Summary: Looking to make your student loan payments more manageable or want to get rid of them faster? Learn how you can consolidate and refinance your student loans and put yourselves in a position to build up wealth.<br> [smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/couplemoney/How_to_Refinance_and_Consolidate_Your_Student_Loans.mp3″ social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ]<br> <br> Subscribe to Couple Money Podcast via <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/couple-money-podcast-build/id924656111">iTunes</a>, <a href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/elle-martinez/couple-money-podcast?refid=stpr">Stitcher</a>, or copy <a href="http://couplemoneypodcast.com/feed/podcast/">this link to use </a>with a podcatcher of your choice. You can also find me hanging out on <a href="https://twitter.com/CoupleMoney">Twitter </a>and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/couplemoney">Facebook</a>.<br> <br> Consolidate and Refinance Your Student Loans<br> <br> Student loans can be a huge weight on your budget. According to what I’m seeing and hearing, it’s also becoming more and more common.<br> I was reading a MarketWatch about <a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/americas-growing-student-loan-debt-crisis-2016-01-15">70% of bachelor’s degree recipients graduate with debt</a>!<br> Edvisers, a financial aid site, reported that last year <a href="https://www.edvisors.com/">graduates on average were each on the hook for over $35,000 in student loans</a>.<br> If you’re still saddled with a student loan, stay tuned because we’re going to try and lighten that loan. Jereme from <a href="https://www.credible.com/">Credible</a> comes on the show to work through solutions.<br> In this episode we get into:<br> <br> * the difference between refinancing and consolidating them<br> * shopping around for the best deals<br> * how to speed up paying them off<br> <br> Hope your enjoy!<br> <br> Being Financially Savvy with Student Loans<br> Student loans are a big business. It’s estimated that the <a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/americas-growing-student-loan-debt-crisis-2016-01-15">total outstanding student loan debt in the U.S. is $1.2 trillion</a>.<br> Getting your student loan debt under control whether its getting the payments to work with your financial situation or getting rid of them as soon as possible can be a huge relief.<br><br> Consolidating and/or refinancing your loans can be the ticket.<br> I’m a big believer in shopping around to get the best rates and service so I like that there are companies like <a href="https://www.credible.com/refinance-student-loans">Credible that make it easy to hunt around from home</a>.<br> Once you find the best option for you it’s time to decide how you want to tackle this. With a hopefully minimum lower payment and/or interest rate, you may be able to get rid of your loans sooner.<br>
