(no subject)
After graduating and getting my associates degree in June, I decided not to keep going with school right away. We were just moving into our new place at the time and then I knew the holidays and busy times at work would make it that much more difficult to get into a new degree program. But I figured 'Hey, I've got six months before my student loans will start wanting to be paid! That's plenty of time to take time off and be back in school.
Well, life got in the way of that plan and I'm still researching where I want to go. But still, I shouldn't have had to worry until January, or so I thought. For reasons I'm still not clear on, my Citibank loan I was to start paying off beginning in October. Now, to be fair, my lack of starting payments originally had to do with the forwarded mail getting to be in November. It was only after that I became irresponsible and just, sort of, ignored it. Or more so, stressed a great deal over it but constantly came up with excuses why I'd call tomorrow.
Definitely.
Tomorrow.
Well, a month and a half later, I'd yet to call and by then Wachovia had dutifully let me know that they wanted me to start paying them as of this month too! Hope you've enjoyed your six months! Time to pay us back for all that schoolin', thanks!
And so, with even more intimidation and fear mixed in I put it off another three weeks (due to it actually _being_ the holidays and then Michael's dad was in the hospital and then the actual celebrating of the holidays). But I could no longer ignore it since the due date for Wachovia was coming up and I wanted to deal with them before I was delinquent, and I really wanted to fix Citibank before another month went by.
So, my plan was to call Wachovia, since I was still pre-due-date with them, have them consolidate my loads for me, and then get either a deferment, forbearance, or lowest possibly payment plan. So, with far more nervousness than I should have had, I called Wachovia and got a truly pleasant woman who told me they don't consolidate anymore, but I could probably go through Citibank. My nerves increased a bit until she said something that brought color back to my face, "You do, however, quality for a year long forbearance at this time." Woohoo! After getting some details I signed up for it and now have a year before I'd need to deal with potential payment again. At least, from Wachovia.
Then, Citibank. I called, more nervous about talking to them because I was two payments late already and got the absolute nicest customer service woman I've probably ever spoken to. She thanked me for calling, explained all the options I have and will have available for me in the future, and ended up signing me up for a forbearance for their loan as well, retroactively starting for when my first payment would have been due to erase the late charges. She then suggested I wait until the forbearances run out and then go through them to consolidate so I can sign up for a better interest rate and deal with one payment through them.
Both calls took less than an hour to complete and after my heart being in my throat for that time and taking copious notes on all the options I have and will have, I felt as though many pounds of weigh had been lifted from my shoulders.
I can now take my time figuring out which school I want to go to and when I'm ready to sign up for it. And hopefully, by the time it comes around again, I'll be in a better position to pay the loans off. Plus, now that I know how accommodating they are, I won't feel so nervous calling to work out consolidation and a payment plan.
Phew!
Well, life got in the way of that plan and I'm still researching where I want to go. But still, I shouldn't have had to worry until January, or so I thought. For reasons I'm still not clear on, my Citibank loan I was to start paying off beginning in October. Now, to be fair, my lack of starting payments originally had to do with the forwarded mail getting to be in November. It was only after that I became irresponsible and just, sort of, ignored it. Or more so, stressed a great deal over it but constantly came up with excuses why I'd call tomorrow.
Definitely.
Tomorrow.
Well, a month and a half later, I'd yet to call and by then Wachovia had dutifully let me know that they wanted me to start paying them as of this month too! Hope you've enjoyed your six months! Time to pay us back for all that schoolin', thanks!
And so, with even more intimidation and fear mixed in I put it off another three weeks (due to it actually _being_ the holidays and then Michael's dad was in the hospital and then the actual celebrating of the holidays). But I could no longer ignore it since the due date for Wachovia was coming up and I wanted to deal with them before I was delinquent, and I really wanted to fix Citibank before another month went by.
So, my plan was to call Wachovia, since I was still pre-due-date with them, have them consolidate my loads for me, and then get either a deferment, forbearance, or lowest possibly payment plan. So, with far more nervousness than I should have had, I called Wachovia and got a truly pleasant woman who told me they don't consolidate anymore, but I could probably go through Citibank. My nerves increased a bit until she said something that brought color back to my face, "You do, however, quality for a year long forbearance at this time." Woohoo! After getting some details I signed up for it and now have a year before I'd need to deal with potential payment again. At least, from Wachovia.
Then, Citibank. I called, more nervous about talking to them because I was two payments late already and got the absolute nicest customer service woman I've probably ever spoken to. She thanked me for calling, explained all the options I have and will have available for me in the future, and ended up signing me up for a forbearance for their loan as well, retroactively starting for when my first payment would have been due to erase the late charges. She then suggested I wait until the forbearances run out and then go through them to consolidate so I can sign up for a better interest rate and deal with one payment through them.
Both calls took less than an hour to complete and after my heart being in my throat for that time and taking copious notes on all the options I have and will have, I felt as though many pounds of weigh had been lifted from my shoulders.
I can now take my time figuring out which school I want to go to and when I'm ready to sign up for it. And hopefully, by the time it comes around again, I'll be in a better position to pay the loans off. Plus, now that I know how accommodating they are, I won't feel so nervous calling to work out consolidation and a payment plan.
Phew!