Yeah, I pay them. Mostly because if I don’t, they call me and harass me. I deferred for a year when we moved out here because I was unemployed. I tried to do it again when I started at the shop – since I make peanuts – but I think I still made more than the deferment level. Which sucks. I also don’t have a US checking account anymore, and Wells Fargo won’t take FRIGGING CREDIT CARDS, so I have to do a telegraphic transfer every two months to pay the bill. And so I end up paying an extra $120 a year, which also sucks.
To recap: Aussie dollar to US dollar exchange rate + $20 telegraphic transfer fee with every payment = debtor’s prison.
It might be possible, I suppose. But student loans traditionally have a very low interest rate, and I doubt I’d be able to get a personal loan here on the same terms. Plus it takes a while to build up a credit history in a country, you know? They wouldn’t even give me a credit card until I’d lived here four years and had my permanent residency. I just wish they’d let me pay with my Visa. It would solve ALL the headaches. I could probably even set it up to automatically do it every month, which I can’t do with telegraphic transfers. (And thus save myself the headache of freaking out every two months trying to remember when I last sent it.) Wells Fargo are blood-sucking mongrels… *sigh*
This is a good example about the globalization. You can’t pay your loans easy, you can’t get credit card easy, you can’t get a loan… What else? Globalization is a good thing! :-
Getting a loan here to pay off a loan there could just reverse the problem in later years – and you won’t get any where near the same interest rate.
If you’re never gonna live in the USA again you might be able to just stop paying, but I’d do some checking on that first (i.e. make sure your mom didn’t co-sign eh?)
Why did you close your US account? We still maintain one (and a US Visa card) all linked to my parent’s address (helps when ordering on-line from US sites that aren’t internationally friendly) – we are still paying Amy’s student loans off and wire enough money to the US bank account to cover 6 months – that cuts the fees and we try to time it with good forex rates (.77 now – woo hoo!)
Wells Fargo are blood-sucking mongrels – check your bank, it might be cheaper to get checks cut in USD here – or wire from your bank (I think ANZ charges 22AUD)
I kept my US accounts for a bit, but it became kind of a hassle in London. The bastard bank I had my checking account with started charging me fees (it had been fee-free in college) and since it was taking me so long to get the statements, I didn’t know it had gone overdrawn until it was a big old mess. Mom had to go down and fix it all up, and I told her just to cancel it. I’d already gotten a Citibank account in London that came with a US dollar account for expatriates, so I used that to pay everything and it was super convenient. I assumed when I moved to Australia that I could just transfer the account to the Oz branch of Citibank… but no go. I’ve still got the London one but now I still have the problem of transferring to a bank overseas. I haven’t been able to find if there are any Australian banks that offer accounts in foreign currency (for people other than, like, rock stars). So I’m screwed.
And actually, ANZ telegraphic transfer *is* what I’m using to pay the bills. I just pay two months worth at a time; hence 6 x $22 per transfer = about $120/year in fees. I know I should just pay more at a time, and I can afford to… it just feels RIDICULOUS and STRESSFUL to be sending thousands of dollars at a time away into the ether, you know?
Tell me about it. I had one nightmare transfer last year that I somehow made in the magical conflux of a bank holiday and Hurricane Katrina, and it’s like my payment got stuck out there somewhere. It took, like, an extra three weeks to arrive. Definitely not cool.
eileen
May 4, 2006 — 12:05 am
Good for you! Mine are still sky high because I’ve been deferring them for years. Peace Corps + grad school = debtor’s prison
Aim
May 4, 2006 — 3:27 am
Wow, you’ve actually been paying them? Way to go.
Kris
May 4, 2006 — 8:49 am
Yeah, I pay them. Mostly because if I don’t, they call me and harass me. I deferred for a year when we moved out here because I was unemployed. I tried to do it again when I started at the shop – since I make peanuts – but I think I still made more than the deferment level. Which sucks. I also don’t have a US checking account anymore, and Wells Fargo won’t take FRIGGING CREDIT CARDS, so I have to do a telegraphic transfer every two months to pay the bill. And so I end up paying an extra $120 a year, which also sucks.
To recap: Aussie dollar to US dollar exchange rate + $20 telegraphic transfer fee with every payment = debtor’s prison.
eileen
May 5, 2006 — 12:53 am
RT- that blows! you’s think they would have a better way to accomodate people who live abroad.
Moire
May 5, 2006 — 2:36 am
Kris, would it help if you refinanced under Aussie terms? Or is that even possible?
jussi
May 5, 2006 — 5:55 am
I think the same. Is it possible to
take loan from some bank in Australia?
Then you can pay of all your student loans in USA.
Kris
May 5, 2006 — 11:43 am
It might be possible, I suppose. But student loans traditionally have a very low interest rate, and I doubt I’d be able to get a personal loan here on the same terms. Plus it takes a while to build up a credit history in a country, you know? They wouldn’t even give me a credit card until I’d lived here four years and had my permanent residency. I just wish they’d let me pay with my Visa. It would solve ALL the headaches. I could probably even set it up to automatically do it every month, which I can’t do with telegraphic transfers. (And thus save myself the headache of freaking out every two months trying to remember when I last sent it.) Wells Fargo are blood-sucking mongrels… *sigh*
jussi
May 6, 2006 — 3:02 am
This is a good example about the globalization. You can’t pay your loans easy, you can’t get credit card easy, you can’t get a loan… What else? Globalization is a good thing! :-
Rob
May 6, 2006 — 9:04 am
Getting a loan here to pay off a loan there could just reverse the problem in later years – and you won’t get any where near the same interest rate.
If you’re never gonna live in the USA again you might be able to just stop paying, but I’d do some checking on that first (i.e. make sure your mom didn’t co-sign eh?)
Why did you close your US account? We still maintain one (and a US Visa card) all linked to my parent’s address (helps when ordering on-line from US sites that aren’t internationally friendly) – we are still paying Amy’s student loans off and wire enough money to the US bank account to cover 6 months – that cuts the fees and we try to time it with good forex rates (.77 now – woo hoo!)
Wells Fargo are blood-sucking mongrels – check your bank, it might be cheaper to get checks cut in USD here – or wire from your bank (I think ANZ charges 22AUD)
Kris
May 6, 2006 — 11:25 am
I kept my US accounts for a bit, but it became kind of a hassle in London. The bastard bank I had my checking account with started charging me fees (it had been fee-free in college) and since it was taking me so long to get the statements, I didn’t know it had gone overdrawn until it was a big old mess. Mom had to go down and fix it all up, and I told her just to cancel it. I’d already gotten a Citibank account in London that came with a US dollar account for expatriates, so I used that to pay everything and it was super convenient. I assumed when I moved to Australia that I could just transfer the account to the Oz branch of Citibank… but no go. I’ve still got the London one but now I still have the problem of transferring to a bank overseas. I haven’t been able to find if there are any Australian banks that offer accounts in foreign currency (for people other than, like, rock stars). So I’m screwed.
And actually, ANZ telegraphic transfer *is* what I’m using to pay the bills. I just pay two months worth at a time; hence 6 x $22 per transfer = about $120/year in fees. I know I should just pay more at a time, and I can afford to… it just feels RIDICULOUS and STRESSFUL to be sending thousands of dollars at a time away into the ether, you know?
Rob
May 6, 2006 — 1:07 pm
Yeah, I’m not very fond of the time when the money leaves ANZ but before it gets to Chase. That’s not fun 🙂
Kris
May 7, 2006 — 11:06 pm
Tell me about it. I had one nightmare transfer last year that I somehow made in the magical conflux of a bank holiday and Hurricane Katrina, and it’s like my payment got stuck out there somewhere. It took, like, an extra three weeks to arrive. Definitely not cool.