too long, really, mostly from a fear of the real world that turned out to be rather silly and a tendency to graduate during recessions, where going back to school seemed the only real option when I couldn't even find a job even in retail. I have a BA with three majors (History/Sociology/Classical Civilisation), one minor (Judaic Studies), and the Honours Programme (which is one of those 'Great Works' tracks), and a master's of science in Library Science. (I was one class short of a Linguistics major in undergraduate work. Phonological Analysis never worked into my schedule, all the time I was there. This has stuck in my craw for years. Then I gook a Government and Binding class (which so doesn't sound like linguistics, does it?) and nearly lost my mind, so I was okay with that.) It was the time working on a graduate degree in history that really racked up my loans, and sadly, I let a fear of oral defence keep me from getting that. Then there was being underemployed, part-time until fairly recently (and still part-time as a librarian), often working three jobs but never really getting anywhere. Even now, I am signed up on income-contingent for repayment because on the normal plan it would be more than half my take-home pay. Being a librarian doesn't pay that great. Being a part-time librarian makes it harder. But after years of deferments, forebearances, etc., etc., tonight I made my first voluntary (as in not garnished--that happened about several years ago for a month or so before I got it ironed out) payment to the US government for my student loans. I hit the 'submit' key and the world did not end. I guess that finally makes me an adult, taking responsibility for my past. Let the zombie apocalypse commence.

Now if I can just get a full-time job as a librarian before this one ends in 2015, I can keep paying on this, probably till I die. Moral of the story if you're contemplating college: get in and out quickly, don't be afraid of the real world, major in something that can get you a job, but round out with something you love, like the humanities as another major or minor so you learn to communicate in something other than tech- or business-speak. You can do that in four years. Really. And if you have to take a year off before school to 'find yourself', do it. That's what the Brits and Europeans often do, and it's considered normal. It's better than spending six years as and undergraduate and several majors before discovering you don't care for what you chose. It took having a rat chloroformed and dissected in front of me to get me off the science track (I'd been a biology and sociology major, thinking I'd go into oecology--that's why it took me five years to get my BA). If you go to graduate school, it's more costly, so get in, get out, get a mentor who will set goals and work with you to get you out. I loved my major professor, but our work methods were such that I was never encouraged to progress, and I needed that encouragement. I know one person who got a degree in Russian but towards the end of her major, she went to Russia and decided she hated the country, the people, the whole experience. But that's what she has her degree in, and then she worked as a graphic artist until the Great Recession, even though she really didn't have any background in that.

The point is, put some effort into finding what you want to do, what you'd love to do, but put in a good dose of reality, too, and do as much with grants and scholarships as you can. I actually got out of my undergraduate with a small loan burden because I had good scores in high school and got them. But if you can't, try to balance learning--which is the point of school--and marketability, taking as little loans as possible.

Sobering

As someone with a lot of debt way beyond what she'll ever be paid, I can sympathise:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

We now owe more in student loans as a country than we do on credit cards.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The report is on now, but of course I've missed the first 45 minutes. I hope they'll re-run it.