As ABBA said it is indeed a rich man’s world.
While we are both plotting our return, we’ve been thinking about cash. Mainly my stupid school loan. It’s only $105/month, but its draining us. Big time. I’ve been spending my off hours looking into options. This also proved to be a good exercise looking at my student loan situation.
A few caveats before we continue. I realize this whole blog post may seem petty with people losing their homes, losing jobs and scraping what they can just to survive. I also know many of you loyal readers have student loans and payments that pale in comparison to mine.
Here in Peru this wouldn’t be an issue. There’s no such thing as a student loan. If you can’t afford school you don’t go. Colleges, institutes and universities base tuition on household income. I’ve heard stories of people hiding money or fancy cars to guarantee a lower tuition.
What really depressed me about this student loan fact finding mission is my payback date. I graduated in 1999. My loan amount was less than $12K. I’ve been making timely payments ever since. After all these years of being a good citizen, my loan will be paid off in 2017. That’s discouraging.
I was a little shocked at all of the non-payment options. It’s a sign of the times I guess. With so many options, I didn’t know what to choose or what form to download.
Thus, I decided to call the loan company. Keep in mind, toll-free calls are toll calls here in Peru. Which isn’t that big of a deal, we pay like 7 cents a minute. What is frustrating is a wading through a never-ending series of menus to finally reach a recording estimating my wait time at 41 minutes. So, I sent an e-mail. Which is what I should have done in the first place, but actually talking to someone seemed good at the time.
All this makes me almost look back at my college career with a little hindsight. Not the cost, not the five years, but the career choice. If I had went down another road, not slaving away in the TV for peanuts for so many years, I may have this loan taken care of. Then again, I might have been saddled with even more debt or responsibilities making it hard to move to South America. I’ve always lived for experience, for that alone, I’m a rich man. Unfortunately, experience isn’t paying the student loan bill.
So, I’ll continue waiting for some answers and options.
In the meantime how about those Vikings?