This year, however, Plauché is worried about how much she can afford to spend on gifts. Her main struggle? Student loan payments.
“It just doesn’t leave much room for anything outside of just basic necessities,” said Plauché, a 23-year old tech sales manager from Dallas, Texas.
Marisa Johnson, 26, has approximately $145,000 in student loan debt from both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Since the COVID-era payment pause ended in October, she’s been paying back $300 a month while she waits to see if she’ll be enrolled in a new income-driven repayment plan.
Because all of her money is going to necessities and paying back her student loans, Johnson hasn’t been able to spend as much on gifts as in previous years.
“I’ve mostly been trying to think of affordable gifts or combining gifts with my older sister,” said Johnson, a non-profit worker in Citrus Heights, California.
Plauché and Johnson are just two of the millions of people who had to start paying back student loans after the Biden administration ended the three-year payment pause.
“We know that the holidays are often a very joyful time of the year and an expensive one every year,” said Courtney Alev, consumer financial advocate at Credit Karma. “With federal student loan payments just resuming, it’s going to add another often very significant line item into holiday budgets.”
If student loan payments are cutting into what used to be your holiday budget, here are some recommendations:
THE PRESSURE IS REAL
From family expectations to social media and TV ads showing lavish gifts, many people feel that the only way they can show love is to spend a lot of money.
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Denne historien er fra December 22, 2023-utgaven av AppleMagazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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AUSTRALIA SHOULD DELAY SOCIAL MEDIA BAN FOR CHILDREN UNDER 16, BIG TECH SAYS
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APPLE AND GOOGLE FACE UK INVESTIGATION INTO MOBILE BROWSER DOMINANCE
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DIRECTV CALLS OFF ACQUISITION OF RIVAL DISH.POSSIBLY ENDING A YEARSLONG PURSUIT
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IS 'GLICKED' THE NEW 'BARBENHEIMER'? 'WICKED' AND 'GLADIATOR II' COLLIDE IN THEATERS
“Barbenheimer” was a phenomenon impossible to manufacture. But, more than a year later, that hasn’t stopped people from trying to make “Glicked” — or even “Babyratu” — happen.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE PROPOSED MEASURES DESIGNED TO CURB GOOGLE'S SEARCH MONOPOLY
U.S. regulators are proposing aggressive measures to restore competition to the online search market after a federal judge ruled Google maintained an illegal monopoly for the last decade.
ELECTRIC CAR SALES ARE SLOWING IN THE US AND EUROPE AS BOTH FANS AND SKEPTICS SHARE CONCERNS
While sales of electric vehicles surge in China, adoption of more environmentally friendly vehicles is stumbling in the United States and Europe as carmakers and governments struggle to meet years-old promises about affordability and charging stations.
IT'S ALMOST TIME FOR SPOTIFY WRAPPED.WHEN CAN YOU EXPECT YOUR 2024 RECAP?
It’s almost that time of year: Spotify is gearing up to release its annual Wrapped, personalized recaps of users’ listening habits and year in audio.
RANSOMWARE ATTACK ON SOFTWARE SUPPLIER DISRUPTS OPERATIONS FOR STARBUCKS AND OTHER RETAILERS
A ransomware attack that hit a major software provider last week caused disruptions for a handful of companies over recent days, from Starbucks to U.K. grocery giant Morrisons.
