kangaeru

Hey All,

I'm currently a college student with about 4,000 in debt. My 2005 income was ~$14,000, however I worked full time for 4 1/2 months out of the year at 15/hour so that's why that number is a bit higher than normal for a full time student.

I am looking to pay of this 4 grand in credit card debt and to use the remaining 6,000 to supplement working part time jobs until I graduate from college in a year and a half at which time I will be moving to Japan for 2-3 years to work through the an english teaching program called "JET", where I should be maxing approximately 37,000-41,000 a year depending on extra allocations based on the living costs of where I am sent. I would ideally like to pay off this loan 6-12 months after I've graduated, while I'm working in Japan.

I have no idea what my options are--so I'm asking for any kind of advice any of you can give, whether it be detailed, broad, or anything in between.

Thanks

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Cynthetiq

I'm not understanding what your question is.

You have $4,000 in credit card debt. You want to pay it off in 6-12 months, which means you'd have to make payments of about $350/month (give or take due to interest) in order to hit the 12 month time frame.

Will you have to pay for food and housing in Japan? Will you be taking any trips while there since you are based in Japan and it's easy to get to Korea, Singapore, Philippines, China, etc.? Will you be coming back to the US for any reason like emergencies for family, homesickness?

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The_Jazz

OK, as I understand it, you are taking out a $10,000 loan to be used to pay off the $4,000 credit card debt and then use the remaining $6,000 for living expenses while at school. Correct? It's a pretty easy to assume that the rate for this loan will be less than that of the credit card, but make sure. Do you have a lender lined up for this? Anything in writing? What is the period of the loan?

Japan is notoriously expensive, so are you sure that your ~$40,000/yr will be enough to live on and pay this loan off in a year? Remember that the amount of the loan may be $10,000, but you're going to be paying more than that in interest.

More information would be helpful.

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kangaeru

The JET program is run through the Japanse government and every member of it is paid a base salary of approx. 36,000 US dollars (this figure goes up every year too) + a living stipend depending on where they are placed within the country. I am not even in the program yet, I'll be applying for it in a year, but I am confident I will be able to get in as I have a high GPA and my written and spoken Japanese is very good and will be considered advanced (I'll be reading magazines and short stories) by the time I arrive there.

I am currently a Junior in college and I'm heading into my senior year. I anticipate being at school for an extra semester, meaning I would graduate the Fall of 2008-- although the JET program doesn't officially begin until the summer, meaning if I have to pay back the loan within 6 months of graduation, I may not actually be working and making money in Japan yet.

My housing would be paid for by this program via the stipend--in Tokyo the stipend is as much as 5,000 dollars a month while in more rural places like Hokkaido it's approximately 500-1,000 US dollars.

The purpose of this loan is that yes, I am paying off a riduculous APR on my current credit card tab of ~4,000 dollars. I'm paying 55 dollars a month just in interest, which is a complete and total waste. I want to use 4,000 of the 10,000 to pay off all of my debt, and with the remaining 6,000 supplement the income I make from working various college jobs.

For instance, if this summer I work for 40-50/hours a week landscaping for $10/hour base + overtime pay, along with some side projects I have, I could make 5,000-6,000 dollars over the summer. Rather than looking to just sit on the 6k I would use it so stretch out my money and take some of the stress out of meeting my monthly expenses.

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snowy

Do you know for sure that you will be accepted into JET? I know lots of people who have counted on that program to get them going after college only to be turned down. How are your grades? Have you already been approved for the loan?

Personally, I think unless this JET thing is a sure deal for you, and the contract is signed, you shouldn't be looking to dig yourself further into debt.

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hossified

why not just get a line of credit for 4000$ to pay off the CC...???? If you really need to supliment your income with an extra 6 g's......than at least invest the 6 g's and draw off it when you need it. That way at least you can have that 6g's paying off the interest (if you're lucky) for the borrowed 10g's....

kangaeru

This is all good advice,

but i still need to know WHERE I would go to, if there are any special lending agencies I should use, or that people can recommend? Bank of America? Should I go through my University?

What are the business channels I should use?

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Xazy

I would recommend trying a student loan for that. They tend to have lower interest rates, and you should be able to get 10k.