It’s back to school time, and lots of new freshman are getting a crash course in their Stafford college loan. I admit that I didn’t know squat about my student loans until I graduated and had Stafford loan counseling that taught me all about repayment and the consequences of missing a payment. I think colleges and loan companies should considering offering loan counseling before students sign on the bottom line, so they know exactly what they are getting in to and how valuable their education is. It might stop a lot of Thursday-Saturday party weekends if students knew how much their psychology 101 class is really costing them.

I signed up for Upromise with so much excitement that I told my dad and sister to sign up. Three weeks later, and my excitement has dwindled.

The deal is, you sign up, register your credit cards, shop their affiliate network, and you earn cash back that is applied to your Sallie Mae student loan balance quarterly. I use my credit card a great deal for work, so I figured I could at least earn enough for one payment every year.

I’ve used my registered credit card numerous times, and shopped through their affiliate links, and I don’t have a single cent in my account.

I don’t know if the purchases haven’t been verified yet or if there is a problem with my account, but I feel like I’ve invested alot of time and energy into setting up my account and I’ve yet to see any benefit.

Anyone have any experiences with Upromise, good or bad?

I love sharing the story of my student loan consolidation because it was so quick and easy.

I had accepted my first real job offer a few weeks before graduation, and I knew I would have a steady paycheck coming in and that the interest rates on my student loans were at record lows. It was the perfect time to lock in my interest rate for the life of my student loan.

I did my research and found the best student loan consolidation program available, and signed my name on the dotted line. Payments began immediately, I had forfeited my deferment period by consolidating, but the interest rate I had locked in more than made up for that fact.

The payments were reasonable and I was excitant that only a month out of college, I was well on my way to tackling my student loan debt and paying for my education, while my friends were wasting away their deferment time spending their money on frivolous things and still working a part time job.

Five years later, and the interest rates have steadily increased, making me very thankful that I took the bull by the horns and signed up for a student loan consolidation program when I did.

Lots of college students will be graduating in the coming weeks, and it’s time for them to start thinking about paying off their student loans. No matter if it is a California student loan or a Colorado student loan, those payments start in six months, and those six months go fast. It’s also not a bad idea for new graduates to think about student loan refinancing. As soon as you refinance, payments do start, but rates are only going up, so it would be smart to lock them in now. I was one of those graduates lucky enough to have a job lined up, so I refinanced at the first opportunity, and locked my rate in at 2.1%, which I am very happy about.

Paid some more bills and went to Target for some necessities. I stocked up on Valentine’s Day cards and decorations that were 75% off and Ollie’s puppy pads which were half off. I’ve gotten much better with my spending at Target, but that place is still a black hole for my cash.

• $175 Sallie Mae
• $19 Netflix
• $85 Target

Next month I should have some extra cash to throw at the principal on my Salie Mae loan with the highest interest rate. We’ll see if she applies it correctly.