Loans for Living Expenses

[kh1264]

SO....

For those who have not saved up enough to pay for summer rent for apartments/condos or whatever, are you taking out private loans for this summer? I called my school and was informed that the Stafford Loan would not be disbursed until October and I'm not sure when my assistantship and tuition reimbursement money gets distributed. Would it be wise to take out a private loan for this summer to cover rent/food/etc. or is there a better option?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[psychanxiety]

Wait tables? Childcare? If you're not in school, earning money is always preferable to loans.

 

[kh1264]

Yeah, I plan on having a summer job but let me clarify...

I'm moving to NY. Rent + deposit will run me close to $1500-2000, plus food. Sadly, I do not have that saved up (...I know, my fault). My question is, are there low interest loan options that I'm forgetting about before I go ahead and apply for private loans? Does the Perkins Loan work the same as the Stafford and go straight to the school first? I have contacted and will be talking with my current school and future school's financial aid office but wanted some opinions first. Thanks!

 

[FahlenStar]

Taking out a private loan can be a little sketchy because there are often different requirements for when you have to pay them back and amount of interest that is tacked on to them can be higher than student loans.

I struggle with the same dillema during summers and have had the most luck with temp agencies that find me summer jobs. There have been summers where I would go to 5 or 6 agencies before finding work but have always managed to find something.

 

[PsyGirl262]

You can't get any student loans unless you're actually enrolled and taking classes in the summer. You have to be at least a half time student to get student loans, there's no way to get them earlier. I don't know of anywhere you could find a low-interest loan like that, besides borrowing from someone you know and paying them back once you get your student loans in October. If you have someone who trusts you and can be without a couple thousand until October, that's probably the only cheap way you could do it.

The other thing you could do, presuming you have some cash on hand, is use all that cash for your rent and deposit and open up an credit card with an introductory 0% APR and do all your normal spending on that for the next few months and then pay that off once you get your student loan. You could probably find a private loan somewhere, but if your credit is not great, it will require a cosigner and probably have a pretty high interest rate.

 

[kh1264]

Hmm....maybe I should go the route of borrowing a small amount from someone I know (aka my parents, as I am coming out of undergrad to Ph.D. so they help support me here and there) and then paying them back with the Stafford in October. I will try to pursue that idea. Any other suggestions? Anyone else confused/struggling with the financial aspect? Or am I the only questionable money manager around here??

 

[ladysky61]

I would borrow money from my parents.

 

[lbug312]

I know I am. I will be enrolling in a fully funded phd program that includes a stipend, but I'm wondering if it'll be enough.

Do others with funding end up taking out extra loans to cover rent or other costs? If so, what kind of loans? Can you get student loans for that? It doesn't make sense that I should have filled out the fafsa when I didn't know where I was going. Any thoughts?

 

[PsyGirl262]

It's definitely not too late to fill out the FAFSA, and as a graduate student, you will automatically be independent, so you don't need you parents' taxes or anything, just your spouse's if you're not married. Fill out your FAFSA, put in the school code of where you're going and the financial aid office there will automatically download your info and if they need anything else from you, they'll contact you. You will be eligible for up to $20,500 in student loans, a combination of subsidized and unsubsidized depending on your income. The only people who are ineligible are foreign students (sorry guys!) and people with drug-related felonies, the only thing your income does is determine how much will be subsidized. What most graduate students do, and what I would personally recommend is decide how much you're comfortable taking out and then make sure that most or all of that is subsidized, I believe the max in subsidized per year is $8,500, but I'm not positive on that one. For those of us with stipends, that should be plenty to cover additional living expenses and the interest won't capitalize as long as you're in school.

 

[73BARMYPgsp]

I saw the title of this thread, and without reading what others have written--Don't do it.

 

[kh1264]

Interestingly enough, the various financial aid office people that I spoke with told me to keep loans open for an option...obviously, in a worse-comes-to-worse type of scenario. I'm in undergrad now, finishing up mid-May, then moving early or late July to Manhattan or Brooklyn, so I'll need more funds than I have now and the federal loans won't be disbursed at my school until October. SO, if borrowing from others doesn't pan out then a small private loan is what I will end up taking out, and will hopefully be able to pay back asap with the reimbursement from my Stafford. I have a small amount of private loans from undergrad so I understand that they're not the most desirable option but I can't not move, so...

Any other thoughts?

 

[psychanxiety]

I would move in with my parents until August 1. While living with the parents I'd work and save money for the deposit/initial rent. Then I'd borrow the remaining amount from the parents and pay back later.

The other possible option is working as a camp counselor- basically no living expenses but still earning a (small) salary. Some camps specialize in inner city kids, developmentally disabled kids, sick kids, or emotionally disturbed kids. All of this would be good experience while not paying rent and therefore saving money for the deposit/initial rent.

 

[PsyDr]

oh god,

how're you going to live in manhattan for $1500-2000?!

do you know the city? please please please get someone's advice before you move there on what areas are safe.


you do not want to end up in alphabet city or the bowery because some realtor said it was in manhattan and had cheap rent.

 

[kh1264]

oh god,

how're you going to live in manhattan for $1500-2000?!

do you know the city? please please please get someone's advice before you move there on what areas are safe.


you do not want to end up in alphabet city or the bowery because some realtor said it was in manhattan and had cheap rent.

haha...thanks for your concern...I was just throwing a figure out there about first month's rent & safety deposit (which may have been too low ;-). i'm familiar with the city (born in queens and raised mainly in Orange County, above Rockland & Westchester, father worked in Manhattan for 20 years so I visited frequently) but am, admittedly, no expert. i am looking for roommates through various outlets (residence life office of my future school, Craigslist, Village Voice, NYTimes, other publications, etc.). I will be contacting many many places to view, I spend days and nights researching neighborhoods and have family & contacts in the city who can help me, along with the advice of my parents (who lived there all their lives but who recently moved down south). if i find that in my penny pinching ways I need to look at places with higher rent rates then, by all means, I will do so. on that front i'm not that worried. however, i am trying to figure out how to get initial rent money and appreciate all the advice being given

 

[Thrak]

you do not want to end up in alphabet city or the bowery because some realtor said it was in manhattan and had cheap rent.

Alphabet City's really not that bad anymore, especially Ave A and Ave B.

Still, there's little reason to live in Manhattan unless you're going to school way uptown. Brooklyn (or my preference, Queens) is much more affordable. Astoria/Sunnyside/Woodside would save you a lot of cash.

As for the loans... yeah, I'd probably check out the Bank of Mom and Dad first

 

[Eruca]

To comment on the bit about taking loans during your program. I would say, definitely leave it as an option. You can choose the amount you want to take (including none at all). If you want to keep asking your parents for $ for the next 5-6 years, that's cool, but otherwise, taking a little loan money out is a good option. It is far better of an option that racking up credit card debt or private bank debt. School loans 'typically' have better interest rates, and they are more lenient in regard to deferring or adjusting payments (this I know by experience, though I have a feeling some may argue).

I'm in a fully funded phd, and most of my classmates (including myself) have taken out at least some financial aid. So it's far from uncommon. But totally up to your comfort level, needs, and views on finances. My guess is if you're in NYC, you will not be able to live very comfortably on your stipend alone.