November and December are usually the months when most people´s grace periods on their student loans are coming to an end. As you begin to organize your finances once more, it is important to determine the best way to pay back your loans and how to do it making on-time monthly payments. Most loan providers offer the following options to make payments: automatic debit, pay online, pay by phone, and pay by check or money order.
It is important to remember that the loan is under your name and is now part of your financial history. This mean that your loan payments should be taken into consideration when creating a budget for your new monthly expenses, and should be just as important as your rent and grocery expenses. Most lenders have some sort of late fee policy in place and late payments will only reflect negatively on your credit score and increase the amount of your debt with the loan provider.
Although, providers offer options such as pay by phone and pay by check or money order, these are not the most convenient and are less likely to ensure a flawless on time payment. Mailing a payment always has its risks, because if for whatever reason it is not received by the recorded due date you will be held responsible and potentially be charged a late fee. The pay by phone option presents less risk, but it is a good idea to find out if it is an operated by an automated phone system or if you need to call between certain hours.
The most convenient and more reliable forms of payment, nowadays, are online payments or automatic debit payments. Which form is best really depends on your personal situation. It is possible that these loan payments will not be the only payments you will be making and if you have a bad memory enrolling for an automatic debit payment could save you from having unnecessary problems. An automatic debit payment, means that the lender has access to your checking or savings account which is automatically charged on a set date, every month. Although this seems to be the better choice, because the charges are automatically made every month you always have to be sure that you have enough funds in your account. Not having enough funds available could cause extra charges from your bank and/or your lender.
If you are a little bit concerned of the above mentioned, then online payments are another way to go. It is more direct than mailing in payment, yet allows you to have more control of when and where the payment is coming from every month.
For more information on how to make a repayment plan click here!
You need to pay back Tuition Fee Loans and Maintenance Loans, but not other student finance, for example grants and bursaries.