Giving Away $500 to Help Pay off Your Student Loans!

What up, debt slayers!

It’s a great day to be on this blog if you’re holding any student loans right now :)

We’re partnering with my friends over at StudentLoanHero.com and gonna help one of y’all kill off a solid $500 of that nasty debt of yours! And hopefully help the rest of you by sharing a little about what SLH does for people too, and how they can help you pay less over the course of paying off your loans.

Here we go!

A Little About Student Loan Hero

This line on their homepage says it all:

We’ll show you how to save $14-17k on your student loans. For free.

In a nut shell they do two main things, and from what I know do them well:

  1. They help you find the best places to refinance your loans
  2. They aggregate all of your info into one sexy dashboard so you can finally see what the hell is going on with everything :) Kinda like mint.com, but for your student loans. They also offer some pretty cool calculators and tools too.

SLH was started by a dude trying to get $100,000+ of his own student loans figured out (and paid off), and they’ve since gone on to help over 60,000 other borrowers manage a total of over $1 billion dollars so far… Definitely worth checking out if you haven’t already: StudentLoanHero.com

The Debt Dashboard

Here’s a real-life snapshot of my friend Rebecca’s account to give you an accurate idea of what the dashboard looks like (you can click that link to read her full review of SLH too!):

student loan hero dashboard

You’ll notice the following in this shot:

  • A list of all your loans
  • The balances, interest rates, and status of each loan
  • How much you’re paying in interest & principal each month
  • And a place to adjust your monthly payments to see how it affects your loans…

Student Loan Hero’s Top Refinancing Lenders

As mentioned, they also have an area where you can see if refinancing is available to you, and what the going rates are for their handful of partners. Here’s the current live rates they’ve got going on, all of which are actually clickable if you want to start poking around them:

Lender Rates (APR) Loan Types Terms More Info
2.13% – 7.49% Variable & Fixed 5, 10, 15, 20 Learn More
2.13% – 7.19% Variable & Fixed 5 to 20 Learn More
2.13% – 7.49% Variable & Fixed 5, 10, 15, 20 Learn More
2.17% – 9.39% Variable & Fixed 5, 10, 15, 20 Learn More
2.14% – 9.22% Variable & Fixed 5, 10, 15 Learn More
2.13% – 6.75% Variable & Fixed 5, 10, 15, 20 Learn More

I don’t know the ins and outs of all these guys, but I can tell you that I spent a few hours learning about Earnest the other week, and from what I saw they’re definitely doing things right. Super focused on their customers and have the highest amount of $$$ saved per applicant across the entire field too ($17,936 avg). Look for a separate article on them later as soon as I get back to my to-do list… (I’ve also heard good things about SoFi too, fyi – just haven’t poked around as much yet)

And that’s the quick rundown on Student Loan Hero!

Now to The $500 Student Loan Giveaway!

The part I know you’re most excited about ;) A chance to win $500 in cash money to help pay off some of that debt – woop! Just answer these two questions below and you’ll be entered to win:

  1. How much student loan debt do you have left? (Feel free to go anonymous if you’d like)
  2. Have you heard of Student Loan Hero before? If so, what are your thoughts? If not, does it seem like they can help you out? (Check them out here: StudentLoanhero.com)

Please be as open and honest as you can – it won’t affect your entry at all, I promise :) As someone who’s fortunately never had to deal w/ student debt before, I’d love to gauge the public opinion on them as well… Everything I know about them over the years have been super positive (or else I wouldn’t be writing about them today!), but it always helps to get more opinions, right? So think of this article today as half giveaway / half poll :)

Answer both questions *below in the comments* by next Sunday night (Easter) @ midnight, March 27th, and you’ll be officially entered to win.

Good luck!! And stay tuned for future articles/reviews on student loan stuff as I’ve been majorly slacking on this over the years… I know how crippling this stuff can be, so hopefully this helps!

*BONUS* If you share this article on Twitter or Facebook, we’ll give you one extra entry :) But make sure you let us know you did it in a *separate* comment below so we catch it (and count it).

******

*** GIVEAWAY NOW OVER *** Thanks for participating and sharing your debt stories, everyone! Been eye opening for ME to say the least about student debt out there (wow), as well as hearing y’alls thoughts and experiences with Student Loan Hero too.. They loved reading ’em all! And now to the part y’all been waiting for – the winner… After using Random.org to pick our person, the lucky winner of $500 to help pay off their debt is…. dum dum dum….. Maggie from Chicago! (Commenter #139). Congrats Maggie! Thank you for reading the blog and participating – we hope this help you kill off those debts sooner! See y’all back for another giveaway soon! :)

*******
Giveaway open to U.S. Residents only, ages 18+. This giveaway is sponsored by Student Loan Hero which means I’ve been paid to help give away $500 to one of you ;) There are also affiliate links included here to the respective services. Please note I only promote companies I find to be super helpful though, so you won’t see me hawking nonsense left and right just for a chance at a quick buck. You guys – the community – comes first, always.

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372 Comments

  1. Chris @ Flipping a Dollar March 21, 2016 at 6:02 AM

    Ah student loan debt. I was very fortunate to have help from my parents for 4 out of the (planned) 5 years of my BS/MS program in engineering. I also threw all of my co-op (3 of them) money at my parents to cover the costs. I ended up with about $25,000+ in debt and paid it off 3.5 years after I graduated.

    I wish I didn’t take that long but I was busy getting married, buying a car, and working. Right around Christmas of 2012, I was deciding whether I should put the money into my Roth IRA or my student loan. We said screw it and paid the loan off. Popped a bottle of wine open and just felt like a weight was off of my shoulder.

    I haven’t put money into my Roth since, but we have a lot of tax-advantaged options that we’re not maxing yet.

    Reply
    1. Ash Brown March 21, 2016 at 9:06 AM

      I started out with 75K in student loan debt, now 55K. I’ve been seriously trying to pay it down for 3 years.

      I hadn’t heard about Student Loan Hero before this article. Ill most likely give it a try!

      Reply
    2. J. Money March 23, 2016 at 2:58 PM

      Yeah son! You freakin’ killed it.

      Reply
  2. Sarah Noelle @ The Yachtless March 21, 2016 at 6:02 AM

    Oh, I am all over this.

    I have just under $55,000 in student debt at the moment (I had about $57,000 and just started paying it back in January after I finished grad school).

    I had definitely heard of Student Loan Hero and had been planning to check them out sometime soon. I wanted to wait until I got a job and started getting paychecks (just got my first one last week!). My interest rate is currently fixed at 6.8%, and if SLH could help me find a lender that would be willing to help me lower that rate, I would be super interested. I will definitely be checking them out this week!

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 23, 2016 at 2:59 PM

      Congrats, friend!! :)

      Reply
  3. John C @ Action Economics March 21, 2016 at 6:17 AM

    Thanks to my parents planning, two years of community college, working while in school, and tax credits, I have no student loan debt, but I am impressed with the concept of Student Loan Hero. The market for refinancing cars and houses is huge, but you rarely hear about refinancing student debt. That’s really cool that someone is going to win a $500 boost against their debt.

    Reply
  4. greg March 21, 2016 at 6:39 AM

    Had just under 30k when graduated now its down t just under 16k and hoping to have it paid off in just over 2 years.

    i had not heard of Student Loan Hero before this article. Thou some of the calculators would have been useful before setting up my own in excel

    Reply
  5. Anna March 21, 2016 at 6:58 AM

    I have about $36000 left.. ugh!
    And I have never heard of this program before, but it sounds pretty great!

    Reply
  6. sara March 21, 2016 at 7:11 AM

    My hubby has over $154,000 in sld. Insane! We’re paying off one debt this month and we’ve paid back almost double the original loan!!

    Student Loan Hero looks like it could be a helpful way to organize and lower the payments.

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 23, 2016 at 3:01 PM

      Ugh, isn’t that so horrible?? Good luck on knocking it all out!

      Reply
  7. Brandy March 21, 2016 at 7:15 AM

    I still have about $17,500 in student loan debt. I had never heard of Student Loan Hero until this post, but will definitely be checking this site out. I’m excited to learn how I can save money over the life of my loan.

    Reply
  8. Jennifer March 21, 2016 at 7:26 AM

    I have $60k left from an original $80k loan from grad school. The degree was worth it and my current job is extremely challenging and personally rewarding but ugh those payments every month are brutal. I have heard of Student Loan Hero but haven’t taken the time to review their refinancing options. Something I am definitely going to look into further after this blog post. Thank you!

    Reply
  9. Lindsay @ the Notorious D.E.B.T. March 21, 2016 at 7:26 AM

    When I went off to college, I moved out of my parent’s house completely. My financial plan was this: since I had $0 saved for it, I would permanently move all the way from northern Michigan to interior Alaska. Because, you know, I thought that northern Michigan wasn’t cold enough. I was a dogsled racer at the time, so in Alaska I worked as a dog handler in an Iditarod racing kennel in exchange for room and board.

    R&B is helpful but doesn’t pay the bills (esp. tuition) and so my parents came to me twice over the next couple of years with some paperwork: sign here, and you’ll get $25,000 a pop to live off of while you go to school. “Sure!” I thought. “How hard can that be? I’ll be rolling in the dough after I graduate!”

    So, here I am, 10 years later, no longer in the dog mushing world but with two degrees in wildlife biology and conservation, $57,057.65 in student loan debt, and a job that pays half what I was expecting and doesn’t even require a degree to do. But on the bright side, it got me to start up my own blog, become financially literate, and meet all of you fine people! :D

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 23, 2016 at 3:05 PM

      yeah you did! haha….

      I swear – every time you comment here my jaw drops cuz you’re so full of adventures and randomness! I love it!!

      Reply
  10. Corinne Z March 21, 2016 at 7:27 AM

    I have $19.9k left of student loan and I was so excited to see it be under 20k with my last payment!

    I have not heard of SLH but I think it would be a great help and wish I would have heard of it sooner back when I have 35k of SL.

    Reply
  11. Lindsay @ the Notorious D.E.B.T. March 21, 2016 at 7:30 AM

    Whoops – forgot the SLH part. I’d heard of them before, and they sound like an AWESOME company.

    I haven’t tried out their program yet because the silver lining of all my student loan debt is that they’re at very low rates – around 3% and 5%. I’m not sure I can get any better than that. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to try!

    Also, I’m sharing this with the followers on my blog’s Facebook page, as I know there are a lot of people who could use this help! :)

    Reply
  12. Ashley March 21, 2016 at 7:32 AM

    Right now I’m at about $235,000, down from about $311,000 when I started paying them back almost 3 years ago. I hadn’t heard anything about SLH before, but their information about consdolidation looks interesting!

    Reply
  13. Sarah Bojorquez March 21, 2016 at 7:41 AM

    I have about $150k in student loan debt. It’s insane really. I’ve never heard of student loan hero before, but I’m heading over now to check it out!

    Reply
  14. Sarah Bojorquez March 21, 2016 at 7:42 AM

    Oh and I shared on Facebook :-)

    Reply
  15. Jolene March 21, 2016 at 7:46 AM

    I am in about $180,000 of student loan debt… Crossing my fingers that the vast majority of that will be covered under Public Student Loan Forgiveness (yay nonprofits!). 2020 needs to come faster! I have about $7000 that isn’t under that program which is a much more manageable number. The high debt has made it impossible to buy a house and has me avoiding better tracking my net worth. I worry for my daughter… She’s only 5 but as a single mom in so much debt I haven’t been able to put aside much for her college. I hadn’t heard of SLH until this post

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 23, 2016 at 3:07 PM

      I’m sorry to hear :( Fascinating about the loan forgiveness stuff though! I’m not versed in that world at all so have no idea about it but sounds incredible!

      Reply
  16. Kristen March 21, 2016 at 7:47 AM

    I have $17,736.96 left in debt. I’m making just the minimum payments as I pay off other debt from medical bills especially as I’m trying to move out of state and they have a law that they won’t allow you to buy or rent with more than $1k in collections.

    No I haven’t heard of Student Loan Hero before. I think it would be valuable to check out and see what they can do as I’ve tried to get my current loan monthly payments changed due to the sub-loans I’ve already paid off.

    Reply
  17. Alexis F March 21, 2016 at 7:49 AM

    $20K left on student loan debt.

    I’ve never heard of Student Loan Hero before today, but I am liking what I am reading about them on their website.

    Reply
  18. Danielle C. March 21, 2016 at 7:51 AM

    I started out with about $53k in student loan debt, for just a four year degree. I have that paid down to approx. $19,500 @ 3.25% interest. It’s taken me 12 years to accomplish that, and that was with a LOT of extra money thrown at it.

    I have never heard of Student Loan Hero. Looks like they have some nice tools to use. I will use this as a resource, and will tell my getting-close-to-college-age son about it as well.

    Reply
  19. Lori March 21, 2016 at 8:01 AM

    We are down to the last $1,500 in student debt.

    No I hadn’t heard of StudentLoanHero

    Reply
  20. John Doeman March 21, 2016 at 8:04 AM

    1) I have $40733 between 4 lenders. Interest rate is 6% or below. I’ve been out of college for almost 5 years but haven’t made it a huge priority to pay off debt until recenty. Divorce helped free up some money I was spending elsewhere haha.
    2) No I haven’t heard of them before now. I track my loans now more diligently with YNAB but I do like the feature that makes it clear as day whether a consolidation loan is a good idea. I’m not 100% sure yet if that’s what I want to do though as last time I looked at loans the interest rate difference was negligable. However (back to the divorce part) now that my credit score is stellar I want to make it priority to pay it off within the next 3 years so I just signed up through the site now and will take a look-see. Thanks!

    Reply
  21. T$ March 21, 2016 at 8:06 AM

    My favorite thing to hate – Student Loan Debt. I have about $47k at 4.5% left, proud to say that I just started a side hustle to crush this. Got a PT at a home improvement store to help slay these loans. Some of it is my fault for having too much fun, but as they say, if I would have known now what I didn’t know then…

    As for SLH, I have never heard of them and I’m not sure if they can help as I have already consolidated and refinanced all my loans into one and not sure what the rules are on refinancing a consolidated and refinanced loan. I will check them out to see if that is an option. IT’s worth looking into.

    Reply
  22. Jason March 21, 2016 at 8:06 AM

    You had me at sexy dashboard!

    I have $48,600 in loans from undergrad and grad school… my goal for 2016 is to knock out the undergrad (about 10k left), and then start attacking the rest… haven’t heard of SLH, but I’m signing up now to check out the tracking functionality!

    Reply
  23. Ryan D, March 21, 2016 at 8:08 AM

    I have around $150k in student loan debt, hoping to be able to refinance and consolidate in the near future. My wife has MS, so she has not been able to work requiring me to put my loans into deferment. Hopefully her disability gets approved and we can take care of some other debt.

    I have heard of them before and hopefully again in the near future they can help me out as well!

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 23, 2016 at 3:10 PM

      I hope so too – so sorry to hear :(

      Reply
  24. WHITNEY March 21, 2016 at 8:08 AM

    I have about $50k in student loans. I thought my parents were paying on them or at least I thought they would at least help me out with them since it was their idea for me to go to college. Currently I’m spending half my income on these loans & it’s a major headache & problem in my life. I adopted the debt snowball method to help pay them off by 2018 but I’d like to do it quicker & save more money in the process. Working a full time job that doesn’t even need a degree because I have bad credit & they check that when you get a job now days (which I don’t understand) but anyway working a full time job to pay them off so I can qualify for a job in my field of study

    Reply
  25. Nicole March 21, 2016 at 8:12 AM

    It’s painful to type this but $56,805 and I’ve been making payments on them for the past 4 years. I didn’t always have a lot of extra income to throw at my loans especially my first year out of college but that number so been drastically reduced by the end of the year!! And if all goes according to plan, it will be ZERO in 2.5 years.

    Reply
    1. Nicole March 21, 2016 at 8:13 AM

      And I have not heard of SLH until this post. :)

      Reply
  26. A March 21, 2016 at 8:19 AM

    We are still paying off my wife’s $80k student loan that she got while in a noble job that is not financially rewarded well.

    The student loan issue is one which needs a massive overhaul in how it rewards the banks, and government, yet preys on unsuspecting students.

    I have heard of SLH – but haven’t yet investigated it thoroughly. Thanks J.

    Reply
  27. anon March 21, 2016 at 8:20 AM

    ~$140k. Hadn’t heard of SLH. I’ll try anything.

    Reply
  28. Jeannine March 21, 2016 at 8:22 AM

    I did not have any student loans coming out of undergraduate school- Yay
    I took out loans for my Master’s, Principal’s certification, current doctoral studies- Boo
    total- $148,422,14
    Student Loan Hero sounds great! I had never heard of them before, but I will check them out over Spring break this week

    Reply
  29. Sara March 21, 2016 at 8:23 AM

    1. I’ve got about 45k in student loans that I will be paying off for what feels like forever! But I’m chipping away slowly but surely…

    2. I’ve never heard of student loan hero–I get a lot of spam about refinancing my loans, and that’s what I thought it was at first. But looking at it more closely, it actually seems like it would b helpful for managing my loans in a better way! I’m going to check it out!

    Reply
  30. Andrew March 21, 2016 at 8:25 AM

    I have one more year left of college. I will have about $50k or so of college debt through loans with Navient (formerly SallieMae). I haven’t heard of student loan hero before but I will definitely check them out.

    Reply
  31. Joe March 21, 2016 at 8:30 AM

    $58,500 in student loan debt @ 1.875%. Never heard of SLH. The calculator looks good.

    Reply
  32. christina h March 21, 2016 at 8:33 AM

    We have $23,280.26 left. We paid mine off in mid 2015, and this is from my husband getting a bachelor’s degree as an adult 7 years ago. We’ve paid down about $13k in the last year, and our goal is to have it completely gone in less than two years. Never heard of Student Loan Hero!

    Reply
  33. EG March 21, 2016 at 8:34 AM

    1. I have $68,000 left
    2. Never heard of them before (but have heard of SOFI since they send me mail). Anything that will potentially help is great!

    Reply
  34. Tammy March 21, 2016 at 8:48 AM

    We have $41k left in student loan debt.

    I’m pretty sure I used their site a year ago when I refinanced most of my student loans

    Reply
  35. Carol Lane March 21, 2016 at 8:48 AM

    I have about $75,000 in student loans, and I hadn’t heard of Student Loan Hero, but I will definitely check them out now.

    Reply
  36. Stacey Voss March 21, 2016 at 8:48 AM

    I have almost 50,000 in student loan debt and my husband has close to 40,000.00 in student loan debt.

    I have never heard of SLH, I look forward to looking into it, as I am just getting ready to consolidate my student loans.

    Reply
  37. Brian @ debt discipline March 21, 2016 at 8:55 AM

    I had a very small loan under $5k when I graduated. This is a big topic of conversation in our house with two of our children approaching college. We want the to come out the other side with little to no debt and get the best start to their financial lives.

    Reply
  38. Samantha March 21, 2016 at 8:55 AM

    I have heard of Student Loan Hero because of your site. I have been following Budgets are Sexy for a few years now! The advice and encouragement you both give are AMAMZING! THANK YOU! Currently o owe $13,563.17. With $500 and my usual payment this month, I could break $13k!!! Thanks and good luck to everyone!

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 23, 2016 at 3:13 PM

      So glad you’re enjoying the blog!! And way to go at chipping away so much each month! :)

      Reply
  39. Adam March 21, 2016 at 8:56 AM

    After about 12 years, I managed to pay off my student loans last year! However, I also got married last year, and my wife has about $54k between undergrad and grad school loans.

    I just learned about Student Loan Hero a month or so ago. Their email newsletter is usually informative and inspirational. We haven’t really explored any of the refi options yet, because we’re still contemplating / researching PSLF.

    Reply
  40. Samantha March 21, 2016 at 8:58 AM

    Shared on Facebook!

    Reply
  41. Erika March 21, 2016 at 8:59 AM

    I have just under 100K left in student debt. I have never heard of Student Loan Hero but will check out their services.

    Reply
  42. Josh Morse March 21, 2016 at 9:03 AM

    I have just over $37k right now and about 10k more on the way.

    I had no idea that Student Loan Hero existed until today. I’m clicking through now to set up an account.

    Reply
  43. SP March 21, 2016 at 9:04 AM

    I have around $44000 still left on my SLD and feel like I’m making very little progress. :( I had not heard of Student Loan Hero before but it sounds like a much needed service. I already consolidated my loans, so I don’t think I can do anything more, but will check it out just in case.

    Reply
  44. Latoya @ Life and a Budget March 21, 2016 at 9:06 AM

    Man oh man, I have $80,000 in student loans. And yes! I’ve heard of student long hero…I actually use their dashboard to see a comprehensive view of my loans. It was alarming to learn my loans had grown 11 percent since graduation. Their info also provided me with enough motivation to create a plan to knock out my student loans in the shortest amount of time possible. If I hustle enough and meet my goals I can have them paid of in 5 years.

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 23, 2016 at 3:16 PM

      Dang – that growth is no joke!! Good for you for coming up with a plan to kill it in 5 years – that would be incredible!

      Reply
  45. Gregory D March 21, 2016 at 9:19 AM

    Currently sitting on $20,000 remaining of $50,000 starting after graduation. It’s been a long road for sure.

    I haven’t looked into Student Loan Hero yet, but I’m always interested in consolidating my loans, as I’m currently paying four different companies. Excited to see if it can help. Thanks!

    Reply
  46. spolen March 21, 2016 at 9:20 AM

    Between the two of us (me and DH), we still have $58,000 and some change. It’s a terrifying number, but when we began three years ago we had almost $100,000. Since we’ve refinanced, with a variable interest rate just under 4% (down from 6.8% and higher), so we’ve been focusing on other financial goals; if our interest rate goes above 4%, we’ll continue to pay ahead on the loans.

    Student Loan Hero isn’t a program I’ve heard of, but it seems like it would be a good idea for people with a number of different loans or a combination of public and private loans. Thankfully DH and I avoided private loans, so when he consolidated he was able to put all his federal loans into one payment. (My total is less than $10,000 and at 0%, since I’m finishing up a PhD and still technically in school.)

    Reply
  47. Brad March 21, 2016 at 9:30 AM

    I officially finished my last research paper for my degree a week ago today! Now that my focus will no longer be on school, it can shift towards paying off the 30k in loans I accrued over the last year and nine months (time it took to finish my degree as an adult student).

    My loans are at a decent 4.XX% depending on what quarter they were taken out, but I was unaware I could get a better rate by refinancing… wish I knew that while I was trying to pay off my wife’s loans at 6.9%. This site probably could have helped with that, and just might help with my current loans.

    Reply
  48. Samantha March 21, 2016 at 9:31 AM

    I have never heard of Student Loan Hero…until now. But then again, I get all my good info from this site! I currently have $72K in student loan debt for two degrees. Figures, I’d become a teacher and make dirt…but I love what I do! Also, currently using the debt snowball to eliminate it all.

    Thanks!

    Reply
  49. Vee March 21, 2016 at 9:36 AM

    I currently have 8,391 in student loans. It was a lot more, but we are going full on Dave Ramsey this year.

    I had not heard of Student Loan Hero, but here are my thoughts: my loans switched from Sallie Mae to Navient, as did a ton of folks. They were all bundled together and I’d already consolidated. If my five loans were in several different locations, I would be totally likely to use this mint.com model. Since they aren’t, I’d be less likely.

    Reply
  50. Cassandra March 21, 2016 at 9:38 AM

    I have just around 48,000 in student loan debt. The saddest part of that for me is the fact I’ve been paying on them for about 10 years now and the needle on the balance has barely moved! It can be overwhelming at times. I have not heard of Student Loan Hero before but I am definitely intrigued to check it out. I’m a numbers person, love Mint.com and Personal Capital!

    Reply
  51. TT March 21, 2016 at 9:40 AM

    I have about $12,000 in student loan debt. I guess that is practically nothing compared to what other people are saying.

    I have never heard of student loan hero, interested in checking them out though.

    Reply
  52. Mark March 21, 2016 at 9:41 AM

    My wife and I are working through her $52,921.06 in federal loans and another $47,078.69 in private student loans. We will be taking advantage of PSLF on the federal loans (Nov, 2022), and will begin paying extra to knock down the private loans starting this fall after our first child is born!!

    We hadn’t heard of Student Loan Hero before but are excited to give it a shot!! Thanks J. Money! We love your blog and are super excited about your new pod cast!!

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 23, 2016 at 3:22 PM

      Rock on! Thanks for reading/listening :) Congrats on the new babyyyy – such an exciting time in your lives! Soak it all up!

      Reply
  53. Distilled Dollar March 21, 2016 at 9:41 AM

    120k between my girlfriend and myself.

    I’ve never heard of SLH. We are taking an unconventional approach to paying down our student loan debt so we would not benefit from SLH.

    For us, paying down student loan debts is a less effective way to maximize our wealth when compared with funneling extra cash flows into pre tax retirement accounts. The 5% saved on interest is outweighed by the ~30% saved on income taxes. Plus, student loan interest is tax deductible.

    Reply
  54. Andrea March 21, 2016 at 9:46 AM

    I have about $125,000 in debt…its an overwhelming number. :( I had never heard of Student Loan Hero before…but will now check it out. Thank you for the generous giveaway! Every little bit helps! :)

    Reply
  55. Grace March 21, 2016 at 9:51 AM

    Between myself and my husband we have about $200k in student loans (we both have our masters). Luckily a chunk of that will be wiped away after he makes 120 payments (my husband is a teacher).

    I had never heard of Student Loan Hero but I’m about to go check them out. I’m an avid Mint user and have been wanting a better way to look at our student loan debt.

    Reply
  56. Adriana Moreno March 21, 2016 at 9:53 AM

    Hi J Money!!!

    I have left around 12K of student loans. I started with 23K 3 years ago, and my goal is to finish paying it this year!

    Student Loan Hero is a website I heard around 2 years ago, cant really remember from where. Because of it, i actually planned my payments using the “Snowball” method and it has worked great so far.

    Reply
  57. Brittany March 21, 2016 at 9:58 AM

    I have about 26k in student loan debt. Right now I’m trying to decide if it would be easier to have the balance forgiven in about 8 more years (I’m enrolled in the PSLF program) or buckle down and pay it off early just to be done with it. I’m working on consumer debt right now, so I have more pressing debts to tend to ;)

    SLH’s interface looks way more user friendly than myfedloans. Although, not sure how useful it would be if you have all student loans in one place already.

    Reply
  58. ChaseF March 21, 2016 at 9:58 AM

    How much student loan debt do you have left? ($45,000)
    2.Have you heard of Student Loan Hero before? No, I have not heard of this company but will be doing some research on them later.

    Reply
  59. Kathryn March 21, 2016 at 9:59 AM

    1) $168,000 (thanks, law school)

    2) I’ve never heard of SLH before, but it definitely seems interesting. I’m on the federal loan public service forgiveness track, so not for me, but I can definitely see the appeal.

    Reply
  60. Michelle March 21, 2016 at 10:00 AM

    140K from graduate school.

    I’ve heard of Student Loan Hero before. If I had any private loans, I would definitely consider using them.

    Reply
  61. Dan March 21, 2016 at 10:03 AM

    10 years out of school, down to about $8k @ 4.75%. (Plus $16k at 4% for my wife)

    Never heard of SLT but sounds like a handy application.

    Reply
  62. Sydni March 21, 2016 at 10:03 AM

    Down to just under $5,000 after starting with $33,000 about 5 years ago. Going back to grad school in the fall though so that number will be going up again.

    I had heard of Student Loan Hero but never looked into it. Definitely looks helpful!

    Reply
  63. Paul Burckhardt March 21, 2016 at 10:09 AM

    1. $0 in student loan debt. Dont think I should be excluded for tackling my debt with the ferocity of a rabid bengal tiger crossed with the intensity of 1000 suns… “Finished paying sallie mae off”.

    2. NOPE. Never heard of student loan hero. Wish they had something like this back when I was paying off debt.

    Reply
  64. Shane March 21, 2016 at 10:18 AM

    I currently have about $70k in student loan debt. My parents were unable to help with college, and although I worked throughout college and received some scholarships, I financed 4 years on my own.

    I have heard of Student Loan Hero before. It was either from your blog or the podcast you co-host with Paula. I am very curious to see if SLH could help me out, but I’m afraid to start the loan process because of the negative impact the credit pulls will have. I’ve attempted to refinance/consolidate some of the debt before, but was told my debt-to-income was too high. Assuming this is still the case, I wouldn’t want to add more hard inquiries to my report.

    Reply
    1. Jeffrey @ Student Loan Hero March 23, 2016 at 5:58 PM

      Hi Shane,

      That’s a totally understandable concern.

      One thing I can say is several of the lenders will now let you check eligibility and get your rate without needing a hard inquiry. This includes SoFi, Earnest, CommonBond, and LendKey.

      If you proceed from there and do end up filling out an application, they will do a hard pull then.

      Hope this helps!

      Cheers,

      Jeffrey

      Reply
  65. Adam March 21, 2016 at 10:22 AM

    My wife has about $13000 in student loans at an interest rate of 2.9%. I’ve not heard of SLH before, but will be checking it out. Luckily for us, her interest rate is on the low side of the rates in the list of refinance companies, above.

    Reply
  66. Elizabeth March 21, 2016 at 10:24 AM

    1) Current student loan debt is: $115,569.88 from two post-college degrees (BSN, MPH). I’ve paid off nearly $23,000 in less than two years, (which is when I really got serious about my debt because we had a baby on the way).
    2) I’ve never heard of this site before, but I am definitely signing up for an account!

    Reply
  67. Desirae March 21, 2016 at 10:24 AM

    I have just over $31k in student loan debt and it is one of my biggest stressors in life. I had not heard of Student Loan Hero prior to reading this blog post, but I very much intend to look into it now.

    Reply
  68. Mason Lockey March 21, 2016 at 10:24 AM

    I still have about $4,333 with more to come, yay me.

    I’ve believe I may of heard of Student Loan Hero, but I never really checked it out until I read the Sexy Blog! Being able to show everything on one dashboard is huge for me and the ability to refinance is awesome!

    Reply
  69. Katie March 21, 2016 at 10:25 AM

    Yes, approx. $24,000 left in student loan debt…arrgh! I haven’t heard of student loan hero, but it looks like a great tool to have! I love the visual dashboard feature!

    Reply
  70. Mason Lockey March 21, 2016 at 10:25 AM

    I’ve also shared this article on my facebook as I have many friends who could benefit from the services of Student Loan Hero, not to mention the $500!

    Reply
  71. K March 21, 2016 at 10:30 AM

    I’ve got $24k. I’ve never heard of SLH but I sure will look into them! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  72. Brittany March 21, 2016 at 10:31 AM

    I still owe $51,300.

    I think SLH sounds great. Once I am no longer making income-based payments, I would be willing to try them. Can’t refi the fed loans until I can do a standard repayment. I will definitely keep them in mind when the time comes.

    Reply
  73. Marshal Hines March 21, 2016 at 10:32 AM

    I have $29,367.82 left. I haven’t heard of Student Loan Hero before but will be looking into now.

    Reply
  74. Pat March 21, 2016 at 10:33 AM

    We still have my husband’s student loan debt and it was combined and financed years ago so while Student Loan Hero sounds great we wouldn’t refinance, etc, at this point. We’ve been paying on it since 1995 and it won’t be paid off until the end of 2019 so it’s been a long slog. Now we have our oldest in college and our youngest will be be in college in 2017. We are trying to cash flow their tuition so they don’t have loans like this which is why $500 would be an most welcome win!

    Reply
  75. AD March 21, 2016 at 10:39 AM

    I still owe $60,000 and I have been paying on it for 13 years; it was about $120k when I finished law school. Ugh. I have never heard of Student Loan Hero, but I think it is great there is a service out there that is willing to help people get on the right track. I am finally in a place were I am making huge a dent in the amount and every bit helps.

    Reply
  76. Sia March 21, 2016 at 10:41 AM

    I have about $7000 of student loan debt left. I have not heard of Student Loan Hero; while it targets people with $10,000 in debt or more, I think the tips could still be useful. I am working class and don’t make very much to pay towards my loans at the moment, so it feels like I just have this ball and chain of debt dragging behind me at all times.

    Reply
  77. Jason B March 21, 2016 at 10:41 AM

    I have nearly $61,000 in student loan debt.

    I’ve heard of Student Loan Hero. Their company seems pretty good.

    Reply
  78. Jason B March 21, 2016 at 10:42 AM

    I shared it on Twitter and Google+ .

    Reply
  79. Alice @ Earning My Two Cents March 21, 2016 at 10:44 AM

    I totally shared on Facebook and Twitter

    Reply
  80. Alice @ Earning My Two Cents March 21, 2016 at 10:45 AM

    My hubby has $66k and counting in loans, so that means that I also have that much in loans (one team one fight).

    I think SLH is a cool tool and I would totally use it. I signed up on their site to tinker around with it and the interest rates you listed for an example are for sure lower than the private loan. Stupid private loan….

    Reply
  81. Raquel Serrano March 21, 2016 at 10:46 AM

    I have roughly about $23,000 ($22,358 exactly). I’m currently paying off interest on them.

    I’ve never heard of Student Loan Hero before, but look at that dashboard! Are you guys thinking about ever making an app because I’m an iPhone girl ;) I’ve been wanting to refinance for a while as well as wanting a place that could help me focus on my loans that wasn’t the borrower’s actual website.

    Reply
    1. Jeffrey @ Student Loan Hero March 23, 2016 at 6:01 PM

      Hi Raquel,

      Thanks for the compliments! We’re hoping to create an app, but I’m not sure when that would be released. However, we’re always focused on making sure our mobile website functions well from a smartphone.

      Additionally, we’re coming out with a whole new and improved dashboard very soon, so stay tuned!

      Cheers,

      Jeffrey

      Reply
  82. Becca March 21, 2016 at 10:46 AM

    I have $62K-ish left of law school debt. I haven’t heard of Student Loan Here – but sounds like a great concept!! Can’t wait to have my debt gone!

    Reply
  83. Raquel Serrano March 21, 2016 at 10:47 AM

    Shared via Twitter!
    @lovingphilomath

    Reply
  84. Julie March 21, 2016 at 10:48 AM

    1. I currently have $36.6k in student loan debt.
    2. Student Loan Hero is an incredible site – chockfull of great information on side hustles, repayment plans, motivational tips, and stories!

    Reply
  85. Martha March 21, 2016 at 10:50 AM

    Started with 16k in student loans now down to 6200. Hadn’t heard of student loan hero but willing to try anything want to start saving money for my daughters college fund

    Reply
  86. Rick M. March 21, 2016 at 10:54 AM

    Thanks for this post and giving us info on this great site! To answer your questions–

    1. At least $100,000 left in student loan debt (College + grad school).

    2. I have never heard of Student Loan Hero before your article, but I will definitely be checking the site out and utilizing their services. Thanks for tip!

    Reply
  87. Liz March 21, 2016 at 10:58 AM

    I don’t have student debt (YAY!..also, I think I’m well past the student debt allowable age), but if I did, I’d be in on this in a flash. I have however shared this opportunity to some of my (younger) friends who are carrying student loans :)

    And, ‘no’ to both questions. Hurray!

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 23, 2016 at 3:35 PM

      Good position to be in – thanks for still passing it around! :)

      Reply
  88. Jon B March 21, 2016 at 10:59 AM

    I’ve got about $100k remaining on my student loans. Never heard of Student Loan Hero but will be checking them out later today. Thanks!

    Reply
  89. Bye-bye student loans March 21, 2016 at 11:04 AM

    1. $25,594
    2. Nope, but I’ll definitely check it out.

    Reply
  90. Jehri March 21, 2016 at 11:05 AM

    I have 10k in Student Loan debt. I have not heard of Student Loan Hero but sounds like a great service! Like Progressive for student loans!

    Reply
  91. Molly Fishburn-Matthew March 21, 2016 at 11:14 AM

    I haven’t heard of Student Loan Hero, but I’m excited to check it out! I have about $17,000 in student loan debt.

    Reply
  92. Erin March 21, 2016 at 11:15 AM

    My husband and I have about $160,000 of student loan debt. We both paid for our own educations (Master’s degrees) and we’re very proud of that, but we could have been smarter with our money while in school. We want to be able to pay for our children’s educations, but we have to pay off our own loans first! We have about 16 years before the first child will enter college.

    I have not heard of Student Loan Here before, but I will check them out. They look great.

    Reply
  93. Nathan V March 21, 2016 at 11:18 AM

    My wife and I had over $100,000 in undergrad and graduate school debt. After a decade of paying it down, we only have $14,000 to go! Our final loan has an interest rate of 3% so I probably wouldn’t change it now – but I wish there were options like Student Debt Hero around back when we started, as some of our higher interest loans (that we payed off first) were in the 7% range.

    Reply
  94. Wendy March 21, 2016 at 11:19 AM

    Down below $14k now, but I’d love to knock it down even faster :). And nope, I had never heard of Student Loan Hero until I read this post.

    Reply
  95. Dawn March 21, 2016 at 11:19 AM

    I am at $47,700. At age 42, I just feel like they will never go away! I did pay off one last year and have 8 more thru Navient.
    I haven’t heard of this new site, but have checked out SoFi before. Mine are all federal which affords me certain benefits like forbearance with job loss, but I just want them out of my life!
    Would love this $500 to help pay off my next lowest loan :-)

    Reply
  96. wayne March 21, 2016 at 11:21 AM

    About $18K. I have not heard of SLH. It will not help me I have already refinanced to a rate lower than available today, however this service can help others.

    Reply
  97. Christina March 21, 2016 at 11:21 AM

    As per Personal Capital, I have $66,841.57 and it goes up daily. I graduated from college in 2003 and still haven’t finished paying the less than $30,000 I owed. Then I went to grad school, which I didn’t finish because I was sick and on disability for many years. Later I returned to school for a career change. The last was exactly $10,000 more, but I already had as much grad school debt as I did college debt. I have paid down about $10,000, but I don’t see myself getting out of debt any time soon.

    Reply
  98. Christina March 21, 2016 at 11:21 AM

    I also shared on Facebook.

    Reply
  99. Diana G March 21, 2016 at 11:29 AM

    Hi! Thank you for this information!!

    1) I have over $100,000 in Student Loan debt. $99,000.00 of that is the actual principal, the rest is the interest. Crazy right?!?

    2) I haven’t heard of Student Loan Hero before this. It looks like it could be helpful in paying off my loan.

    Reply
  100. Heather Steele March 21, 2016 at 11:31 AM

    $150k and never heard of student loan hero but will check them out now!

    Reply
  101. Kimberly Bailey March 21, 2016 at 11:34 AM

    I have $38,000 in student loan debt.

    I had not heard of Student Loan Hero prior to today, but I did refinance my debut last July with Citizens Bank.

    Thanks for the information.

    Reply
  102. Bev March 21, 2016 at 11:35 AM

    1) I have $143,000 in student loan debt from college and law school which I DEEPLY regret. Not even practicing right now because I found litigation to be too stressful and difficult for me. I have about $43,000 from college and about $100,000 from law school. I am paying off the $43,000 but and hoping that Public Interest Loan Forgiveness will wipe out the big balance in about 8 more years.

    2) I probably would not take advantage of Student Loan Here because my $43,000 loan is at a low 2.5% interest rate. I will check out their site though!

    Reply
    1. Paula March 22, 2016 at 3:35 PM

      Hi I saw you had a 2.5% interest rate for your loans. Can you tell me how you got that rate and which company? I’m trying to do research now into lowering my current rate of 6.8%. Thanks

      Reply
  103. Heather March 21, 2016 at 11:36 AM

    I have $7,000 remaining in law school student loans. I have never heard of Student Loan Hero before your article.

    Reply
  104. George March 21, 2016 at 11:36 AM

    I have about $77,000 leftover from grad and undergrad loans. I started at over $100,000 but have been slowly working on paying those off.

    I have heard of Student Loan Hero and looked into refinancing some loans with them. I decided to ultimately not to so my government loans would then become private loans (which has its pros and cons).

    Reply
  105. Heather March 21, 2016 at 11:37 AM

    I shared your article on Twitter!

    Reply
  106. Tamara March 21, 2016 at 11:42 AM

    1. I have 20k in student loans.

    2. I have not heard of studentloan hero. I am very interested in learning more. I’ve looked into some of these options before, but thought I didn’t qualify. I wouldn’t mind taking another look to see how I can reduce my interest.

    Reply
  107. Tara March 21, 2016 at 11:43 AM

    Ugh. I have about 13k left on my loans. I pay a little more than I need to every month, but I have a great interest rate, so I’ve been focusing more on paying down my mortgage. Still… I wish I could snap my fingers and see this debt go away. sigh.

    I have heard of SLH, but as I say, my rate is already very low, and it is in one place (Navient), so it is not too difficult to manage.

    Reply
  108. Hillary March 21, 2016 at 11:49 AM

    1. 18K
    2. No! But I’m setting up an account now..

    Reply
  109. Ken March 21, 2016 at 11:52 AM

    1) I have a little under $12,000 in student loan debt that I’ve been paying since 2005.

    2) I have never heard of Student Loan Hero, and with my fairly low debt I don’t think there would be any huge benefit from using them, but it would keep things all in the same place which could be convenient.

    Reply
  110. Samantha March 21, 2016 at 11:55 AM

    I was lucky that my parents had saved a chunk of money to put towards my college so that I only had to take out about $25,000 in student loans. As of today, just under 3 years since graduating, I only have about $3000 left. A part of me is pretty annoyed with myself for taking out some of these loans and using it as spending money, vs handling it better and paying off my loans faster, but thanks to me aggressively paying off my loans now that I’m graduated, I realized I could’ve been in a way worse position.

    I’ve heard of StudentLoanHero (I was subscribed to their newsletters too!) but my loans never seemed to be large enough to warrant their help, since I wouldn’t refinance with the amount that I have. I’m sure it is very helpful for those with larger debt, or perhaps if I had found these guys sooner, I might have gone that route when my debt was higher.

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 23, 2016 at 3:44 PM

      If only there was a way to prevent spending the $$ when not needed back then?? Imagine how much better off students would be? (Financially at least – I’m sure you/people had a ton of fun spending it in college – I know I did with any extra $$ I had! Haha…)

      Reply
  111. Dustin March 21, 2016 at 11:55 AM

    1. My wife and I have just under $76,000 left to go on student loan debt. We started just over 2 years ago with $90,000 in debt and have used to snowball method with the higher interest rate loans to plow through some of it.

    2. I’ve never heard of student loan hero before, but I will check it out. They may be able to offer a consolidated rate that is lower than our average rate now. We will likely keep on our current plan of paying off Federal loans 1st because of lower balance and Private loans second.

    Reply
  112. Brian March 21, 2016 at 12:05 PM

    1. $59,939.38
    2. I’ve heard of SLH before and began using it a few months ago. Not my favorite tool to use. No offense to the creator. The calculator seems to need some work as I’ve done my own amortization schedule and gotten it to agree with my loan, but the SLH calculator does not seem to accurately calculate the loan payoff and match that up with the minimum, fast track, and debt snowball categories. The plus is that I did find Citizens Bank through SLH and did refinance my loans with them, so that’s a great thing that came from it.

    Reply
  113. David Yu March 21, 2016 at 12:08 PM

    1) I have roughly ~$20K in student debt and started paying it off in 2013 (down from $26K).

    2) I haven’t heard about Student Loan Hero until reading this blog post but it seems like it could be useful potentially. My loans already have a low rate and are already consolidated in one location but it would be cool to see how it would look on Hero’s website.

    Reply
  114. JCA March 21, 2016 at 12:16 PM

    We have $25K in student loans for my wife’s most recent degree. I have never heard of Student Loan Hero and don’t anticipate using their services. Fortunately, our loans are all with one lender, and we plan on paying them all off in my wife’s first year of work.

    Reply
  115. Vana March 21, 2016 at 12:18 PM

    Oh the joys of student loans. I would say, I was pretty fortunate to have picked a cheaper in-state public school so my total for both my Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree is about $50,000. Now that’s a nice Porsche right there *as I drop a tear* but I am determined to pay it off just not so sure by when, my income is pretty good now but I am also about to get laid off so that will make things very interesting.

    This is the first time I have heard of student loan hero and I think this is a great tool to use. All of my loans are federal loans, so my interest rates are pretty low Ranging from 3.6% to 6.8% but if I can combine it all and get a rate lower than 4% ideally 3% that would be amazing. I believe every bit of help can make a great change!

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 23, 2016 at 3:49 PM

      Good luck with the impending lay off! Interesting that you know ahead of time and better than out of nowhere, eh? LOVING your name too – you don’t hear it very often outside of Wheel of Fortune :)

      Reply
  116. Kayley March 21, 2016 at 12:19 PM

    1) I have about $15k left out of $23k total
    2) I’d heard the name Student Loan Hero before, but I hadn’t actually understood what they did – your explanation is very good!

    Reply
  117. Cole March 21, 2016 at 12:20 PM

    Long-time reader, first time commenter. Let me go ahead and get entered into this contest. :)

    1)I have a whopping $50k left on my $100k of debt (yay for out-of-state private schools, if anyone has kids and need someone to “scare them straight” when it comes to schooling, I will happily volunteer to help). Luckily my wife, we just got married last July, only had about $10k of student loan debt that she had mostly already paid off so we can just continue to chip away at mine. The goal is to have it all paid off in 2.5 more years, which would be a grand total of 7.5 years from the time I left school.

    2) I had never heard of it before. I’ve used a spreadsheet since I graduated college to track everything so luckily the information that I was getting matched up. It certainly seems to have a nice UI and may utilize it. Although with most of my loans being private, there is only so much that it can do other than help me get exact #s for how much I’ll save by paying off the loans as quickly, and efficiently, as I have been.

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 23, 2016 at 3:52 PM

      Thanks for leaving your first comment :) Doing great on that debt over there!

      Reply
  118. Maggie March 21, 2016 at 12:21 PM

    I currently have $23,840 on student loan debt from undergrad and graduate school. I had not heard of Student Loan Hero until now. It is something I am interested in. I find that the information that they provide is something that I call my Loan provider for every other month. Because when I do have some extra money, I like to throw it towards my highest interest loan.
    Best,
    Maggie from Chicago

    Reply
    1. Ernie April 11, 2016 at 11:28 AM

      Congrats on winning Maggie!

      Reply
  119. Mike March 21, 2016 at 12:23 PM

    After today’s monthly payment, I’ll have $133k left, and that’s after paying off the balance as I quickly as possible after three and a half years. Happily, I just refinanced for a five-year term at 1.95% to truly kill them off. I’ve heard of Student Loan Hero and recall finding the calculators and info helpful.

    Reply
  120. Aliyyah @RichAndHappyBlog March 21, 2016 at 12:23 PM

    This is a great giveaway! I don’t have any student loans, but if I did I would definitely enter.

    Reply
  121. Harry March 21, 2016 at 12:25 PM

    1. I have 40k left with a fixed rate of 1.6%.
    2. I haven’t heard of them before and I don’t think they’ll be able to help me. But I could see this being quite useful for those with higher rates looking to pay off their loans in the next few years. :)

    Reply
  122. Erin March 21, 2016 at 12:29 PM

    I’m in mega debt pay-down mode right now and was just starting to look at all the options for refinancing my federal loans.

    I have maybe heard of Student Loan Hero, but probably just in passing. Excited to check them out!

    Reply
  123. Kandice Smith March 21, 2016 at 12:32 PM

    This is sooo awesome of you and Student Loan Hero! I need some HELP paying off my loans because it is taking forever.
    My balance is : $8,867.93 …I’ve come a long way.

    Before today I’ve never heard of student loan hero, but I’m glad I know now. I totally believe this could help me because I need to know how “rates, percentages and interest) works.

    Thanks a million!
    Kandice

    Reply
  124. Holly Sanford March 21, 2016 at 12:34 PM

    1. I have $19,500 left in student loans.
    2. I haven’t heard of this company before but I’m going to check them out now. My only concern in trying them would be that I’ve heard once you refi your student loans that you lose some options if you fall into a hardship situation and need to reduce your payments temporarily. Not that I anticipate needing help with something like this but then again you never know when a crisis will hit.

    Reply
    1. Jeffrey @ Student Loan Hero March 24, 2016 at 7:56 AM

      Hi Holly,

      You’re definitely right. If you refinance federal student loans, you will lose some options and flexibility, including access to income-based repayment, certain forbearance/deferment options, and student loan forgiveness.

      For private student loans, the repayment options are likely to be similar, which is why some people only choose to refinance their private student loans and leave the federal ones alone.

      However, many borrowers accept the tradeoff of lower interest rates greater savings in place of these flexible options and choose to refinance both their federal and private loans together.

      Hope this helps!

      Best,

      Jeffrey

      Reply
  125. Jessica March 21, 2016 at 12:44 PM

    I have just over $1000 left, and a plan to pay it off by August.
    I haven’t heard of this site before, but it sounds great. I love things that simplify finances.

    Reply
  126. Caitlin March 21, 2016 at 12:53 PM

    I still have $7,600 left in Student Loans. I have never heard of Studentloanhero.com before but I will definitely be checking them out!

    Reply
  127. Ellie March 21, 2016 at 1:02 PM

    I’m getting the total down pretty well, but I still have $2487 left. I’ve never heard of Student Loan Hero before.

    Reply
  128. Jess March 21, 2016 at 1:06 PM

    (1) 23,500+, due to be paid off by November 2019

    (2) Nope, but I’m going to check it out.

    Thanks!

    Reply
  129. J Fi March 21, 2016 at 1:09 PM

    1. I have about 110k of graduate school debt for my masters and PhD (yikes)

    2. Yes. I am a subscriber of their content and newsletter, but haven’t yet used their offerings. Definitely will be checking it out more and signing up for the tools, as the look pretty great and helpful. I am always inspired by their user stories of getting out of debt, and I will be showing my fiancee how to refinance her loans this upcoming weekend using one of their recommended refi services as well.

    Reply
  130. Ange March 21, 2016 at 1:26 PM

    Just a few years out of school and into the full time work force, but I’ve got about $7k left on my undergrad loans (was very lucky with scholarships). My wife has about $35k combined from undergrad and masters courses she had to take for a teaching certificate, and is preparing to go back to school in the fall, but hopefully with scholarships and grants we won’t have to take on too much more for that.

    Haven’t heard of Student Loan Hero- Right now I like having loans separate so that we can focus any extra payments to the highest interest rate. But maybe in the future consolidation would be beneficial.

    Reply
  131. Teresa March 21, 2016 at 1:44 PM

    I was able to pay off $80k in loans with regular payments and loan service repayment in the past. But that was before I decided to go back and get a masters degree. So now I’m about $12k in and I’m hoping that I will be able to finance the rest without loans. I’ve never heard of student loan hero but it sure is a much needed service!

    Reply
  132. Sarah March 21, 2016 at 1:44 PM

    I have just under 42k in student loans.

    I hadn’t heard of SLH before, but I’ll probably look into it. I’ve always assumed that my loans (federal) are at a good enough rate that I don’t need to refinance, but I’m realizing that might not be true. Thanks!

    Reply
  133. Teresa March 21, 2016 at 1:45 PM

    Shared on Facebook. :)

    Reply
  134. Angie March 21, 2016 at 1:46 PM

    I have $12K in sld currently. $4K of this has been graciously loaned to me from my parents who are not charging me interest. Originally I started with $17K in 2014.

    I have not heard of Student Loan Hero, however it does sound like something I’m interested in. I currently use Mint to track how much I’m “spending” on my loans. Like some others, I have my own excel sheet where I calculated that I’ll be done paying off by November 2017 as long as I keep up with my aggressive spending plan. Every little bit counts!

    Reply
  135. Sara March 21, 2016 at 1:46 PM

    Love the contest J$!

    I owe $32,000: $14,500 in my own loans and $17,500 in joint loans that my father helped me take out for school. I refinanced my loans with SoFi last year but I wasn’t able to do the same for the joint loans and they’re so awful. I had no idea what I was getting into there: 20 year + payment plans with 10% interest. Ugh!

    I had not heard of student loan hero but I’m signing up right now! I love calculators and tools that can help me understand my financial situation and figure out the best use of my money.

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 23, 2016 at 3:58 PM

      10%????? That is a rip off – incredible!

      Reply
  136. Sara March 21, 2016 at 1:47 PM

    And shared on twitter! Thanks!

    Reply
  137. Lauri March 21, 2016 at 1:53 PM

    (1)
    9,700 from undergrad despite community college and working 3 jobs at once. I paid that off.
    74,188.19 for my PhD due to having heart surgery and a divorce. I’ve paid off 46,091.20 and I’m down to 28,096.99 at 4.875%.

    (2)
    Nope, I haven’t heard of them and I’ll check them out now.

    Thanks!

    Reply
  138. SS March 21, 2016 at 1:57 PM

    My husband and I combined have about $50k in student debt left (with an aggressive plan to have it all paid off in 18 months, I might add!).

    Never heard of Student Loan Hero before. Looks interesting enough to check out!

    Reply
  139. Elizabeth March 21, 2016 at 1:58 PM

    Have about 32K left in student loans, started with 48K+.

    Wish i would have known about Student Loan Hero about 8 months ago! However, i refi’d with SoFi and all is happy over there. :)

    Reply
  140. Jessica D. March 21, 2016 at 2:07 PM

    I have about $44k left. I graduated from a private university in 2008 and was fortunate enough to have a partial scholarship and my fourth year paid for by my father. I feel like a lot of my adult life has been put on hold because of my student loans. That being said, I hope increase my payments and have my loans paid off by the end of 2019!

    I have not heard of Student Loan Hero but I will definitely check them out.

    Thanks!

    Reply
  141. Jenna March 21, 2016 at 2:13 PM

    Started with $54k in student loans… down to $48k now. I have never heard of studentloanhero but checking it out right now!

    Reply
  142. Adam March 21, 2016 at 2:19 PM

    My loans are paid off, but my wife still has another $8,100 to go.

    I had not previously heard of student loan hero, but would have been willing to give them a try earlier on in our payoff strategy. As it is, I used Excel as a dashboard for our loans and even incorporated credit cards, auto loans and our mortgage into it.

    Reply
  143. Joe March 21, 2016 at 2:22 PM

    I owe just under $20k on my grad school debt, and finished paying off my undergrad loans last summer.

    I hadn’t heard about Student Loan Hero before, but I’m definitely going to give them a try!

    Reply
  144. Alyssa March 21, 2016 at 2:27 PM

    I started with a little over $60K in student debt from undergrad. Just under 4 years later and I have that down to just under $10K outstanding. I have never heard of Student Loan Hero – but I wish I had when I was starting out paying off my student loans as I think it would have saved me a significant amount in interest! I expect to have paid out around $75K when I pay them off completely.

    Reply
  145. MH March 21, 2016 at 2:27 PM

    I have about $117 in student loan debt. I began paying them off in 2013 but have barely made a dent. Sigh…

    2) I think Student Loan Hero is pretty cool! I pay $600/month in student loans but if I could cut my interest rates down, that’d be great!

    Reply
  146. Ernie March 21, 2016 at 2:30 PM

    I have $6,247 left.

    I just recently heard of Student Loan Hero, and they looked awesome, but I figured they couldn’t help me since I don’t have that much more student loan debt to pay off. I really wish they had been around when I started paying off my student loans back in 2002.

    Reply
  147. John March 21, 2016 at 2:30 PM

    I’ve got just over $28,500 in student loans right now. I’ve been paying on them for years! Thanks for the chance to pay off $500 more!

    Reply
  148. Alexandra Wakefield March 21, 2016 at 2:35 PM

    I owe $99,959.46 in student loan debt from an undergraduate (out of state) degree from Rutgers…The State University of New Jersey (Yes, I know, New Jersey). I recently broke the $100,000 debt figure and am thrilled to be on my way to debt freedom. Most people I talk to say “oh just pay minimums, the loans will always be there”, those are the people will be out $75K+ in interest. My monthly loan payments are about $843.57 and this month I will put my first additional $1000 toward my highest interest rated loan (Discover- which bought my loan from some other bank, and upped my interest rate). I say all of this transparently because as I go through this struggle, I empower myself and others to analyze their own personal finance and debt situations and take control of them. I listen to Dave Ramsey and I LOVE budgets are sexy because it always introduces me to new financial avenues. . I have not looked into StudentLoanHero.com but plan to do so after submitting this review.

    The struggle is real.

    Alexandra

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 23, 2016 at 4:08 PM

      BOOM! The struggle may be real but luckily the hustle is stronger! Get ’em, girl!

      Reply
  149. Christine March 21, 2016 at 2:41 PM

    Is there anything more depressing than looking at your student loan balance? Sigh.

    Thanks for posting about Student Loan Hero. I hadn’t heard about it, but just signed up and spent a good 15 minutes playing around with the tools. I’m $66K in debt. Paying an extra $15 a month will shave 2.5 years off my debt payment! Adding another $100 will save 4.7 years. It’s tools like this that really help me keep things in perspective and make me feel like it’s possible to pay off these dreaded student loans.

    Reply
  150. K Nelson March 21, 2016 at 2:42 PM

    Oh boy! I have over $114k in student loan debt, both from undergrad and grad combined. I am chipping away at it and almost done with the undergrad portion.

    I had never heard of student loan hero, but I am definitely going to check them out. The calculators look the most interesting and I look forward to figuring out how I can save some $$ in the long run.

    Thanks for sponsoring a giveaway targeted at student loan debt!

    Reply
  151. Alex March 21, 2016 at 2:54 PM

    1. About 7k left to go
    2. I haven’t heard of Student Loan Hero before but it seems like a good platform to keep on top of your loans, I’ll have to check it out!

    Reply
  152. Michelle March 21, 2016 at 2:54 PM

    I graduated in 2011 with almost $70k in student loan debt, refinanced last year, and now have $48k left. Yes I do know of Student Loan Hero – I owe them for their insight and helpfulness on student loans. Through their newsletter, I learned about refinancing and applied to lenders they recommended. Thank you!

    Reply
  153. Lisa March 21, 2016 at 2:58 PM

    My husband and I just finished paying off the consumer debt this month (!!!!) and now we’ve turned our attention to the $160K student loan debt so this is the perfect time to learn about this tool. I had never heard about it previously but it looks great and really helpful for seeing everything in one place.

    ~L

    Reply
  154. Jess March 21, 2016 at 3:01 PM

    I graduated my 4 year undergrad with $50,000 from an in-state school, and I had a few small scholarships and work study jobs. 7 years later and I’m down to $33,000. I work at a non-profit in a very expensive city and It feels like I’ll never pay these off. It’s depressing.

    I haven’t heard of student loan hero, but I’m definitely going to look into it more. Thanks for the tip!

    Reply
  155. Miss Thrifty March 21, 2016 at 3:02 PM

    1. $4,493 – down from $29,500 three years ago

    2. Had I heard of Students Loan Hero before? No.
    What do I think? I like the idea of having everything in one place. However, I think at this point I don’t need to focus on refinancing so much as just throwing any extra money I have at my loans to get them paid off.

    As I’m reading the comments, it seems like it might be too close to the end of the student loan journey for some of us. I hope SLH focuses their marketing strategy on getting borrowers sooner rather than later, especially when refinancing earlier can potentially save them a lot over the longer term of their loans.

    Reply
  156. Rosie S March 21, 2016 at 3:04 PM

    I owe $34051 in student loans. help me since my federal student loans already have pretty low interest rates and they couldn’t do anything to consolidate private loans from family members.

    Reply
  157. Kelly Pearson March 21, 2016 at 3:04 PM

    I am lucky and besides getting huge scholarships, my parents covered the rest of my college costs. We are working on paying off my boyfriends student loan payments. I can’t wait until we’re in the free and clear and that money can be put towards other goals.

    The boyfriend used student loan hero to refinance last year.

    Reply
  158. Anthony March 21, 2016 at 3:22 PM

    A1: I currently have $74,973.38, including both public and private loans. I have $64,039 in Federal loans, and $10,934.38 in private loans from undergrad.

    A2: This is my first time hearing about Student Loan Hero. I am excited to learn more about it – seems like an awesome program.

    Reply
  159. KayBee March 21, 2016 at 3:38 PM

    I had never heard of these guys but I have heard of SoFi and Earnest! I planned on applying to get my higher interest loans. I owe about 75k and unfortunately most of it is interest bc I kept deferring and forbearance. If I know what I know now, I would be in a lot better position.

    Reply
  160. KayBee March 21, 2016 at 3:40 PM

    Just shared on twitter! I’m so excited about this.

    Reply
  161. Sophia March 21, 2016 at 3:44 PM

    1. How much student loan debt do you have left? $42,738.49 total- all undergrad (going to grad school for free!! Employee tuition waivers best part of working for a university)

    2. Have you heard of Student Loan Hero before? I have not heard from them before, but definitely am interested now and will give it a try. I’m currently a grad student part-time and work full-time, but will come out of my deferment period very soon and need a tool to help get me organized. I am particularly interested in seeing all of my loans together in a nice, legible format (Mint does OK with this but is not interactive) and the loan payment calculator. Nothing is more motivating than seeing how making slightly larger payments can save me in the long run, in both time and interest money! I am also considering refinancing but know nothing about it other than it could be a good idea for me, so I’m hoping SLH will be my hero and show me the most efficient and effective way to pay down my loans ASAP. Maybe that means refinancing or maybe that means giving myself a good kick to just make the biggest payment I possibly can and still have a decent quality of life. Either way, SLH can help keep me accountable, motivated, and informed.

    Reply
  162. Mandy March 21, 2016 at 3:51 PM

    My husband and I owe a small house in student loan debt. It’s sickening really since we don’t even own a house. I’ve never heard of Student Loan Hero, but my husband does have his loans with earnest. May have to check it out for my loans.

    Reply
  163. martha Preston March 21, 2016 at 4:07 PM

    I was able to use my academics to get a grant for my undergrad. I had to take some time off because my disability took a toll on my health. I am currently getting my masters degree in teaching. I had to get a loan for my masters right now I owe $56,000.

    Before today I have never heard of Student loan hero. I am going to some research on it right now

    Reply
  164. Gabriella March 21, 2016 at 4:16 PM

    I recently graduated with a BA and I have $33,000 in student loan debt.

    I hadn’t heard of Student Loan Hero before but I really think they could help me out and I plan on looking into their site!

    Reply
  165. Katie C March 21, 2016 at 4:47 PM

    1. Around 8K
    2. I’ve never heard of Student Loan Hero, but they seem like they could be extraordinarily helpful!

    Reply
  166. Amanda Belyew March 21, 2016 at 5:23 PM

    I have $24,000 of student loan debt. After reading a lot of these comments, I guess I’m pretty lucky to “only” have that much left, but it still feels like a crushing debt to me. I feel like I will never get it paid off, because with my income I can just barely afford the minimum payment, and it’s very rare that I get to pay extra.
    I had never heard of Student Loan Hero until this post. Honestly, I’ve always been a little scared of refinancing any type of debt, but after reading the article I will definitely read up on this a bit more.

    Reply
  167. Beth March 21, 2016 at 5:48 PM

    My current student loan balance is around $19k!! Ugh!

    I have never heard of student loan hero before. I’m not sure how helpful it would be but I would be willing to look into it.

    Reply
  168. Syed March 21, 2016 at 5:49 PM

    Have about $90,000 in debt currently, thought i started with $150,000 five years ago. Chipping away!

    I’ve heard about SLH before but didn’t know they had a dashboard. I will check it out for sure.

    Tweeted the article too!

    Reply
  169. ashley March 21, 2016 at 5:56 PM

    over 29K, never heard of it before this article

    Reply
  170. Jesse Hill March 21, 2016 at 5:58 PM

    1.My loan is 48,000. Yikes
    2. I have never heard of Student Loan Hero before, but if anything can help out, I’m always for it. $500 is $50 shy of my monthly payment. Gotta love education!

    Reply
  171. jen l March 21, 2016 at 6:17 PM

    I have 9K left of student loans. I’ve never heard of Student Loan hero, but it looks like a good resource to consolidate.

    Reply
  172. Ace March 21, 2016 at 6:22 PM

    We have about $26,000 left to bang out on student loans. I haven’t heard of the student loan hero until now. This was a great article. Thank you.

    Reply
  173. Joe March 21, 2016 at 6:55 PM

    1. How much student loan debt do you have left? $74,038, but who’s counting? Just last week I finished paying of all my CC debt, which had gotten as high as $31,000. Now it’s time to start working on the student loan debt.
    2. Have you heard of Student Loan Hero before? Yes, through this website. I have looked at the site, but haven’t signed up yet. Probably going to do that now.

    Reply
      1. J. Money March 23, 2016 at 4:18 PM

        Congrats on killing that credit card debt – $30k is no joke!

        Reply
  174. Tonya March 21, 2016 at 7:37 PM

    I am the bill payer and my husband is the student loan indebted.

    1. $48,185.40
    2. I’ve never heard of Student Loan Hero but I’m fascinated and checking them out! The less I have to pay, the better!

    Reply
  175. Kenya F March 21, 2016 at 7:39 PM

    1. I owe about $14,000. I’ve been paying this off for the last 15 years! I thought I would be done paying it last year but then I lost my job in the beginning of 2015 and had to take something with a 20K paycut. Waaaaaaah!!! Been applying and interviewing and trying to make sure I bump up my salary ASAP.
    2. I never heard about Student Loan hero but I’m going to look into it right now! I need help and I want student loans out of my life foreeevvver!

    Reply
  176. V March 21, 2016 at 7:42 PM

    I have $106K from graduate school loans. The education helped me pursue the career of my dreams. It was an amazing experience and I have no regrets. Paying the loans off and seeing that balance does feel like a ball and chain. :(

    Didn’t hear about Student Loan Hero until this post. I’m going to check it out!

    Reply
  177. John March 21, 2016 at 7:47 PM

    I was lucky to get out of college with no debt. My wife…not so much. She’s been paying on them for about 10 years now and we’ve been hitting them aggressively for the last year. We’re down to about $9500 left and we hope to knock it out (along with some consumer debt) in the next year and a half.

    I haven’t heard of Student Loan Hero before, but anything that helps get debt under control is worth a look.

    Reply
  178. John March 21, 2016 at 7:48 PM

    Just RT the article.

    Reply
  179. Bela March 21, 2016 at 8:05 PM

    1. I have $13,393 left in student loan debt
    2. I’d never heard of Student Loan Hero prior to this article

    Reply
  180. Chris March 21, 2016 at 8:23 PM

    I currently have $7K in loan debt and find it manageable. Unfortunately, my girlfriend will graduate with $200-$300K in student loan debt soon.

    We have not heard of Student Loan Hero before, but we’ll definitely look into it more now that we know about it.

    Reply
  181. Ashley March 21, 2016 at 8:31 PM

    I’m down to 5,200.

    I’ve never heard of student loan hero. Honestly, its not something that would be super helpful to me – my interest rates are 1.63% and 2.73% – so no refinancing is going to help me.

    Reply
  182. Anisha March 21, 2016 at 8:48 PM

    I have $10,000 of student loan debt. Before reading this article I had not heard of Student Loan Hero, now I am definitely interested and will be checking them out.

    Reply
  183. Joey March 21, 2016 at 8:48 PM

    Right now I am sitting at approximately $25k in student loans, although now that I’m paying more than minimums on it finally, it’s going away. :) I had never heard of student loan hero before, but I am definitely using it now!

    Reply
  184. Jon March 21, 2016 at 8:50 PM

    I have about $125k in loans right now with another whole year to go in school :-(

    I have not heard of Student Loan Hero before but it will be another great resource to use when I begin paying back these enormous loans.

    Reply
  185. Jay March 21, 2016 at 8:56 PM

    I have over $100,000 in student loans. They are a real burden. I have not heard of the website before. But I am actively seeking some kind of relief.

    Reply
  186. Matthew Ricci March 21, 2016 at 9:11 PM

    Started at $60,000, started working Dave Ramsey’s plan, and now I have $9,240 left to go! I had heard of Student Loan Hero several years ago, made an account, but didn’t really use it since.

    Reply
  187. Jake March 21, 2016 at 9:22 PM

    1) a little over $22,000
    2) First I’ve heard of it! I’m interested and will try to learn more.

    Reply
  188. Caroline Rubino March 21, 2016 at 9:35 PM

    I have over 250k from dental school!! I’m keen on any tool to make it easier to deal with this amount, but I have not tried Studen Loan Hero yet!

    Reply
  189. Kate March 21, 2016 at 10:21 PM

    About $2500 left and no I have never heard of student loan hero before

    Reply
  190. Amy @ DebtGal March 21, 2016 at 10:25 PM

    1. I have just under $2,800 left in grad school loans, and my husband has $54,000 – ouch!!

    2. I had heard of SLH before, I think the founder was interviewed on a podcast I listened to. It sounds like a great concept!

    Reply
  191. alex March 21, 2016 at 10:50 PM

    I have 63k in student loans. currently on ibr which helps and working as a teacher, so hoping pslf works out.

    I’m currently a fan of studentloanhero. good articles and insight into the world of loans and money management!

    Reply
  192. linda March 21, 2016 at 11:01 PM

    I have between 6 and 7 grand left of my student loan. Never heard of Student Loan Hero but am now curious and tempted to try.

    Reply
  193. Orianna March 21, 2016 at 11:24 PM

    I have about $27,000 left of my student loans. I have been exploring my options for paying off my loans, such as consolidation, but I had not heard of Student Loan Hero before this article. I’m going to find out more about them now because they look like they could be very helpful!

    Reply
  194. Orianna March 21, 2016 at 11:30 PM

    Shared the article on Facebook! Thanks!

    Reply
  195. Susana R March 21, 2016 at 11:55 PM

    Question #1:
    I paid off about $125,000 in student loans and was free of loans for a while. Now, unfortunately I have added $33,000 back (and more coming soon) after I decided to pursue my doctorate degree. Going to school is still worth it and I welcome this challenge, since I as able to get rid of it before.

    Question #2:
    No. But this is exactly why I am an avid follower of J Money and the Money podcast!

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 23, 2016 at 4:23 PM

      Woo! Impressed you were able to destroy $125k already of loans! That’s incredible!

      Reply
  196. Mini Hines March 22, 2016 at 12:11 AM

    1. I have approximately $14,900 in student loans from an aborted attempt at a Master’s Certificate in International Affairs. The wholly online set up of the program and personal issues outside of studying left me stressed and certificate just wasn’t worth it. So no certificate and tons of debt taught me to be realistic with my time, but oh well.

    2. I haven’t heard of Student Loan Hero, but it sounds up my alley; I use Mint and Personal Capital so I’m a big fan of dashboards and this seems like an easy and useful tool

    Reply
  197. Katie Jones March 22, 2016 at 1:40 AM

    Thankfully, I quit while I was ahead. I thought it was so cool to receive a student loan and once I got that money, my focus on school went downhill. So, I quit going and when I go back, it’s going to be on my terms, without borrowing money.

    With that being said, I currently owe $6,569. I know – not a lot when compared to other’s and the averages in the country, but to me that’s a lot.

    I’ve never heard of the website, but I am checking it out right now! I’d like to see if they offer lower interest rates.

    Reply
  198. Justin Z March 22, 2016 at 1:49 AM

    hi internet.
    I have about $4000, just chugging along at it. And I’ve not heard heard of SLH before. Really neat tool!

    Reply
  199. Alycia March 22, 2016 at 5:25 AM

    I have around $160,000 in student loan debt. The number makes me shudder. I have never heard of SLH before. I’m grateful that my loans all have relatively loan interest rates (below 3%) and I worry about how refinancing my loans will affect my ability to qualify for loan repayment programs, but it seems worth checking out!

    Reply
  200. Rebecca March 22, 2016 at 6:54 AM

    My husband and I were lucky to only need 10k in student loans for two bachelors and two masters degrees, and we’re trying to get it paid back asap. We graduated last year and should have it all gone by the end of this year! I haven’t heard of slh, but it sounds like a great option for students saddled with high levels of debt.

    Reply
  201. Rebecca March 22, 2016 at 6:57 AM

    Also, I shared on Twitter!

    Reply
  202. Lisa Brown March 22, 2016 at 7:05 AM

    1. I do not have any student debt, after luckily paying it off.
    2. I haven’t heard of this company before.
    Thanks for the chance to win :)
    jslbrown2009 at aol dot com

    Reply
  203. Lisa Brown March 22, 2016 at 7:07 AM

    tweet-https://twitter.com/LuLu_Brown24/status/712234098043916288

    Reply
  204. Angela March 22, 2016 at 7:20 AM

    1. I have about $135K of student loan debt. It’s killing me but I’m throwing every extra cent I have at it monthly.
    2. I’ve never heard of SLH but I will be checking them out. Thanks!

    Reply
  205. Natalie March 22, 2016 at 8:18 AM

    Question #1: I have about $4200 left of student loans but I started at $95000!! I have worked really hard to pay it off.
    Question #2: I have not heard of SLH before but it would definitely help students with high student loans.

    Reply
  206. MC March 22, 2016 at 8:35 AM

    1) I have about $22k in student loan debt left, trying to make double the required payment every month

    2) I have never heard of Student Loan Hero but I’m looking around their website right now!

    Reply
  207. PaperCraneFarm March 22, 2016 at 8:59 AM

    We have a combined $35k remaining.

    I hadn’t heard of student loan hero before and tried playing around with it this morning. For those of us who are years into paying back loans and have already refinanced to lower rates, I couldn’t figure out what that website could offer me. We’re just shoving money at the loans to make them go away. Oh, its graphs didn’t work :( While I’d love to believe I’m paying negative interest, it isn’t true.

    Reply
  208. AE March 22, 2016 at 9:10 AM

    I’m a recent grad with 80k in student loan debt. I’ve never heard of Student Loan Hero before but it looks like a useful tool.

    Reply
  209. Katy S. March 22, 2016 at 9:54 AM

    1. I have about $16,000 left of my student loan debt but I have been steadily paying it off for almost 6 years. I’d love to throw $500 more at it to get that much closer!
    2. I had not heard of Student Loan Hero until I read your article but it seems like they could help me and I will check them out. :)

    Reply
  210. Hannah March 22, 2016 at 9:55 AM

    I have about $16,500 left, I feel like I can finally almost see the end! My loans were all around 6.5% but I refinanced recently to 2.5%. Never heard of Student Loan Hero though, it sounds great! $500 would be a huge help to getting me to my goal of paying off my loans in the next 2.5 years!

    Reply
  211. stephani horstman March 22, 2016 at 10:09 AM

    1. Together, my wife and I owe a little more than $118,000 on our student loans (but our house, which had higher interest, has less than $10k left to pay off!)
    2. I hadn’t heard of this before but I’m definitely going to head over and sign up tonight. Thanks for the introduction!

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 23, 2016 at 4:28 PM

      WOAH! No mortgage payment – that will be huge!!

      Reply
  212. Serena @ Thrift Diving March 22, 2016 at 10:11 AM

    Oh, yeah! I’ve got me some student loan debt over here! About $18K left! Sucks….because I’m damn-near 40 and my education was not THAT important to be paying for it for years on end. I hadn’t ever heard of SLH before but I’ll sign up and see if they can help. It’s only 2 loans, at pretty good interest rates. But I would like to get it out of my face once and for all!

    Reply
  213. Jessica March 22, 2016 at 10:23 AM

    It’s not technically my student loan, but my husband’s -by we are a team so I call I our student loan debt, which stands at ~$113,000. I have never heard of student loan hero before this post, and wish it was around years ago.. Would have greatly benefitted from it just a few years ago – but at this point I pretty much have all that information in a beautiful spreadsheet that I’ve spend too many hours obsessing about! But think this could help many others who are where I was just a short time ago! Thanks!!

    Reply
  214. Bracken_Joy March 22, 2016 at 10:38 AM

    Oh I’ve got loan debt around! $47k left, and we’ve paid off $20k already in the past 2 years. Just to give you an idea of student loans and their tyranny over your life… we’re delaying a family until all our loans over 5% are paid off!

    I had never heard of SLH, but I like the dashboard and have a hard time with the ‘average interest rate’ calculation as I pay some of them off. I may just go sign up! =)

    Reply
  215. Kristin Glad March 22, 2016 at 10:38 AM

    I have about $5,500 left on my student loans. Almost to the end!

    I had never heard of Student Loan Hero before this article.

    Reply
  216. Tainted Tiara March 22, 2016 at 10:41 AM

    I have PLUS loans with current principal balances of over $153K. I’m in repayment on the first set, and the second set is deferred while my son is still in school. I have a plan to cash flow his senior year and start tackling his junior year loans like a beast before the interest capitalizes. I’m reluctant to refinance because I like the security that if I die or one of my kids dies, the loans are gone. Morbid, I know. I’m debating whether it’d be cheaper to refinance and supplement with life insurance.

    StudentLoanHero.com is new to me. I’ll definitely spend some time checking it out. Thanks for the tip!

    Reply
  217. Jessica G March 22, 2016 at 10:48 AM

    How much student loan debt do you have left? $66,974.31

    Have you heard of Student Loan Hero before? No I had never heard of them before

    Reply
  218. Harmony @ CreatingMyKaleidoscope March 22, 2016 at 10:59 AM

    I keep getting things in the mail from SoFi, but hadn’t heard of Student Loan Hero yet. I will definitely check it out.

    I still have approximately $60,000 in student loan debt (in addition to credit cards and mortgages), so a little help would be really appreciated :)

    Reply
  219. Ying March 22, 2016 at 11:32 AM

    I have $90K left in student debt. I tried Student Loan Hero but once they automatically pulled up my loan info. from both Navient and the federal government sites, and aggregated the amounts from the two sties info., the loan amounts weren’t right. I didn’t know how to fix it. So I ended up deleting my account.

    Reply
  220. Samantha March 22, 2016 at 11:34 AM

    $10,662.95 and no.

    Reply
  221. Rebecca N March 22, 2016 at 11:40 AM

    I’m lucky enough not to have any student loans, but I would love to win $500 to give my best friend who’s still paying hers off (~$30k). And I have not heard of Student Loan Hero before. :)

    Reply
  222. Chandler March 22, 2016 at 12:15 PM

    I have 40,000 in loan debt!! And yes I’ve heard of and follow student loan hero. ❤️

    Reply
  223. Jay (some guy who's into dividend growth investing) March 22, 2016 at 12:22 PM

    I have right at $7,000 left. I actually graduated in 2000, but paid the deferment game, and didn’t pay on the interest : /

    I hadn’t heard of Student Loan Hero until today…it sounds great. They could possibly help me out, but honestly, I don’t wish to refinance at this time, and my current loan servicer does the same, with the exception of the adjustable dashboard (which his hella cool btw). I’m about to check out the site now, thanks.

    Reply
  224. Tiffany Martinez March 22, 2016 at 12:25 PM

    1. I have $259,300 in student loan debt according to StudentLoanHero.com (wink wink!).

    2. I have never heard of Student Loan Hero, but before I entered this giveaway, I certainly logged in and created a profile. It is amazing. The dashboard has now electronically organized my random pieces of paper that I rewrite every month to keep track of my debt. Thanks for the advice!

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 23, 2016 at 4:32 PM

      COOL! Glad you’re finding it so helpful already! :)

      Love that you were manually tracking it like a $$$ nerd too haha…

      Reply
  225. Ciara March 22, 2016 at 1:18 PM

    1. I have around $90,000 in student loans.

    2. I have not heard of Student Loan Hero, but I did take a look at their website. It seems like it can help me to choose the best route and I will be signing up later today to see how it works.

    Reply
  226. John March 22, 2016 at 1:19 PM

    1) $33,843.00 to go.
    2) Never heard of SLH before.

    Reply
  227. Mark March 22, 2016 at 1:20 PM

    I have about $24,000 in student loan debt.

    I’ve never heard of studentloanhero.com. I think for someone with multiple loans, high interest rates and is motivated to pay off student loan debt, they could be very helpful.

    Reply
  228. John March 22, 2016 at 1:22 PM

    I tweeted as well.

    Reply
  229. Angie March 22, 2016 at 2:18 PM

    Combined my husband and I have 48k in student loans left. We started with over 200k years ago.
    I have not heard of student loan hero before. If this had existed 10 years ago it would have been extremely helpful (and likely helped me from being enticed by expensive car loans!) I had to figure out all this stuff on my own and make confusing spreadsheets instead.

    Reply
  230. Paula March 22, 2016 at 3:21 PM

    I owe $300,000 in student loans. I pay every month, however, it’s just Interest and not the principal.

    I have never heard of Student Loan Hero before. Within the last few days I have been doing some research about how to get rid of student loans quickly. I have even made myself a spreadsheet. I will definitely be checking them out. Thanks for your help.

    Reply
  231. Jennifer H March 22, 2016 at 3:30 PM

    My boyfriend doesn’t do blog comments, but I do! He has about 70k in student loan debt and has begun his master’s degree this semester. An extra $500 down would help a bunch! Thankfully I don’t have any student loan debt. I haven’t heard of this site – but now going to check it out for him!! Can you tell that I’m the financial one of the two? :)

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 28, 2016 at 1:18 PM

      Your boyfriend is a lucky guy :)

      Reply
  232. Becky March 22, 2016 at 3:40 PM

    I don’t have any student loans, but we are working on my husband’s loans and we have gotten them down to $6,000!!! So close, yet so far!! I had never heard of Student Loan Hero before. But we have been in the habit of paying extra on his loans ever since we started paying them off, so we are definitely saving ourselves money in interest, and I feel like that is a good thing. ;)

    Reply
  233. Ms. Mintly @ MintlyBlog March 22, 2016 at 3:42 PM

    We have about $38,000 left in student loan debt and we work hard to put at least $1500 a month to it if we can can! I have heard of similar sites and not found them to be the tool for us, but I know that studentloanhero.com could really help others!

    Reply
  234. Paula March 22, 2016 at 3:42 PM

    Just shared on Facebook!!

    Reply
  235. Chloe March 22, 2016 at 4:07 PM

    I started with $52,000 in student loan debt 10 years ago and I am down to $20,000 now. I had not heard of Student Loan Hero but I am definitely going to check it out. Sounds promising!

    Reply
  236. Pamela A March 22, 2016 at 4:25 PM

    I have $33,079.73 in student loans>:O I have not heard about Student Loan Hero before, but I’m checking it out as we speak!

    Reply
  237. Danielle Liss March 22, 2016 at 6:01 PM

    I have about $88k left on my govt loans and $6500 on a private loan. I hadn’t heard of Student Loan Heros before, but I’m looking into them now! Thanks!

    Reply
  238. Tammy March 22, 2016 at 7:06 PM

    I started with $90,000 in student loan debt when I graduated college in the summer of 2010. I’ve paid off over $30,000 just making the minimum payments and have $58,845 left to pay. I have a plan to pay off $42,845 this year, even though I only make $55,500 a year!

    I have not heard of Student Loan Hero before, but will check them out. Sounds promising and anything to speed up the process!

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 23, 2016 at 4:35 PM

      What the??? You learn how to do magic? :)

      Reply
  239. Jen @ Frugal Millennial March 22, 2016 at 7:48 PM

    My husband and I started with a combined total of $117,000 – since we started the debt snowball, we are down to $95,000. We hope to have our loans paid off in full by the end of 2018. I hadn’t heard of Student Loan Hero before, but I’ll definitely check them out! It sounds like they could be very helpful!

    Reply
  240. Laura Wilson March 22, 2016 at 8:07 PM

    Wow! What an incredible contest!
    I have $56,883 remaining on my graduate school debt :-/ But I am working on making extra payments as every little bit helps down the road!
    I have heard of Student Loan Hero before and it doesn’t seem to be the tool for me, but I imagine that a lot of people can benefit from them!

    Reply
  241. Apathy Ends March 22, 2016 at 8:11 PM

    1. I have about 37K left (from 88K 4 years ago) and am paying off over $800 in principal every month

    2. I vaguely remember stopping by Student Loan Hero when I was looking to refinance my loans. That dashboard looks awesome for people that have multiple lenders and varying interest rates (I actually wrote about my student loan situation in 3 posts when I first started my blog, just keeping track of my loans was a huge problem).

    Have to give a shout out to SoFi for anyone looking to re-finance

    Reply
  242. Josh March 22, 2016 at 9:30 PM

    My wife and I have $78K in student loan debt between the two of us, and we’re currently working on paying off our car so we can start really focusing on our student loans. Before today, I had never heard of Student Loan Hero, but I am currently going through a financial wellness obsession phase. I’ll be checking out SLH right after this!

    Reply
  243. swintonr2 March 22, 2016 at 10:16 PM

    1. Unfortunately, I have 100K+ right now, and I’m working to start my own business, mainly to pay off this debt. It makes me sick to even think about it!

    2. I hadn’t heard of Student Loan Hero before tonight. I’m taking advantage of everything I can, though! I’m working with a site they recommended to refinance right now!

    Reply
  244. Sarah March 22, 2016 at 10:42 PM

    I have about 12,500 in student loans, and am steadily chipping away at them. I should have the smaller of the two loans, which also has the higher interest rate, paid off in the next three months (yay!).

    I had not heard of Student Loan Hero, and am not certain my loan situation is complex enough to merit their services, but I will definitely check them out!

    Reply
  245. Eric March 22, 2016 at 10:58 PM

    I am in a sizable hole with $317k remaining after three very expensive degrees. I’m in the process of aggressively paying them off, and I actually just refinanced with SoFi to get my rate down. I am familiar with Student Loan Hero, and I used the site when evaluating my options. I found it very helpful, and I was pleased to have such a helpful resource available. Thank you.

    Reply
  246. Lindsay March 23, 2016 at 12:06 AM

    1) 20k in student loans….nursing school wasn’t cheap. :(
    2) Never heard of this before but I may check it out.

    This is an awesome giveaway!

    Reply
  247. Petedad March 23, 2016 at 7:30 AM

    I am down to $45k (from an initial $76k) it cost to get my Engineering degree.
    I actually just discovered Student Loan Hero about a month ago while debating refinancing, the calculators on his site are incredibly handy!

    Reply
  248. Roy Largo @ Band of Savers March 23, 2016 at 8:50 AM

    My wife and I both went to an inexpensive yet highly accredited school university (BYU – Provo) and worked our way through college to pay for all of our expenses. After getting married FASFA paid for all of our tuition and most of our books. So we actually left school with a little over $50,000 in the bank, ready for a down payment on our first home. So glad we never had to worry about student loans.

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 23, 2016 at 4:38 PM

      Incredible man – power couple right there! :)

      Reply
  249. Lizz March 23, 2016 at 11:43 AM

    No student debt yet. BS was covered by Post 9-11 GI Bill, and I have been saving money to pay for my MS class by class, applying to scholarships (received one so far!) and my new company has an annual education benefit that I will be using this year.

    Reply
  250. Troy March 23, 2016 at 12:11 PM

    1. I have around 70k in SLD.
    2. I read the blog post from student loan hero, however did not know about the dashboard, or just over looked it. Definitely going to utilize it this week.

    Reply
  251. LesLaine March 23, 2016 at 12:25 PM

    1. I have $15,000 of student loan debt left. The first 2 years were very fortunately paid for, but didn’t make it for the last 2 years :(

    2. Haven’t heard of Student Loan Hero b4 but will definitely check them out!

    Reply
  252. Elise@ Uphill To Easy Street March 23, 2016 at 2:16 PM

    I have $about 5 k left on my student loans (down from 30k!!). I have never heard of Student Loan Hero but would have loved to know more when I left college. I am actually going to send this page over to my sister so she can check it out. She just graduated from Med school with a ton of student loans!

    Reply
  253. Elise@ Uphill To Easy Street March 23, 2016 at 2:18 PM

    Tweeted this article! It has such great info and I know a bunch of people who could use help figuring out their options (student loan debt can be soul crushing!)

    Reply
  254. Nicole Michelle March 23, 2016 at 2:38 PM

    Yuck I have too much student loans left! About $20k! I think I would try this out (um, ahem, if my credit was a TAD better).

    Reply
  255. Anno March 23, 2016 at 2:49 PM

    Have about 13K left. I haven’t heard of Student Loan Hero, but am excited to check them out! Have been waiting to look into refinancing!

    Reply
  256. Lindsee March 23, 2016 at 3:12 PM

    I started out with about $200k and am down to $130k. I’ve never heard of Student Loan Here but will definitely be checking them out.

    Reply
  257. Chevonne March 23, 2016 at 4:16 PM

    1. Student loan debt $42,477.12
    2. I had not heard of Student Loan Hero
    3. I’m sharing this on FB

    Reply
  258. Stefanie March 23, 2016 at 4:39 PM

    It won’t let me post what I want cuz I’m “spammy” :( so the short version is about $10k left and the site looks awesome but I don’t think there’s much help for me right now as I plan on paying them off in just a few years. I did pass it along to a friend with $100k plus in loans!

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 28, 2016 at 1:22 PM

      sorry about that – my filters get a bit wonky when talking about loans and debt and what not :( glad you were able to get this one through okay!

      Reply
  259. Eric March 23, 2016 at 5:52 PM

    $120k in student loans.

    Never heard of Student Loan Hero.

    Reply
  260. Lynda March 23, 2016 at 6:20 PM

    i have ~4000 left in student loans. i have not heard of student loan hero before but i think it would be really helpful to help track everything!

    Reply
  261. Ivey March 23, 2016 at 8:06 PM

    1) Just over $42,000 left, down from $71,000 five years ago.

    2) Never heard of Student Loan Hero before but the calculators look useful.

    Cheers

    Reply
  262. Kris O. March 23, 2016 at 8:11 PM

    I had over $30,000 of school debt and it took me over 10 years to pay it all back. It was really painful. My sister owes $45,000 and she is on a 25 year payment plan…it is crazy. My son is now in college and accumulating debt; this plan is intriguing. It makes sense.

    Reply
  263. Todd March 23, 2016 at 8:29 PM

    I have about $13K left and hopefully only a few years left. I have not heard of Student Loan Hero before but interested to check it out and share with others if it helps. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  264. Ashley March 23, 2016 at 8:55 PM

    I’m sitting at $173,400 of student debt left, all from law school. I use Student Loan Hero all the time to check my various interest rates and see in what direction that debt is heading. I tried refinancing with a couple of private lenders, SoFi (twice), Earnest (twice), and DRB, but the first time around I got rejected by SoFi and DRB based on my debt load and had massives issues with Earnest both times (technical and severe delays on their part). Even though my highest interest rate is 7.9%, the rates I got recently weren’t low enough for me to give up the federal protections I receive in case of unemployment, etc. Based on all this, I just decided to buck up and get more aggressive with my payments. Just made a $5,000 lump sum payment towards my highest interest rate, highest balance two weeks ago after making sure I had enough in my emergency fund!

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 28, 2016 at 1:23 PM

      Ugh, sounds annoying – sorry you had such trouble w/ them all :(

      Awesome you’re just hustling through now and paying in chunks! That’s huge!! (and hard to do!)

      Reply
  265. L-Chu March 23, 2016 at 9:02 PM

    I’m still working on a combined total of $35K from both undergraduate and graduate! I have not heard of student loan hero, but I have heard of many of the refinancing organizations they work with so I’m inclined to find them reputable! :-)

    Also shared on Twitter –> https://twitter.com/Lannachu/status/712806577867067393

    Reply
  266. Emily March 23, 2016 at 10:36 PM

    I have about $50K in loans. I’m currently

    Reply
  267. Grace March 23, 2016 at 11:02 PM

    1) $73K left

    2) I have heard of SLH and think they do a good job of brokering student loan refinance options. My main concern is that they aren’t really a good search engine of all the student loan refinance players in that they leave out all the major student loan players like that really give the best deals or customer service options. I would encourage everyone to look around and not to rely exclusively on SLH – though it should definitely be one you look at!

    Reply
  268. JJ March 24, 2016 at 7:58 AM

    I have about 12000 left after absolutely destroying it in the last year. I don’t think this service will help me as I am proactive with my accounts. I’m not too strapped for cash so I don’t to refinance to get a lower monthly payment. Refinancing woukd actually increase the total amount of my loans. I’m paying them off fast and paying attention to the balances. Works great so far

    Reply
  269. Amanda March 24, 2016 at 8:12 AM

    Here’s my answers! First response, finally! Thanks!

    1. Amount of student loans remaining: $15,731.72, down from around $28k upon graduation in 2010. I had the military’s GI bill to help too, so I can only imagine how much I would have if I wasn’t in the Army! I did Grad school and Undergrad back to back, so this is my total from both.

    2. I have not, but I am looking into them for sure! I know that $15 isn’t much, but I feel that the rate is high on mine (6.55%), even though everyone always says Government Student Loans are affordable. I beg to differ when I look at my awesome rates on my vehicle loan and mortgage!

    Reply
  270. Molly March 24, 2016 at 9:02 AM

    Whew! Your blog post could not have been more timely. I’ve been thinking of refinancing my student loans but I have so many questions!!

    1) I have about a slice under under $50K in graduate student loans. This is after paying off my undergrad school debt before joining the Peace Corps (something just told me I wouldn’t be getting paid for two years…), and then deciding to go back into debt?! WHY?!

    2) I hadn’t heard of Student Loan Hero before but had heard of SoFi and some of the other refi institutions they use.

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 28, 2016 at 1:25 PM

      What an experience with Peace Corps though! And you got to add value to the world – that’s awesome!! :)

      Reply
  271. Melissa March 24, 2016 at 10:59 AM

    My current student loans) balance is $4,613.15. I’m trying to pay them off by the end of the year, so $500 would go a long way towards doing that! I did the math and it would knock off 10.8% of my current balance (including nearly wiping out an entire loan balance) and even save me some interest.

    Student Loan Hero looks fantastic for someone who has a much larger balance than I do. I think it would be incredibly helpful. For me, personally, since I am on track to pay mine off this year, I don’t think refinancing would be worth it. I did, however, really enjoy the calculators. They were very helpful in determining how to apply my sidehustle funds.

    Reply
  272. Heather March 24, 2016 at 11:08 AM

    I have only about $1350 left of my student debt, if it wasn’t for those pesky taxes I’d have it paid off this month!
    I would have loved having something like Student Loan hero when I first started paying. I just had to wing my refi and hope I was getting the best rates. Having the blue print for payoff looks informative and motivational.

    Reply
  273. Rena March 24, 2016 at 11:10 AM

    I haven’t heard of this site but I had heard of SoFi – except they turned me down for a refinance not too long ago. Apparently $30K at 6.55% wasn’t enough to qualify :( I have paid my debt down to $24k and am hustling to get it gone!

    Reply
  274. Nicky Dee March 24, 2016 at 11:32 AM

    1. I have about $68,000 left but I just started paying back my loans about a year ago. Fun Stuff :-)

    2. Yes I have heard StudentLoanHero.com and I have been using them for about a year now. It’s a great tool and website. I’ve found them by doing a quick Google search and signed up.

    Reply
  275. Tim March 24, 2016 at 12:02 PM

    About 1500 left. Never heard of slh

    Reply
  276. Madeline March 24, 2016 at 12:06 PM

    When I graduated from my master’s program in 2012, I started off with a balance of around $90k. At the time, there weren’t any easily available ways for me to refinance my loans, so my average interest rate of 7.2% was most of what I was paying off each month. When I realized I was paying about $18/day in interest, I decided I needed to come up with a plan to reduce the principal balance as quickly as possible!

    After about two years, I discovered SoFi and used them to refinance my loans at a MUCH lower rate. This immediately saved me hundreds of dollars each month in interest. (If I’d known about Student Loan Hero, I definitely would have used them to evaluate my options.) Once switching over to SoFi, I was able to pay off more principal each month and focused my efforts on increasing my overall monthly payment. Now, I analyze almost every purchase I make and put it into a personal budget spreadsheet I created so that I know how much I’ve spent that day/month/year/etc. No penny is unaccounted for and I make payments the day my paychecks come in so that I am not tempted to spend any of that extra money.

    Today, I have $28,400 left to pay off. Still a long way to go!!

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 28, 2016 at 1:27 PM

      BOOM! You are on fire!!

      Reply
  277. Missy G. March 24, 2016 at 12:15 PM

    I’ve got $13,970 left to pay, and I’ve never heard of SLH before. My interest rate is locked in at a pretty low rate, but it wouldn’t hurt to check them out. On my way…

    Reply
  278. RubyRuns March 24, 2016 at 12:17 PM

    1) $7,200 left which is down a lot!!
    2) Never heard of them before this, probably can’t help me out now as I have low rates and a good plan to pay them off.

    Reply
  279. J March 24, 2016 at 12:27 PM

    1) We have $150,000 in student loan debt from law school.
    2) I just heard of Student Loan Hero. I’m going to give it a try!

    Reply
  280. Stacey March 24, 2016 at 12:28 PM

    I will be finishing school with $85k in student loans. My salary is scheduled to double when I get my degree, and I will be doing the work I want to be doing. Still, yikes!

    I haven’t heard of SLH, but I will be checking it out. Thanks!

    Reply
  281. Beth March 24, 2016 at 12:43 PM

    I shared this post on Twitter!

    Reply
  282. Jenn March 24, 2016 at 12:54 PM

    I currently have about $140,000 in school loans. This includes undergrad, my professional degree, and living expenses during that time. I am slowly chipping away at it, but it’s difficult to throw more than $200 above my minimum payments. $500 extra would truly be a blessing!

    I had not heard of Student Loan Hero previously, but I had heard of some of the other refinancers. It is something I’ve thought about considering, but I do not want to consolidate my loans, which is required through most refinancers. The SLH dashboard is a nice feature though.

    Reply
  283. Allyson Kellum March 24, 2016 at 2:06 PM

    Hey J. Money!

    Thank you for this awesome opportunity! Any help to pay student loan debt is very much appreciated. I originally owed 25,000 and have paid down my balance to about 10,000. I have never heard of student loan hero.

    Reply
  284. Wally M. March 24, 2016 at 5:36 PM

    I feel a little guilty for posting to be entered to win $500 when I only have $4,800 left to pay on my student loans. The $500 would get me closer to FI. I’ve never heard of Student Loan Hero. Good luck to all!

    Reply
  285. Alyssa March 24, 2016 at 8:44 PM

    I’ve got a sickening $105K in student loans – all because I refused to go to an in-state college when I was 18 (I was super stubborn back then!). And considering I’m in the National Guard, it all would have been free…but you couldn’t tell me that 10 years ago. Back then I didn’t know (or care) all that much about finances and money…and hindsight is 20/20. I’d love to go back and have a redo, but instead I just slowly plug away at them, paying the minimum and some extra when I can.

    Reply
    1. Alyssa March 24, 2016 at 8:45 PM

      And I’ve heard of Student Loan Hero before but I’ve never checked them out!

      Reply
      1. J. Money March 28, 2016 at 1:29 PM

        Hey – at least you started caring about money now! Some people never do until it’s too late :(

        Reply
  286. Annon March 24, 2016 at 9:17 PM

    I’m one of those sorry people with over $200,000 in student loans. Come from a lower middle class family and now working through my doctorate degree. Family could not help me in any way with schooling. I work in education, so I don’t really make a killing either. I think the website has potential, but much like when Mint came out, its very difficult to judge because you are trusting some random person with a lot of personal information. Once Mint got bought by someone with a bigger name/trust, I think more people were open to it. I think it could be a great service. The other problem I see is that much of the refinancing companies are not really known. AND most loan debt is in Federal loans. Refinancing federal loans into a private loan servicer is probably a bad idea.

    Reply
  287. Annon March 24, 2016 at 9:23 PM

    I tweeted for my second entry. Thanks!

    Reply
  288. StephTheBookworm March 24, 2016 at 9:29 PM

    Around 50K thanks to my Masters degree – haha. I’ve never heard of them before but they sound really helpful and I like the looks of that dashboard.

    Reply
  289. Ally Gibson March 24, 2016 at 11:36 PM

    I currently have $32,000 in student loan debt. I’ve never heard of Student Loan Hero but it sounds like it would be a useful resource.

    Reply
  290. Ashli L March 25, 2016 at 12:00 AM

    1. I owe a little over 60k in loans
    2. I’ve never heard of Student Loan Hero but it is very interesting to someone who is just recently graduated and has no idea how to handle this student loan business.

    Reply
  291. Lynn March 25, 2016 at 12:27 PM

    1. I can’t even believe I’m writing this, but I have about ~102K in student loans from graduate school. Yikes.
    2. I hadn’t heard of Student Loan Hero, but it looks like a great option! I actually just refinanced my loans through one of the companies they offer, so that’s awesome. I’ll keep them in mind though for future refinancing potential!

    Reply
  292. Kaitlyn March 25, 2016 at 2:38 PM

    I have about $27,000 in student loan debt (And growing! I don’t graduate until 2018…)

    I hadn’t heard about Student loan hero, but I think it’ll be very helpful. I tend to treat my loans like they don’t exist, so having a dashboard where they’re all available to see will be extremely helpful!

    Reply
  293. Lauren March 25, 2016 at 5:00 PM

    I’m currently working my way through almost $49,000 in student loans. Right now I’m on one of the income-based repayment plans since my income isn’t exactly great and I’ve got consumer debt as well (not NEARLY as high, but still a nuisance that needs to be taken care of).

    Funnily enough, I had heard of Student Loan Hero before and had signed up for an account, but I don’t remember doing this at all. It’s nice, but there’s not much it can do for me at the moment since my interest rate and payments are both fairly low.

    Reply
  294. Ian March 25, 2016 at 5:06 PM

    Total started at $60,000 and is down to less than $18,000 after nine years and a lot of extra payments. What’s left is manageable, but was a lot worse after I got out of college, didn’t have steady employment, and was trying to get out on my own – yeah, those were hard times.

    Haven’t heard of Student Loan Hero but I have heard of others like it. Since I’m lucky enough that all my loans are through one company (and a nonprofit at that), I probably won’t make the switch.

    Reply
  295. Jennifer March 25, 2016 at 5:50 PM

    I have $17,151 left to pay on my student loan. As a social worker, I don’t have a high income so there is not very much extra money left to put towards student loans. However, I don’t regret my profession because it is rewarding and and I enjoy doing it. I had never heard of Student Loan Hero but I like the calculator and the dashboard that they have. I’m definitely going to look into them now!

    Reply
  296. Jennifer March 25, 2016 at 5:54 PM

    P.S. Shared this with my friends on facebook so that they have access to it as well!

    Reply
  297. Jason B. March 25, 2016 at 8:44 PM

    1. I have about $17.5K left on my student debt.

    2. I have never heard of Student Load Debt before today. It seems like it could be very helpful in saving.

    Reply
  298. Jessica I. March 25, 2016 at 9:30 PM

    Hi, great article! Unfortunately, I have $13,000 left in student loan debt. I have heard of Student Loan Hero before and I am very interested in using the service to pay off my debt faster!

    Thank you,
    Jessica

    Reply
  299. John E March 26, 2016 at 12:28 AM

    1. Started with $58k and now down to $11,077.48 after eight years, should be paid off by the end of the year.

    2. Never heard of them but don’t think they could me now since this last loan is at 2.625%.

    Reply
  300. Laura March 26, 2016 at 12:41 AM

    I have just below $60k, all in deferment right for the time being while I am enrolled full-time in graduate school.

    I’d heard of Student Loan Hero before but had never really looked into it. I sometimes just pretend that my loans don’t exist since I’m on a stipend and can’t afford to do much with them right now anyway. However, because I have a mix of federal and private loans with different terms and interest rates, I think that it could be quite helpful in the future!

    Reply
  301. Jessica March 26, 2016 at 11:03 AM

    I started with 85K and due to working in a non-profit, it has stayed at the level for the past five years as I pay back mostly interest. I haven’t heard of Student Loan Hero, but anything to pay off the debt with lower interest is my next step.

    Reply
  302. Zain March 26, 2016 at 1:14 PM

    1/ I have ~$35,000 left. Even after consolidating and paying off in chunks, seems like a constant lingering nuisance I’m not going to get away from.

    2/ My friend, Andy is the founder of SLH and was my Neighbour for a couple of years. Awesome guy. Learnt a lot from him. Great to see SLH getting fantastic publicity.

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 28, 2016 at 1:33 PM

      Oh wow!! That is pretty cool – you must have gotten the inside scoop throughout it all!

      Reply
  303. Lenette March 27, 2016 at 3:58 PM

    Hi there! I am in the middle of a six year graduate program and I owe…drumroll please… $170,000.

    YIKES.

    I have never heard of Student Loan Hero and it looks like it would be tremendously helpful for me. I’m managing a lot of different loans with different interest amounts and it’s really overwhelming. I already feel more calm thinking about SLH helping me organize and manage my loans.

    Thank you for this giveaway! Every little bit helps :)

    Reply
  304. Fiona March 27, 2016 at 4:47 PM

    (1) Only $4,630.19 left! (down from around 30,000 when I graduated college). Paid off about $15,000 last year when I got serious about it (on a teacher’s salary!).
    (2). I’ve heard of SLH before but haven’t looked too closely. Definitely headed that way.

    Reply
  305. Laura March 27, 2016 at 7:40 PM

    1) Unfortunately 172,000 from undergrad and med school debt.

    2) I signed up for student loan hero, but haven’t really done much with it to date.

    Reply
  306. Bernita James March 27, 2016 at 8:43 PM

    I’ve been debt slaying hard since November 2014. I started with $ 36,432.84 spread over two credit cards and 5 student loan lenders. I currently have no credit card debt and have gotten rid of two of my lenders. I now owe $20,364.62 with the last 3. If I maintain my current level of intensity, I anticipate being debt free in 14 months but an additional $500 would certainly get me there faster so I move on to other important financial goals like saving/investing! Committing to become debt free is a super exciting goal but It’s not without sacrifice – still, it will be totally worth it once I’m free to start investing like crazy!

    I haven’t heard of Student Loan Hero before and honestly, I don’t know that it would helpful in my case. I’ve already listed and prioritized my debt (for free!) and consciously decided against refinancing because debt consolidation doesn’t work! You can’t borrow your way out of debt. Debt consolidation seems like a good idea because there is a lower interest rate on some of the debt and a lower payment. However, the lower payment is usually the result, not of the lower rate but because the term is extended. If you stay in debt longer, you do get a lower payment, HOWEVER, because you stay in debt longer, you pay the lender more, which is why they are in the debt consolidation business in the first place. If getting out of debt is your goal, you are better of keep your expenses low by not paying for a service you can do yourself.

    Reply
  307. Bernita James March 27, 2016 at 8:51 PM

    *BONUS* I shared this article on Twitter and Facebook!

    Final Thoughts (1st post got cut off):
    I see that the Student Loan Hero Co-Founder & CEO had his debt spread between 16 loans which does sound like a major inconvenience and I suppose if you can’t afford the hassle (i.e. you need to use the time you would spend to manage your debt to make money) and are in not in a position to forgo saving/investing for 1-2 years, refinancing MAY be right for you, but statistics estimate that 78% of the time, after someone consolidates debt, the debt grows right back… Keep it simple! If you get out of debt, live on less than you make – just for a while – put the extra towards the debt so that in the future – you can do whatever you want!

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 28, 2016 at 1:37 PM

      Or better yet – do both! Consolidate to pay less (if it makes sense for peoples’ situations) and then HUSTLE HUSTLE HUSTLE and get it knocked out! It’s kinda like when people say they saved money by using a coupon or something, only to then just go out and spend the difference anyways… gotta have both parts to count :)

      Reply
  308. Adrienne March 27, 2016 at 9:59 PM

    1) We have about 20,000 left in student loan debt (down from an original $80K) and are on track to pay it off by the end of this year. Can’t wait!
    2) I hadn’t heard of SLH before this post but it seems like a cool idea. I’m seeing lots of refinancing options out there now; I looked into a few but they didn’t make sense because our balances are relatively low at this point.

    Reply
  309. Heather March 27, 2016 at 10:48 PM

    I have about 3600 in student loans left-yippee!! I have not heard of Student Loan Hero before this article…

    Reply
  310. Thomas Murphy March 27, 2016 at 11:54 PM

    I don’t have any student loan debt.
    I have not heard of Student Loan Hero before

    Reply
  311. Maritza March 28, 2016 at 12:01 AM

    I have just under $50,000 of student loan debt left. Yikes! Halfway there! I have never heard of them before, but this article definitely got me interested in checking them out. I’ve been trying to do side hustles to pay off the debt and I’m open to new ideas.

    Reply
  312. Tony March 28, 2016 at 12:50 AM

    my wife and I have been attacking $120k in Student Loans the last 4 and a half years. Currently we owe $23k. Every little chunk helps!

    I have heard of student loan hero, and have several friends who have used their services. Great resource for people in this situation.

    Reply
  313. tom March 28, 2016 at 2:22 PM

    I’m late to the party and to the drawing, but wanted to weigh in on DRBank.

    They have great rates and beat out SoFi, Earnest, Payoff and Credible for a fixed rate. We just refi’d about $30K in student loans through them and the process was long, but not painful.

    The application process is pretty much the same as the other lenders. I was surprised they beat Earnest with their data-driven rate process (disclosure: I have an Earnest loan also).

    I highly recommend DRBank for student loans.

    As an aside… I highly recommend Earnest for personal loans. They did come in way under other lender’s rates, so it worked for us there.

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 28, 2016 at 2:29 PM

      Hey, thanks Tom! Appreciate the heads up :)

      Reply
  314. J. Money March 28, 2016 at 2:24 PM

    *** GIVEAWAY NOW OVER ***

    Thanks for participating and sharing your debt stories, everyone! Been eye opening for ME to say the least about student debt out there (wow), as well as hearing y’alls thoughts and experiences with Student Loan Hero too.. They loved reading them all!

    And now to the part y’all been waiting for – the winner!

    After using Random.org to pick our person, the lucky winner of $500 to help pay off their debt is…. dum dum dum…..

    **Maggie from Chicago!** Commenter #139 – congrats Maggie! Thank you for reading the blog and participating – we hope it helps!

    See y’all back here shortly… This won’t be the last giveaway we do :)

    Reply
  315. Brittany May 10, 2016 at 11:09 AM

    So glad I stumbled on this post! I used to use tuition.io, however, they just switched it to businesses only helping their employees pay, so personal use isn’t supported anymore. Boo! I just went to SLH, and the site seems a little glitch-y, but hopefully playing around more on it will help. Thanks for the recommendation!

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 10, 2016 at 4:55 PM

      No problem! Hope you’re able to save some money off it!

      Reply
  316. Erica March 25, 2019 at 1:07 AM

    Can you all do another giveaway? I need all the help I can get for my grad school loans. Thanks.

    Reply

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