First Post? Student Loans.
Now, before you quit reading, I don't plan on this being a political post. It is simply my feelings - particularly about something that happened to me today.
Background Information: I graduated in 2010 from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. It was my dream school! I worked really hard to earn good grades and scholarships. My main reason for attending was a chance to sing in the world renowned St. Olaf Choir. I realize that I made a choice to attend a Private Liberal Arts College that cost me ~$40,000 a year (tuition, room & board, meals, etc) and that is a burden I am willing to bear, because I wouldn't trade my 4 years there for anything in the world.
What really ticks me off is that I am living paycheck to paycheck (like so many others) and while I struggled with keeping track of finances in college, I feel like I'm finally understanding how to budget and stick to it. And then today happened.
I went online to check whether I had a payment scheduled or not. The website did not show me a scheduled payment so I scheduled another one (which would be late) to save my butt. Much to my chagrin 2 payments were taken out of my checking account and my savings was used for overdraft protection. I called the company through which I make payments and explained the situation and politely asked if they could reverse the second charge. (Did I mention it took 5 minutes to get through all of the prompts and finally reach an operator?)
Operator: "I'm sorry but we can't authorize refunds. I can give you the phone number of the contact person at your school."
Me: "That would be great, thank you."
So I call my school and my contact person isn't there. Meanwhile I break down into hysterical tears. Calmed down and told my dad what happened and he offered to give me a check to cover the overdraft (since another payment is scheduled). Got the check before work, deposited it, and called the collection place again.
Me: "I know you can't give refunds but can you put my second payment towards October? My account showed that my next payment was still due in October."
New Operator: "According to our computer you owe $0 in October and your next payment isn't due until November."
Why didn't MY account say the same thing as hers? Are they trying to give me a heart attack?! I just want to be able to call ONE person and have them be able to help me in whatever capacity I need. Why do I need to make 3 or 4 phone calls to get MY money refunded because YOUR computer system messed up? It's ridiculous. No wonder my generation is stuck living at home even with higher education.
I'm not saying I have the answer, because I don't. But SOMEBODY out there does. And it's time it changed. Why do we as a nation have to make everything so damn complicated?
Advice to those who are starting college: Make a Budget and stick to it!!! Don't be dumb like I was and think that work study and loan disbursements are like a money tree - because they are not! I know it is exciting to be living away from mom & dad but PLEASE make good decisions. I don't want to see the next generation struggle because of shopping sprees. It isn't fun.
Trust me.
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