What if you could save $500 on your next vacation? Or pay $2 or less for each book you want to read? All you have to do is open your inbox to the possibilities.
Email newsletters offer money-saving tips that might help you increase your student loan payments.
For the big and small purchases we all make — from airplane flights to new books — there are ways to save without having to hunt down deals and discounts.
Here are four email newsletters that could save you time and money.
4 newsletters with money-saving tips for common expenses
Keep in mind before you subscribe to any of these: Email newsletters can only save you money if they lead to purchases you would have made anyway. Make sure to purge your inbox — unsubscribe from newsletters that waste your time or encourage you to impulse-buy. Doing so will set you up for success with these four email newsletters.
Image credit: Scott’s Cheap Flights
1. Scott’s Cheap Flights
I signed up for Scott’s Cheap Flights after a coworker said he scored “super cheap tickets to India, Spain, and Mexico this past year alone.”
What I’ve found is a tidy, daily email addressed from Scott as if he’s a friend, telling me about extremely low airfares for specific destinations. Most importantly, Scott puts the price in context, telling you what fares usually cost and how long the discounted rates are likely to last. He offers money-saving tips so you can find cheap flights. (It’s best to fly January through mid-May, for example.)
There’s also a degree of customization. You can pick one of five departure regions and also narrow down your destination by choosing regions within Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
Secret Flying Club and The Flight Deal are other options for frugal passengers. Their newsletters deliver many of the same deals but via articles and posts that take additional clicks and more of a time investment.
Travelzoo and Sherman’s Travel might be more inspired choices for vacation packages, hotels, and cruises. You can also check out these websites for cheap plane tickets.
Image credit: BookBub
2. BookBub
If you’re an avid reader but not married to holding a hard copy, check out BookBub. It sends a personalized daily email alerting you to discounted and free e-books. You can narrow your results by your preferred genre, even getting as specific as your favorite authors.
To clarify, BookBub doesn’t sell books; it connects you with lower-priced titles you might be interested in from the following online retailers and readers:
- Amazon’s Kindle
- Barnes & Noble’s Nook
- Apple’s iBooks
- Google Play
- Kobo
Although BookBub might be short on money-saving tips, its simplicity makes it perfect for readers who like good, cheap reads and don’t want to spend a lot of time combing through an email.
Image credit: Groupon
3. Groupon
Groupon is still the top dog when it comes to finding activities on sale. Since absorbing competitor LivingSocial, Groupon claims 25 million active customers are shopping from 200,000-plus businesses and saving up to 70 percent per transaction.
Like Amazon and other e-commerce giants, Groupon shows you the original and discounted price of its offers, making them more tantalizing. Unlike other sites, it functions just like an email newsletter.
Sign up, set your preferences, and add one or more cities where you’re interested in experiences. The latter feature comes in handy for buying gift certificates for friends who live in other cities.
You can also select the type of categories interest you. For our purposes, “Occasions,” “Getaways,” and “Live” are most fitting.
Before making any purchases, consult each merchant’s fine print, fees, and reviews. You might find, for example, that an $8 bike rental in New York City’s Central Park only entitles you to two hours of riding — and doesn’t come with a helmet.
For free or discounted activity options that are more hyperlocal, subscribe to your town or city government website’s RSS feed. That’s the most creative way to save money.
Image credit: Student Loan Hero
4. Student Loan Hero
One of the most helpful email newsletters that every student loan borrower should read, the Student Loan Hero Weekly Digest hits inboxes every Thursday.
Although all of our blog posts, one way or another, are designed to help you take action on your student loan debt, this email collects our best posts for your perusal. We use it as a way to encourage you to return to the blog, but also make it convenient to skim headlines right from your email account.
If you’re interested in a week’s worth of information on student loan refinancing, you can also sign up to receive our five-part cheat sheet via email. It covers money-saving tips specific to refinancing:
- What is the difference between Consolidation and Refinancing?
- The 6 Main Benefits of Refinancing Student Loans.
- Which Student Loans Should You Refinance?
- How to Qualify For Student Loan Refinancing.
- How to Find the Best Refinancing Options By Comparing Lenders.
Getting the most out of email newsletters
The email newsletter is a funny medium. It might spur you on to do something you wouldn’t otherwise have thought to do. It could prompt you to buy a flight to Barcelona or purchase tickets to an upcoming concert because prices are low.
Understand that new — even discounted — spending still comes at a loss. So the best way to employ email newsletters is to buy the things you’d buy anyway. If, for example, you’re planning to vacation next summer and don’t have a destination in mind then, by all means, head to Spain if it’s in your budget.
That’s how you can discover actual savings, not the illusion of it.
With this in mind, sign up for deals-and-discounts newsletters at your own risk. AllYou.com, Brad’s Deals, Hip2Save, Money Saving Mom, The Krazy Coupon Lady and DealNews are some of our staff favorites.
Whether you decide to seek out savings — or have them delivered to your digital doorstep — it’s important to avoid new spending. Five minutes skimming your inbox for money-saving tips could save you hundreds on your student loan debt. And if you don’t see anything worthwhile, you can always hit delete.
Interested in refinancing student loans?
Here are the top 9 lenders of 2021!| Lender | Variable APR | Eligible Degrees | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | 1.88% – 6.15%1 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | 1.88% – 5.64%2 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | 1.88% – 5.64%3 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | 2.50% – 6.85%4 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | 2.25% – 6.39%5 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | 1.90% – 5.25%6 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | 1.89% – 5.90%7 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | 2.39% – 6.01% | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | 2.13% – 5.25%8 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
| Check out the testimonials and our in-depth reviews! 1 Important Disclosures for Splash Financial. Splash Financial DisclosuresTerms and Conditions apply. Splash reserves the right to modify or discontinue products and benefits at any time without notice. Rates and terms are also subject to change at any time without notice. Offers are subject to credit approval. To qualify, a borrower must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident in an eligible state and meet applicable underwriting requirements. Not all borrowers receive the lowest rate. Lowest rates are reserved for the highest qualified borrowers. If approved, your actual rate will be within a range of rates and will depend on a variety of factors, including term of loan, a responsible financial history, income and other factors. Refinancing or consolidating private and federal student loans may not be the right decision for everyone. Federal loans carry special benefits not available for loans made through Splash Financial, for example, public service loan forgiveness and economic hardship programs, fee waivers and rebates on the principal, which may not be accessible to you after you refinance. The rates displayed may include a 0.25% autopay discount The information you provide to us is an inquiry to determine whether we or our lenders can make a loan offer that meets your needs. If we or any of our lending partners has an available loan offer for you, you will be invited to submit a loan application to the lender for its review. We do not guarantee that you will receive any loan offers or that your loan application will be approved. Offers are subject to credit approval and are available only to U.S. citizens or permanent residents who meet applicable underwriting requirements. Not all borrowers will receive the lowest rates, which are available to the most qualified borrowers. Participating lenders, rates and terms are subject to change at any time without notice. To check the rates and terms you qualify for, Splash Financial conducts a soft credit pull that will not affect your credit score. However, if you choose a product and continue your application, the lender will request your full credit report from one or more consumer reporting agencies, which is considered a hard credit pull and may affect your credit. Splash Financial and our lending partners reserve the right to modify or discontinue products and benefits at any time without notice. To qualify, a borrower must be a U.S. citizen and meet our lending partner’s underwriting requirements. Lowest rates are reserved for the highest qualified borrowers. This information is current as of June 1, 2021. 2 Rate range above includes optional 0.25% Auto Pay discount. Important Disclosures for Earnest. Earnest DisclosuresInterest Rate Disclosure Actual rate and available repayment terms will vary based on your income. Fixed rates range from 2.59% APR to 5.79% APR (excludes 0.25% Auto Pay discount). Variable rates range from 1.88% APR to 5.64% APR (excludes 0.25% Auto Pay discount). For variable rate loans, although the interest rate will vary after you are approved, the interest rate will never exceed 36% (the maximum allowable for these loans). Earnest variable interest rate student loan refinance loans are based on a publicly available index, the one month London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR). Your rate will be calculated each month by adding a margin between 2.04% and 5.8% to the one month LIBOR. Earnest rate ranges are current as of 6/8/2021, and are subject to change based on market conditions. Auto Pay Discount Disclosure You can take advantage of the Auto Pay interest rate reduction by setting up and maintaining active and automatic ACH withdrawal of your loan payment. The interest rate reduction for Auto Pay will be available only while your loan is enrolled in Auto Pay. Interest rate incentives for utilizing Auto Pay may not be combined with certain private student loan repayment programs that also offer an interest rate reduction. For multi-party loans, only one party may enroll in Auto Pay. Student Loan Refinancing Loan Cost Examples These examples provide estimates based on payments beginning immediately upon loan disbursement. Variable APR: A $10,000 loan with a 20-year term (240 monthly payments of $72) and a 5.89% APR would result in a total estimated payment amount of $17,042.39. For a variable loan, after your starting rate is set, your rate will then vary with the market. Fixed APR: A $10,000 loan with a 20-year term (240 monthly payments of $72) and a 6.04% APR would result in a total estimated payment amount of $17,249.77. Your actual repayment terms may vary.Terms and Conditions apply. Visit https://www.earnest. com/terms-of-service, e-mail us at [email protected], or call 888-601-2801 for more information on our student loan refinance product. Earnest Loans are made by Earnest Operations LLC or One American Bank, Member FDIC. Earnest Operations LLC, NMLS #1204917. 535 Mission St., Suite 1663, San Francisco, CA 94105. California Financing Law License 6054788. Visit earnest.com/licenses for a full list of licensed states. For California residents (Student Loan Refinance Only): Loans will be arranged or made pursuant to a California Financing Law License. One American Bank, 515 S. Minnesota Ave, Sioux Falls, SD 57104. Earnest loans are serviced by Earnest Operations LLC with support from Navient Solutions LLC (NMLS #212430). One American Bank and Earnest LLC and its subsidiaries are not sponsored by or agencies of the United States of America. © 2021 Earnest LLC. All rights reserved. 3 Important Disclosures for Navient. 4 Important Disclosures for CommonBond. CommonBond DisclosuresOffered terms are subject to change and state law restriction. Loans are offered by CommonBond Lending, LLC (NMLS # 1175900), NMLS Consumer Access. If you are approved for a loan, the interest rate offered will depend on your credit profile, your application, the loan term selected and will be within the ranges of rates shown. All Annual Percentage Rates (APRs) displayed assume borrowers enroll in auto pay and account for the 0.25% reduction in interest rate. All variable rates are based on a 1-month LIBOR assumption of 0.15% effective Jan 1, 2021 and may increase after consummation. 5 Important Disclosures for SoFi. SoFi DisclosuresFixed rates from 2.74% APR to 6.74% APR (with autopay). Variable rates from 2.25% APR to 6.39% APR (with autopay). All variable rates are based on the 1-month LIBOR and may increase after consummation if LIBOR increases; see more at SoFi.com/legal/#1. If approved for a loan your rate will depend on a variety of factors such as your credit profile, your application and your selected loan terms. Your rate will be within the ranges of rates listed above. Lowest rates reserved for the most creditworthy borrowers. SoFi refinance loans are private loans and do not have the same repayment options that the federal loan program offers, or may become available, such as Income Based Repayment or Income Contingent Repayment or PAYE. SoFi loans are originated by SoFi Lending Corp. or an affiliate (dba SoFi), a lender licensed by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the California Financing Law, license #6054612; NMLS #1121636 (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org). Additional terms and conditions apply; see SoFi.com/eligibility for details. SOFI RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MODIFY OR DISCONTINUE PRODUCTS AND BENEFITS AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE. 6 Important Disclosures for LendKey. LendKey DisclosuresRefinancing via LendKey.com is only available for applicants with qualified private education loans from an eligible institution. Loans that were used for exam preparation classes, including, but not limited to, loans for LSAT, MCAT, GMAT, and GRE preparation, are not eligible for refinancing with a lender via LendKey.com. If you currently have any of these exam preparation loans, you should not include them in an application to refinance your student loans on this website. Applicants must be either U.S. citizens or Permanent Residents in an eligible state to qualify for a loan. Certain membership requirements (including the opening of a share account and any applicable association fees in connection with membership) may apply in the event that an applicant wishes to accept a loan offer from a credit union lender. Lenders participating on LendKey.com reserve the right to modify or discontinue the products, terms, and benefits offered on this website at any time without notice. LendKey Technologies, Inc. is not affiliated with, nor does it endorse, any educational institution. Subject to floor rate and may require the automatic payments be made from a checking or savings account with the lender. The rate reduction will be removed and the rate will be increased by 0.25% upon any cancellation or failed collection attempt of the automatic payment and will be suspended during any period of deferment or forbearance. As a result, during the forbearance or suspension period, and/or if the automatic payment is canceled, any increase will take the form of higher payments. The lowest advertised variable APR is only available for loan terms of 5 years and is reserved for applicants with FICO scores of at least 810. As of 04/07/2021 student loan refinancing rates range from 1.90% APR – 5.25% Variable APR with AutoPay and 2.95% APR – 7.63% Fixed APR with AutoPay. 7 Important Disclosures for Laurel Road. Laurel Road DisclosuresAll credit products are subject to credit approval. Laurel Road began originating student loans in 2013 and has since helped thousands of professionals with undergraduate and postgraduate degrees consolidate and refinance more than $4 billion in federal and private school loans. Laurel Road also offers a suite of online graduate school loan products and personal loans that help simplify lending through customized technology and personalized service. In April 2019, Laurel Road was acquired by KeyBank, one of the nation’s largest bank-based financial services companies. Laurel Road is a brand of KeyBank National Association offering online lending products in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. All loans are provided by KeyBank National Association, a nationally chartered bank. Member FDIC. For more information, visit www.laurelroad.com. As used throughout these Terms & Conditions, the term “Lender” refers to KeyBank National Association and its affiliates, agents, guaranty insurers, investors, assigns, and successors in interest.
Assumptions: Repayment examples above assume a loan amount of $10,000 with repayment beginning immediately following disbursement. Repayment examples do not include the 0.25% AutoPay Discount. Annual Percentage Rate (“APR”): This term represents the actual cost of financing to the borrower over the life of the loan expressed as a yearly rate. Interest Rate: A simple annual rate that is applied to an unpaid balance. Variable Rates: The current index for variable rate loans is derived from the one-month London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) and changes in the LIBOR index may cause your monthly payment to increase. Borrowers who take out a term of 5, 7, or 10 years will have a maximum interest rate of 9%, those who take out a 15 or 20-year variable loan will have a maximum interest rate of 10%. KEYBANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MODIFY OR DISCONTINUE PRODUCTS AND BENEFITS AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE. This information is current as of April 29, 2021. Information and rates are subject to change without notice. 8 Important Disclosures for PenFed. PenFed DisclosuresAnnual Percentage Rate (APR) is the cost of credit calculating the interest rate, loan amount, repayment term and the timing of payments. Fixed Rates range from 2.89%-4.78% APR and Variable Rates range from 2.13%-5.25% APR. Both Fixed and Variable Rates will vary based on application terms, level of degree and presence of a co-signer. These rates are subject to additional terms and conditions and rates are subject to change at any time without notice. For Variable Rate student loans, the rate will never exceed 9.00% for 5 year and 8 year loans and 10.00% for 12 and 15 years loans (the maximum allowable for this loan). Minimum variable rate will be 2.00%. These rates are subject to additional terms and conditions, and rates are subject to change at any time without notice. Such changes will only apply to applications taken after the effective date of change. |
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