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Can You Use Student Loans to Pay Off Credit Cards?

Posted: August 30, 2021 by datechguy in education
Tags: ,
MB-one, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

You’ve tried everything to pay off your credit card debt, but nothing’s working. Those high interest rates, for one, are keeping you from eating into your principal. But you do have a student loan coming, and the thought occurs: can you use student loans to pay off credit cards? Good question.

Let’s see.

The Issue

You’re supposed to use student loans to defray or pay the cost of your higher education. Still, it’s understandable to consider whether you can use the cash for other stuff, like erasing credit card obligations. 

The bad news is that it just isn’t wise to tap your student loan to pay off your plastic. Why? Well, for one thing, what happens if you don’t have enough funds to cover your education? Will you have to take out another loan? And get in even more debt? You can see where this is going. What’s more, there may be restrictions on what you’re able to do with the student loan.

There are things you should know and do before seriously considering funneling your funds to your debt instead of that Ancient Civilization 101 textbook. 

See What Your Loan Agreement Says

As per the Department of Education, your loan is supposed to go toward “educational expenses.” In addition to tuition and room and board, those expenses include books, equipment such as computers, school transportation and childcare costs.

Darn, right? But wait. If you charge any of those expenses on a credit card, you could ostensibly use your loan to pay them off. The rub, though, is that if you have other, personal expenses mingled with your school expenses, you’re paying for those ineligible expenses as well.

If you have a private student loan, though, how you can use that cash is up to the lender. That’s where your loan agreement comes in, so be sure to read the fine print. Don’t expect any major departures from federal loan guidelines, however.

Don’t Depend on Bankruptcy

It’s nearly impossible to have your student loan debt taken care of through bankruptcy, giving you an additional reason to not use your loan to clear your credit card obligations. What makes it so challenging is that the burden is on you to prove that the loans have strained your finances – a difficult task even if your payments are difficult to manage. Credit debt relief can be messy, but it’s doable.

Note that you CAN discharge credit card debt in bankruptcy. But even if you expect no issues handling future debts, you don’t want to set yourself up for something you’ll be sorry for later.

Using Your Student Loan to Pay Off Cards Could Squeeze Your Finances Later

If you have the option to put off student loan payments until school is done, that makes using your loan for credit card debt enticing. We get it, particularly since such loans have relatively low interest rates. 

However, mixing your credit card debt in with your school debt could put you in a financial mess once school is done. And that’s no way to start your life’s next chapter.

What Are My Options Then?

If you’re in college and have trouble paying your credit cards, the first thing you should do is cease using plastic until you can get a handle on things. You also might want to figure out a way to bring in more cash. Then, you should consider getting rid of your highest-interest debts first, while monitoring your credit scores. 

So, can you use student loans to pay off credit cards? You may be able to get away with it – in the short term. But is it a good idea? Nope. There are other ways to handle credit card debt that won’t hamstring you in the long run.

Assert your freedom with The Handshake Challenge

Posted: August 30, 2021 by datechguy in culture, DaTechGuy's Quick Thoughts
Tags: , ,

After a year or two of various challenges that health officials have come out or had celebreties come out to denounce as dangerous and foolish the time has come for the ultimate in challenges that I’m sure that branches of the government will be loudly denouncing and will likely get me kicked off of Youtube.

The HANDSHAKE challenge.

This challenge consists of extending one’s right hand to another person, and taking said right hand (also extended) in your grip and then moving both hands in unison up and down.

For generations this type of greeting was considered the customary greeting of friendship, particularly among men. It was occasionally used as a test of strength and the unwillingness to shake hands as a sign of peace or reconciliation or approval might even be considered inappropriate:

I know that in those ancient days before March of 2020 a handshake was the most common greeting between men, but now in this enlightened new age of COVID such and action it is considered dangerous and extreme.

In fairness even in that prior privative age there were some cases when it was not considered proper to shake hands, If one was sick , was known to have a communicable disease or if one’s hands were dirty or unwashed such shaking of hands was not encouraged. There were cases when it was considered proper to refuse an offered hand in order to avoid the appearance of approval of said person and or his actions.

There were even extreme cases when said person offering a hand was so beyond the pale that it was preferable to risk death rather than accept it.

All of these limitations are matters of propriety and if any of these limitations are present:

  • Dirty Hands
  • Either person sick or carrying a communicable disease
  • Avoiding confirming legitimacy to a person or action beyond the pale

then it is perfectly proper and even recommended to avoid the Handshake challenge.

But absent these conditions I submit and suggest that the handshake challenge is not only proper but an important if not vital step into reasserting and reclaiming normalcy and to reestablish ourselves not just as free Americans, but as free men and women.

Details here

It’s a Crazy World When the Radical Feminists act saner than our Government (And a possible new Law of Media Outrage)

Posted: August 29, 2021 by datechguy in Uncategorized

There is not a lot of good I have to say about radical feminists whose efforts over the last 50 years have done untold damage to this country in general and ironically to women in particular.

However credit where credit is due these radical feminists took the time to act to save women actually under threat:

How did “Aisha” even get the last-minute paperwork? How did she know what gate to approach? How did she and about thirty other Afghan feminists (and counting) finally escape from Hell?

I am thrilled to share that answer. My team consists of radical feminists, anti-trafficking/anti-sex slavery activists and experts, honor killing experts, (myself included), a brilliant legal team—Europeans and Americans, mainly white girls, (who’ve lately been overly maligned): some Jews, some Christians, a Sikh, maybe some atheists—perhaps a Goddess worshiper or two. Who knows? It is my honor and my privilege to be among them.

Via Ed Driscol at insty & Yid with Lid (I know it’s just “the Lidblog” these days but he’ll always be Yid with Lid to me) and yes there are plenty of sane people involved per the list above including the redoubtable Phyllis Chesler who should need no introduction to longtime readers but never the less Radical Feminists are first on this list and they will willing to make common cause with some they might not have in the past to save the lives of Afghan women who might otherwise have to submit to, as what Bill Marr notes actual oppression as opposed to what they’ve defined as oppression for decades.

So today at least let me raise a glass to these radical feminists who have actually done right and will make the lives of the women and the generations that they produce better.

Closing thought #1: I hope I’m wrong but the fact that this piece is out there publicly suggest that the window of these efforts is practically closed. That’s a shame.

Closing thought #2 I suspect that will get almost no exposure in the MSM because highlighting it will only make the Biden Administration & their generals look even worse by comparison, perhaps this should lead to the creation of DaTechGuy’s fifth law of Media Outrage to wit:

Any positive action, even that supposedly advances a goals of or is done by a group allied or identified with the radical left, will not be considered newsworthy nationally if said action has the potential to highlight a failure and/or inaction by a Democrat administration that is in power at the time of said positive action.

Very Quick DaTechGuy Thoughts

Posted: August 28, 2021 by datechguy in Uncategorized

I see that the parole board has granted Parole to Sirhan Sirhan the killer of RFK with the backing of two of RFK’s kids. While I would not have done it as he served 50+ years for the murder and his kids went along with it who am I to say otherwise.

I’m old enough to remember when the media celebrated members of the military who attacked their Commander in Chief even as he led them to victory over terrorists. Apparently if a C in C has a “D” after his name then this type of dissent is no longer allowed., even if that C in C leads your forces to their worst defeat in decades and set them up for further slaughter.

Apparently a Bishop in Chicago has forbidden a priest from closing mass with a “Hail Mary” and the St. Michael prayer (which every mass at my parish is ended in). Not sure if this is a blanket ruling for his diocese but I’m remined of an old Catholic Quip: “In the days of Jesus 1 in 12 Bishops was a traitor, these days we’re not doing any better.”

That the Boston Red Sox are in a playoff race (although apparently not as much as they were a month ago) and I still haven’t bothered to watch a game tells me how much MLB has chased me away. If you told me three years ago this was possible I wouldn’t have believed you.

Finally a bit of Catholic advice. A friend of mine declined some advice to avoid confrontation with the devil taking instead a “Bring it on” attitude rather than one declining to engage & trusting in prayer. This has proved to be large mistake on my friend’s part. Never forget the Devil is a master psychologist with Millennia of experience dealing with humans. Don’t debate, don’t engage, prayer, scripture & occasional laughter are your best tools here.

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