Working for yourself can be rewarding, and is becoming increasingly common in our so-called gig economy. However, being self-employed often comes along with having a variable income. One given month of income could be the highest in your work history, while the next month could be the lowest. You also might have to deal with various payment schedules from clients. This is a different lifestyle than getting a regular paycheck every two weeks.
This can certainly be stressful when it comes to paying bills such as student loans. So, how can people with a variable income pay off their student loans and ensure they have enough money to live on and pay their other bills? Here are a few tips to consider:
1. Be aware of your regular monthly expenses
2. Make your student loan bill a top priority
3. Know your income averages
4. Have an emergency fund
Other things to consider when paying off student loans with a variable income
1. Be aware of your regular monthly expenses
If you have a variable income, it’s important to be very aware of your expenses, and to create a budget comprised of both necessary and discretionary expenses. The necessary expenses must be paid no matter what your income is in any given month. Discretionary expenses are in the “unnecessary” category.
Keep in mind that people who have variable incomes also need to consider other responsibilities that traditionally employed people do not, including quarterly estimated tax payments and health insurance premiums.
If you create a budget to include your student loan payment as a necessary expense, you may increase your chances of being prepared to lay out that money when it’s due.
2. Make your student loan bill a top priority
If you always ensure your bills are covered in key areas such as housing and utilities, you can do the same with your student loan payment. Once your student loan is paid off, you’ll have more money each month to devote to improving your business, or to put toward retirement, or even to pay for items such as fun nights out and travel.
Because of these considerations, you can treat your student loan payment as one of the most important bills you have, along with your rent and utilities.
If you’re short on cash, you can opt to cancel your cable service, try to get a better internet package, skip the co-working space or scrimp on extra office supplies, but never skimp on your student loan bill. By treating your student loan bill as a top priority and a “need” rather than just another monthly bill, you can give it more focus.
3. Know your income averages
Knowing your average monthly income can be a useful tool in helping you decide how high of a student loan payment you can make. It can be scary to send in, say, an extra $500 — or even $50 — to your student loan servicer, especially if you don’t know what the next month will bring as far as income goes.
However, if you have a sense of your monthly averages and there hasn’t been a major shift in your business, you can feel more confident knowing you can afford a certain payment.
Still, this will take time to figure out. If you are new to having a variable income, you should wait until you can average several months of income. If you’ve had variable income for years, you can average 12 months to get a sense of what to expect. If you continue to network and add clients, your monthly income will likely increase over time, allowing you to potentially make higher student loan payments.
Our prepayment calculator can help estimate how much money and time on your loan you might save by making extra payments. We should note here that one thing you should consider before making extra student loan payments is any other debt you might be carrying, such as high-interest credit card debt. If you have a lot of credit card debt, it may be more worthwhile to concentrate on making extra payments toward that debt while making just the minimum payments on your student loan debt, as student loans typically have much lower interest rates than credit cards.
You should also understand that, with a freelance lifestyle, something may unexpectedly happen and dramatically change your income average. This can be either a positive or a negative. For instance, you might gain some new business that adds a significant boost to your income. On the other hand, you may lose a big client who has been providing a significant portion of your income for several months or even years. You should aim to always be prepared for this scenario.
4. Have an emergency fund
One way in which you can be prepared for the unexpected is by having an emergency fund. Such a fund can help ensure you always have backup cash to make your student loan payments and cover other regular expenses.
For example, if you’ve calculated that you can afford a $400-per-month student loan payment based on your monthly expenses and income averages, you should continue to pay that each month, always keeping it a top priority with your other vital monthly expenses.
However, if you have a bad month in which a key client doesn’t pay, or a large expected contract doesn’t come through, you might be concerned about making that $400 payment in addition to all your other financial responsibilities. This is where having an emergency fund will help you to keep your monthly budget on track. You can borrow from yourself, and as soon as you have a high income month again, you can refill your emergency fund.
You can start an emergency fund slowly, funnelling what you can into a high-yield savings account whenever you get a payment from a client. You might make it a goal to grow it to cover six months of expenses, an amount many financial experts recommend, although even having just $1,000 to $2,000 on hand at all times can be helpful.
Using all these tips, you should not only become more aware of your monthly spending and business expenses, but you should also have a better handle on just how much you can afford in student loan payments. This estimate might allow you to pay well above the minimum to pay off your student loans faster, or it will let you know where you need to cut back so you can make your payments on time. Then you’ll be well on your way to being student loan debt-free.
Other things to consider when paying off student loans with a variable income
Making student loan payments a priority is a good rule of thumb, but sometimes life gets in the way. This can be especially true if you are someone who makes a variable income.
One of the benefits of student loan debt is that, if you are having trouble making payments, you can work with your loan servicer on getting a deferment or forbearance. This means that, in times of hardship, you can avoid having to make student loan payments. There are also income-driven repayment programs you may be able to take advantage of, which can help lower your monthly student loan bill.
So even though it can be a good idea to treat your student loan payment as a necessary one, the fact is that it doesn’t always have to be, particularly if you are in a rough financial situation. You don’t have the same options with, say, your electric bill, that you do with your student loan bill.
Check out our deferment, income-based repayment and public service loan forgiveness calculators to further explore these student loan options.
Rebecca Stropoli contributed to this report.
Interested in refinancing student loans?
Here are the top 6 lenders of 2020!| Lender | Variable APR | Eligible Degrees | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | 1.99% – 5.64%1 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | 1.89% – 5.90%2 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | 2.25% – 6.09%3 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | 1.89% – 6.77%4 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | 2.39% – 6.01% | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | 1.99% – 5.41%5 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
| Check out the testimonials and our in-depth reviews! 1 Important Disclosures for Earnest. Earnest DisclosuresTo qualify, you must be a U.S. citizen or possess a 10-year (non-conditional) Permanent Resident Card, reside in a state Earnest lends in, and satisfy our minimum eligibility criteria. You may find more information on loan eligibility here: https://www.earnest.com/eligibility. Not all applicants will be approved for a loan, and not all applicants will qualify for the lowest rate. Approval and interest rate depend on the review of a complete application. Earnest fixed rate loan rates range from 2.98% APR (with Auto Pay) to 5.79% APR (with Auto Pay). Variable rate loan rates range from 1.99% APR (with Auto Pay) to 5.64% APR (with Auto Pay). For variable rate loans, although the interest rate will vary after you are approved, the interest rate will never exceed 8.95% for loan terms 10 years or less. For loan terms of 10 years to 15 years, the interest rate will never exceed 9.95%. For loan terms over 15 years, the interest rate will never exceed 11.95% (the maximum rates for these loans). Earnest variable interest rate 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 1.82% and 5.50% to the one month LIBOR. The rate will not increase more than once per month. Earnest rate ranges are current as of July 31, 2020, and are subject to change based on market conditions and borrower eligibility. Auto Pay discount: If you make monthly principal and interest payments by an automatic, monthly deduction from a savings or checking account, your rate will be reduced by one quarter of one percent (0.25%) for so long as you continue to make automatic, electronic monthly payments. This benefit is suspended during periods of deferment and forbearance. The information provided on this page is updated as of 7/31/2020. Earnest reserves the right to change, pause, or terminate product offerings at any time without notice. Earnest loans are originated by Earnest Operations LLC. California Finance Lender License 6054788. NMLS # 1204917. Earnest Operations LLC is located at 302 2nd Street, Suite 401N, San Francisco, CA 94107. Terms and Conditions apply. Visit https://www.earnest.com/terms-of-service, email us at [email protected], or call 888-601-2801 for more information on our student loan refinance product. © 2020 Earnest LLC. All rights reserved. Earnest LLC and its subsidiaries, including Earnest Operations LLC, are not sponsored by or agencies of the United States of America. 2 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 September 9, 2020. Information and rates are subject to change without notice. 3 Important Disclosures for SoFi. SoFi Disclosures
4 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 September 10, 2020. 5 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 0.16% effective August 10, 2020. | |||
