Produced by HuffPost's Eyes & Ears Citizen Journalism Unit as part of the HuffPost College Student Debt series.
I'm am the proud owner of about $90,000 worth of student loan debt. I paid Allied Interstate $200 a month last year toward one of my 13 non-consolidatable loans until they took a monthly payment out twice and over-drafted my bank account. They still call a few times a day, but at this point I tell them to come get me, because if I've got a choice between groceries and some tool getting an extra vacation day for the commission of my loan payment, well, I'll take the groceries.
Did I mention that mountain of debt only bought me an Associates degree? Yup, Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Associate of "Specialized Sciences" in Graphic design. I know! Hilarious, right? I was the first in my immediate family to go to college. I'm starting to think I should've just stayed in West Virginia, gotten knocked up and taken a luxurious government funded life in a trailer park.
I don't bother calling Sallie Mae anymore, they freak out on me every time I do. The last chat I had went something like this;
Sallie: "Well, Miss Smith, you're 977 days late on your payment! This is awful, I'm going to have to refer you to our blah blah blah department..."
Me: "But, I'm telling you I don't have any more money."
Sallie: "Well, can't you take out a loan or something??"
Me: Lady, I can't even get a Victoria Secret card. Why in God's name would someone just hand over thousands of dollars to someone who's only collateral is a Nintendo and a tabby cat?
I've gone to credit consultants (one of them actually said "Well, you could move to Mexico but, they'd probably find you.") I've talked to other people with the same problem and most of them think I'm an idiot for trying to pay the loans off. Every time I get a little ahead on one of my loan payments, the deferment rides out on another one. I can't afford a lawyer or an accountant (I have a job, I'm WAY too far over the poverty line to get state help) and honestly, what pro-bono lawyer wants to take on a giant student loan company? Come on.
So, I'm waiting for them to try and garnish my wages again. At that point, I'll probably have to quit and start waiting tables.
And, I'm NOT holding my breath for Obama anymore. I'd do better to run with the Mexico plan.
BTW, they just called again! No kidding.