Are you done with school and now need help paying off student loans? Is the debt kind of crushing and you want to get out from under it? Are you still job hunting but now have to start making payments? Well there are many things you can do to help alleviate your student loan problems.

Some of the things that will help you will come from the outside, but others will come from the inside. You may have to make some lifestyle changes to get out from under your debt. That said, there are some programs that can help you out.

The biggest keys to learning how to pay off loans are to increase your income, take advantage of programs that are already out there, and learning how to live in a frugal enough manner to avoid excessive spending.

The first thing you can do of course is to become frugal.  If you don’t have any money, do not have a job, and do not know when you are getting one then why are you buying designer jeans and expensive clothes. Why are you buying a brand new house of a brand new car? While this might not apply to you, it does to far too many kids graduating college who have lived off of the parental and loan dole for a long time and are just now realizing that you need to change your ways and that you owe the money.

I would never buy a car or house right out of college. You need to take a year or two, make your loan payments, and figure out how much the student loans debt is going to affect your life.

So what can you do to help pay off your student loans?  Well aside from not spending money on non essential items like clothes and ipods you can pick up some temp jobs. Yes, you are holding out for a job that has something to do with your major but if you need money in the meantime you can work it off.  There are many temp agencies around and they can usually place you in a job for as little as a few weeks and as long as a few years.  By doing this you will be in a better position to pay off your debts and maybe even have some spending money.

Another option is to re-enroll in school as this usually suspends your required loan payments.  Student loans only need to be paid back when you are in school, so if you need to just re-enroll.  It might not be fun but it is better then defaulting on your debt.

If you are blessed with parents that have some extra cash sitting around then it is worth asking them for help.  Many parents are happy their kid finished school and are willing to help you out now that you are done as long as you are still trying to find a job in your field.  Your parents love you and are proud of you.  Play that to your advantage but then make sure that once you have a job you pay them back.

Re-enrolling in school doesn't really help you to pay off your student loans, but it does help you to avoid defaulting on your payments. Long term you're still in the jam though.

There are of course some government programs that can freeze your debt if you really get in over your head. There is help available for teachers, military personnel, civil service professionals, and for other professionals. This is definitely worth looking into if you have no other options.

If you're going to get out from under your student loan debt, I would love to see you take control of your finances. Step one in taking control is learning how finances work. Here are some articles that I highly recommend taking a look at:

1. Cheapest student loans
2. Low interest personal loans
3. Unsecured loans for people with bad credit
4. No credit check personal loans
5. Auto loan requirements

You never know when you need to buy a car (to get to work) or get a personal loan to cover unexpected medical expenses. Please let me know if you have any questions and I'll be adding to this list as time goes on.