- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
2nd Trimester
anvloveskme
member
Student Loan / Maternity Leave RANT!
anvloveskme
member
So I thought it was a good idea to contact my student loan company sooner rather than later re: maternity leave and what my options are...I was shocked to find out that they will only offer to jack up my credit and take away my on time payment incentives if I "elect" to defer or reduce payments while on maternity leave. Happy to see what 4 years of on time payments totaling $36,000 got me...F THEM!!! I am FURIOUS!!!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Student Loan / Maternity Leave RANT!
I can't defer my car payment while I'm on maternity leave, or my mortgage, why should student loans be different?
I understand you are frustrated, but are you saying that your choice to have a child is along the same lines of EXTREME illness, or job loss/unemployment?
Agree completely, why should they defer? You made a CHOICE to get pregnant. People don't chose to lose their jobs or get horrible diseases.
To PP, no, not at all. Maybe I am just not explaining my self properly. When I called my company, they were very nice and talked to me about all of the options for to defer and to do a forebearance and it seemed like there were so many options available, just not any related to maternity leave. That is where my frustration comes in. It seemed like if I were to take a sabatical from work and go out of the country for 3 months, I would have qualified for something better that I would for maternity leave. I could go to school part time (and take all online courses) for the three months I am on leave and be able to 100% defer my payments...
Also, that is why I posted it as a RANT. I am hormonal and agro at this point.
)
Acccck! My co-worker had told me that she had easily gotten a deferment when she called to tell them she was pregnant, so I was assuming this was going to be no big deal. I hadn't called yet.
For those who don't see the reason why they should defer, let me explain my own situation so you'll understand what could cause people to need it:
1. I don't accrue leave time at work.
2. I am not entitled to pay during my maternity leave. Because I also don't accrue leave time, I won't be paid anything.
3. My student loans total near $700/month. This is just for my graduate education. Thank god I don't have loans from my undergraduate as well.
4. I still have to pay all my other bills during the time I am on maternity leave. As my husband and I live in separate cities, I have separate rent, separate utility bills, etc.--aside from the mortgage on our marital home.
And not everyone chooses to have a child. I certainly was not choosing it when I got pregnant.
Um, you do see what you are saying right? You are comparing 2-3 years of graduate education to 6 weeks of maternity leave. People losing months of income to 6 weeks of maternity leave.
If you can't afford to pay one or two student loan payments then you need to review your budget.
Sorry. You aren't going to get sympathy from me.
Sounds like some of you need a course in budgeting 101.
Excuse me??? Sounds like some need some lessons in common courtesy. Due to other circumstances, I'm looking at several months in payments, not one. And I'd love to know how you are supposed to "budget" for that when you aren't planning for it.
Did you chose to have sex? If so that can be the outcome.
um you had sex, correct?
Well, you've got 9 months to figure it out.
If you have sex, yes you are choosing to have a child. Don't cop out. I lost my job in November and had my Student Loans deferred to May. Consequently due to timing my students loans will kick in and my unemployment will stop at that time when I become a stay at home mom. But this is my choice and we will deal.
Take on your responsibilities.
OK - so I wasn't asking for sympathy and no where did I say I wouldn't be able to make my payments. Call me stupid/naive/silly for thinking there would be a better option available to me, fair enough...I admit that was surprised by the answeres I got on that phone call.
Getting pregnant for me was a choice and a joint decision made with DH (although it did happen very quickly for us). We both have large student loans, which was also a choice we made to get an education. We knew my maternity leave would be unpaid and will hopefully be able to take 3 months off, but yes, due to our budget, 2 months may be it.
Again, call me naive or silly, but I thougth this was a forum to vent, share frustrations and get advice from other similarly situated women, not to get attacked and told things like I need to go to budgeting 101!
DD2 8.22.13
MMC 1.4.17 at 16w
Expecting #3, EDD 1.29.18
This is a PUBLIC forum which means the public has different opinions.Your also asking a group of hormonally charged pregnant women for sympathy, may not be the best audience.
As another bumpie told me, pull up your big girl underwear and buck up!
That's real life honey. I agree with PP. You chose to have sex and pregnancy is a possibility. I didnt plan for the babies either but I knew there was a .01% chance that I could end up pregnant.
You learn to budget when you need to. I have student loans, car payments, house payments, and all those lovely things. I dont expect them to be deferred because I got myself KU.
At the very least I have been stimulated by the posts thus far...now, out of curiosity, for those posting responses, I would like to ask which of you have student loans and which of you do not? I wonder if that colors your opinion...I could honestly say I would probably feel differently if I didn't have student loans.
I have student loans up the wazoo. Deferment options are usually for unforeseen circumstances like job loss or extreme illness, not for your own choice to have a family.
This. I was confused as well when I saw the title student loan/maternity leave. I didn't even know that you can defer student loan unless you go back to school full-time.
Yes, unfortunately--life goes on whether you're pregnant or not, and that includes all of the bills.
I don't expect my bills to all be deferred. I've been budgeting for them. Sadly, there is only so much you can do in 9 months. It doesn't mean that I don't take responsibility, or that I won't. I had just heard that it was very easy to get deferments of the student loans while pregnant/on maternity, so this was a bit of news to me. Thanks for the financial advice though.
I have student loans as does my DH.
I'm currently in grad school, and my DH and I chose not to defer them.
We pay them each month.
I still have student loans left from my Master's. I paid off my undergrad before going back to school. DH has loans from his Doctorate's, as well. Combined, our student loans are more than the mortgage on our house.
I'm going to be a SAHM after the baby comes. And guess what, I don't expect my loans to be deferred.
DD2 8.22.13
MMC 1.4.17 at 16w
Expecting #3, EDD 1.29.18
OP, so you didn't "choose" to be pregnant but you chose to take out student loans didn't you? NFT.
Flash...don't know if that was directed at me or not, but I am not the one that posted that I didn't choose to have a baby - I said it was planned, just happened fast.
No one ever said she was a bad person or elluded to that fact. I do think that she was being naive and a little irresponsible regarding the deferment. Obviously it's personal to us all now, especially in this economy when so many people are hurting financially. It also rubs me the wrong way when people say or think pregnancy is a medical condition, it's a natural experience, and thus use it as an excuse for things rather than "manning up". (of course this last statement is barring extenuating circumstances)
I have student loans as well.
Dh does, so we as a couple do.
Holy crow!
That amount sounds astronomical to me, and it would definitely have me and my family struggling monthly! I hope that you get that sucker paid off quickly - good luck!
It's a little discouraging to see so many opinionated attacks on here. I have student loans as well, but I'm not going to be angry at someone for having a different idea and/or opinion on how to handle financial matters. Everyone has their own circumstances so unless we walk in their shoes, who is everyone to judge? What happened to "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all"?
The one boat we are all in is pregnancy whether is was planned or not. Everyone has the right to share their opinion, as I'm expressing mine, but pregnancy can be a tough time, so why are we all going to make these posts to stress out other pregnant women?? She was letting off some steam....she has a different idea than what you think...so what? Isn't that what makes the world go round and not so boring. Unless you're perfect and everyone agrees with every thought, decision, etc. you've made in life, keep your negative thoughts to yourself. Hormones or not. For God's sake, life is tough enough!!
To the original poster: If you really need the assistance, check on the forbearance, it won't hurt your credit, but it will still accrue interest while you're not making payments. It sucks, but if you're in need, that seems like it will be your best bet for now. Good Luck.
Anyway - whether or not I agree with the idea is completely not the point. Here's what I say.
1 - I'm getting that you're not upset that they won't LET you do it, you're upset that there's a consequence for the forebearance. And yes, you can't get around this, and even though it sucks, that's the way it works. No matter where you take out a loan, if you want to take a break from payments (and I work for a credit union, so I know that there ARE some places that will cut you a break for a short period of time, despite what everyone is saying) but you're going to pay for it in one way or another (and that's because when you took out the loan, you made an agreement to pay it back with certain terms). Really, the fact that they're willing to let you go into a forbearance for pregnancy is a lot.
2 - For whoever said that you can't possibly set aside money in 9 months for a baby - it's possible. There is a LOT of good literature (and a lot of crappy stuff too) on how to come up with money on short notice. It's completely possible to set aside the money - IF you're willing to cut back in certain areas. If you're not willing to change your lifestyle for 9 months to set aside the money - then of course it's "impossible" in your eyes. To the OP - if you're willing to try and set aside the money and are determined to NOT go into forbearance - here's what I'd recommend: Over the next week write down everything you spend money on. Every time you spend a cent - write it down. At the end of the week, break everything into categories: Bills that have to get paid, cell/cable, eating out, groceries, etc. You might be incredibly surprised (even if you think right now you're great with your money) at where your money is going (I was). Then take a good look at what you have vs. what you HAVE to have (do you pay for expanded cable or basic? do you HAVE to have all the extra channels for the next 9 months? cell phone - do you pay for more than you use....do you HAVE to have the internet on the phone for work, or is it just so you can look at facebook like my bro?) When I did this - I was able to find over 200 bucks every month in stuff we weren't using, or were wasting eating out (and guess what - I didn't give up HBO!)
That leads me to 3 - I don't get paid maternity leave/vacation/anything while I'm off, (and while Im still in school, my husband has graduated so we do pay his student loans on top of everything else) but we've already set aside the necessary funds to get us through the time when I'm off work. It is possible.