Student Loan Debt Repayment: Attacking Student Loans with Gig Jobs

Student loan debt repayment should include attacking student loans with gig jobs.

Borrowers have seven (7) options for student loan debt repayment. The options are:

Student Loan Debt Repayment Options https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans

Borrowers can chose several student loan debt repayment options.

Borrowers can repay their loans under the Standard Debt Repayment Plan with fixed payments in 10 years.

In addition, another student loan debt repayment option is the Graduated Repayment Plan where payments are lower at first, increase every two years, and can be repaid within 10 years.

Furthermore, borrowers can also use the Extended Repayment Plan to extend payments for 25 years.

Direct Loan borrowers can use the Pay As You Earn Student Loan Debt Repayment Plan. Monthly payments will be 10% of discretionary income, and are recalculated based upon annual income and family size.  This loan is forgiven after 20 years.

Lastly, borrowers can pay back student loans under the Income Based Repayment Plan, Income Contingent Repayment Plan, and the Income Sensitive Repayment Plan with a certain percentage of their discretionary income.

Working Gig Jobs As Student Loan Debt Repayment Option

If a borrower wants to accelerate student loan debt repayment, the borrower can and should work gig or side jobs.  Student loan debt repayment options work better and faster when paired with a gig or side hustle.  A borrower who has extra space in their home may want to rent out a room to earn more money. A person who is good in a certain subject may want to tutor in order to earn money in order to apply the extra money to student loan debt payments. There are a number of ways to earn extra money to repay student loans.

Under the Gig Economy, the borrower would  work a side job or provide services for a fee. https://www.hurdlr.com/blog/on-demand-economy-gigs

There are a number of side hustles and/or gigs to work to pay off debt. The list below is not all inclusive but is something that comes to the top of most people’s mind when thinking of gig jobs or side hustles:

1. Driving for Uber/Lyft: Drivers can earn an average of $25 an hour. http://ridesharedashboard.com/2014/01/28/salary-and-tax-rates-for-uberx-and-lyft-drivers/
2. Dog Sitting: Average full time pet sitting salary is $20,000 to $35,000 annually.  Part-time dog sitters can earn and extra $10,000 to $17,500 annually. This is a great amount to dedicate towards student loan debt. http://www.petcaretakers.com/business/pet-sitting-and-profitability/
3. Tutoring: The average tutoring salary is about $17 per hour. https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Tutor/Hourly_Rate

There are success stories of students who paid off student loan debt doing gig jobs:

https://www.northwesternmutual.com/life-and-money/i-took-side-gigs-to-help-pay-off-87000-of-student-loan-debt/

https://clark.com/personal-finance-credit/side-job-extra-cash-to-pay-off-debt-quicker/

https://www.creditkarma.com/advice/i/side-hustles-to-pay-off-debt/

Phone Sex As a Gig to Pay Off Student Loan Debt

So, I have a friend (yes, real friend NOT ME) who has worked as a phone sex worker to pay off her debt. She works for a company called http://www.talktokelly.com/pso/.

This company provides the customers and pays .20 per minute for a call lasting under three minutes up to .50 per minute for calls lasting more than 20 minutes.  Apparently, the customers may stay on the phone for a couple of hours but she makes great money and would recommend this gig to others.

How I Partly Gigged Myself Out of Student Loan Debt (No Phone Sex Involved!!!)

When I bought my first home, I rented out a room to a nursing student for $300 per month. I used all the money towards my credit card debt not my student loan debt. With my credit cards out the way, I dedicated more money to my student loan debt.

You may not want to use your gig money on your student loan debt. Your gig money may be better spent on credit card debt such as mine was. Working a gig job is a great way to accelerate your repayment of loans and attack your student loan debts. Try it and thank me later!