Few opportunities in life will allow you to keep more of your own money year after year with very little work on your part.

You can call your cable company to negotiate a better price.  That can save you $50 bucks or so per month.  But you have to look for new deals every few years and stay on top of the company to make sure they don’t tack on any extras.

Negotiating down a price for a car is another example.  You can potentially save thousands of dollars off the sticker price, but cars go way down in value anyway and you have to rinse and repeat when it’s time to buy another one.

These are both great ways to save money but do require a good amount upfront work and some checking in to make sure you’re not getting fleeced.

But for recent graduates with student loan debt, there is an even better way to create perpetual savings with very little work or maintenance:

Refinance your student loans.

Why You Should Consider Refinancing

Student loans are a big problem in this country.  While student loan interest rates are not nearly as high and murderous as credit card rates, a LOT of people are saddled with student loan debt and the amount of debt is pretty high.  Professional school debt can easily get into six digits (hence, The Broke Professional)

How high?  About $1.3 trillion.  You can even see it go up every second if you have some free time.  Pretty cool.  But also NOT COOL.

The other big issue is that it can take time for many graduates to actually get their careers going.  But lenders really don’t care.  They will give a few months grace period and then you need to start paying.

There also used to be a time when student loan interest rates were really low.  During my undergraduate years in the early 2000’s they hovered around 1-2%.  Now the rates are around 5-7% or even higher depending on the type of loans you take out.

So higher rates and higher balances that affect a large chunk of the population.  This is a problem.

Student loan refinancing is a great potential solution.  While it may not be the final solution for everyone (some value the various government benefits that come with federal loans), every single person with student loan debt needs to look into refinancing.

Refinancing may not be the right option for everyone.  But it doesn’t hurt to get some quotes and find out!

Benefits of Refinancing

Some people are a little confused about what a student loan refinance is.  Really simply, the company you decide to refinance with will send a check to your original lenders and pay off your loans.  You are now a customer of the refinancing company and you have to make payments to them.

Pretty simple, but what are the benefits of moving your debt from one entity to another?  There are many, but the biggest benefit is that you will (most likely) be paying much less in interest payments over the life of the loan.  The bigger the interest rate difference from your original lender and your new lender, the more beneficial refinancing will be for you.

Depending on the interest rate difference and the amount of your balance, you can potentially save a lot of money.

As a real life example, let me walk you through how much I saved with my refinance.  Since my time in school spanned some interest rate changes, I had some loans with lower rates and some with higher rates.

I decided it would be most beneficial to refinance my one loan which had a higher interest rate than the rest and had the largest balance as well.  Let’s do some simple math to check out the savings I received:

Original loan:  $36,667 @6.8% interest

Original term:  25 years

Total payments:  $76,346 ($39,679 interest)

That’s a long time to be in debt and a lot of extra interest to pay.  Now here are the terms of the refinanced loan:

Refinanced loan:  $36,667 @3.45% interest

Refinanced term: 20 years

Total payments:  $50,811 ($14,144 interest)

So over the life of the loan, I would end up saving $25,535 in interest payments!

With the refinanced loan, I had the option of a 5, 10 or 20 year term.  For the sake of the example I showed the 20 year term since the monthly payments were just slightly higher than the original loan.

Simply getting a lower interest rate with pretty much the same monthly payment would save me about $25,000 over the life of the loan!

But I want to get out of debt quick, so I went with the 5 year option since I could handle the increased monthly payment.  Going with this option will save me $36,374 in total payments.  I’m liking the sound of that.

I only had one loan with an interest rate of 6.8%.  Graduates nowadays have multiple loans with interest rates around 6%.  Being able to refinance their entire balance with an interest rate cut in half can produce significant savings.

Another great benefit of going with a new company to refinance your student loans is better customer service.

I’ve dealt with a number of refinance companies and every single one had better customer service than my original lender, whose customer service is almost non-existent.

My original lender would do shady things like apply extra payments towards interest and not the principal, even though I specifically asked them not to.  And it took forever to get a live person on the phone.

Many of these new refinance companies are young and growing, so they put customer service at the forefront of their business plan.  My two favorite companies, SoFi and Earnest, have phenomenal customer service and very user friendly websites.

Who Should I Refinance With?

There are a lot of student loan refinance companies popping up nowadays, but the two that are at the top of the industry and that I highly recommend are Earnest and SoFi.  They are essentially 1 and 1A.

If you’re already convinced and want to get the refinance train moving, click here to get a quote from Earnest, the company that ultimately got my business on my first refinance.  (If you end up getting approved for a refinance by using this link, we both get a $200 bonus)

I also recommend clicking through SoFi, as they have slightly different underwriting standards and you may receive different quotes from either.  (If you use this link and get approved, you will get a $100 bonus)

I would suggest comparing the two and going with the company that gives you the most favorable rate.  They are both very good.

If you still need a little more hand holding, my next post will detail the step by step process of refinancing your student loans and I will tell you why I went with Earnest for my first student loan refinance.

Until then, get some quotes and save some money!

Blogging is not as easy as most people make it out to be. It takes consistent time and effort to produce a quality blog, let alone one that makes some money.

But the most important thing needed to become a successful blogger is passion for your subject. Dr. Jennifer Lyerly, a fellow optometrist from North Carolina, blogs about various issues in the field of optometry. Her knowledge and passion for the profession is evident from every post she puts up on her blog, Eyedolatry.

I asked Dr Lyerly some questions about her life and blogging career. Read on to learn more about what drives Dr Lyerly to produce consistent quality content for fellow optometrists and anyone looking to learn more about the profession:

Tell me a little about yourself and your career:

I graduated from the Southern College of Optometry in 2011 and started blogging right after graduation. I’ve been working in group private practices since graduating, and I’ve found I really enjoy working with a team of doctors and having a personal relationship with a boss who is also an optometrist. I’m constantly learning from doctors with more experience where I work at Triangle Visions Optometry, and I also feel like I bring something new and insightful to the table as a millennial doctor on the team.

When and why did you start blogging and who is your primary audience?

I was studying to take North Carolina boards, and also organizing my thoughts on patient care for my first job when I decided to write my first blog post. The blog was a great way to think about a topic and work out how I would describe a medical condition or an optics question to a patient. Most readers on my blog are curious patients, wanting to learn more about their eyes. Since I’ve been putting more focus on women’s issues in optometry, I have seen a huge influx of readers that are new graduates and student ODs. My goal is to make the blog informative to people with various levels of education in eyecare, so that an optometrist, a student, and someone completely inexperienced with our profession would all feel like they took away valuable information from a post.

How do you manage your time between blogging and seeing patients?

It’s difficult! My rule is that I never mix blogging with work. At work I see patients and am a doctor only. When I leave the office, I don’t take home patient care so I’m free to work on anything I want. I try to write 1 good quality post a week. More than that, and I just don’t have time to research and edit enough to feel like I’m delivering quality information.

What has been the biggest challenge in your blogging career?

Dealing with criticism has been tough. When you put yourself out there, you’re going to have people who don’t agree with you. I’ve had a surprising number of people criticize my support of daily contact lenses on the blog, or leave a comment meant to insult me or belittle me about “not being a real doctor.” I was even blocked on Facebook for a few months when someone upset about how many posts I’ve done about daily disposable contact lenses (they wear their Biomedics contact lenses 4-5 months at a time and are just fine!!) reported me as a bad URL.

Any negative feedback I get just drives me to want to write better and better articles. The world is largely uninformed about what we do as optometrists and what is true about their eye health, and I feel like my blog gives patients at least one place where they can get true, medically supported information. Not everyone will agree with the science, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need to hear it.

If you could give some advice to your first year optometry school self, what would you tell her?

I was so focused on classroom excellence in school, I didn’t participate in leadership groups as much as I should have. Looking back now, optometry school is truly a place of social connections as much as learning. As a natural introvert, it took me being out of school and having to talk to new people every 20 minutes in patient care to realize that making connections with people isn’t scary or intimidating — it’s actually pretty easy and very rewarding. I’ve almost become an extrovert at this point and life is so much more fun this way!

What are some of the major challenges that young optometrists face nowadays?

Where I practice in North Carolina, the choices of where to work seem to be getting smaller and smaller every year. Our industry is going through major ownership consolidation and I fear that lack of competition and choice for where to work will drive down our salaries and our quality of life as doctors. Negotiating what you want is essential from your very first contract – not just for you, but for every doctor that comes after you. We have to stand up for what our education and skills are worth.

Have you always enjoyed writing?

In elementary school, I wanted to become an author when I grew up. I haven’t written a book (fail), but blog – author has to count for something.

Are there any blogs you visit regularly?

With industry blogs I consistently read Eye See Euphoria, Maino’s Memos, Eyecing on the Cake, Optomly, and of course, The Broke Professional.

Where do you see yourself professionally in 5 years?

I plan to keep practicing, blogging, speaking, and serving the profession of optometry in anyway that I can. I’m passionate about the success of our profession and I am excited about any opportunity I get to make our future brighter. I hope in 5 years I can look back and feel like I’ve been making a difference in our profession, no matter how small the impact is.

Where do you see your blog in 5 years?

I started the blog as a way to supplement my learning, and I can’t picture a time where there isn’t a topic I want to learn more about. But in addition to educational articles, I also want to use the blog to help our profession. I want to work with companies and industry leaders for the next generation of young female ODs to champion the future of our industry. I’m really passionate about making private practice survive in optometry, and embracing social media is the best way for independent doctors to compete with large corporate entities — you need a personal, unique presence and you need to connect with people!

Through the blog and the social media experience I’ve had, I’ve also started a new business with Dr. Glover at Eye See Euphoria where we are offering social media management for exclusively optometrists at Defocus Media. It’s impossible to know what the social media landscape will be in 5 years, but I want to be right there, representing optometry and connecting with other doctors and patients to grow our profession.

What is your favorite book?

This is always a hard question for me — I love reading and there are so many books that have spoken to me. I really love The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath because I think many young women go through the feelings the main character has in that book — feeling confused about what and who you’re supposed to become and how you’re supposed to do it all, feeling like what you’re creating or delivering to the world is not valued. Knowing other women before me were overwhelmed with expectations from society, their families, and themselves makes me feel more comfortable with imperfection and not being able to do it all.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not blogging or seeing patients?

Traveling, eating, and dancing at weddings. Being married to my best friend, I feel like we are always planning our next adventure.

Any words of advice for young professionals seeking to make an online presence?

Don’t judge your worth by the number of readers or number of followers you have. Don’t judge your worth by one person’s negative comment. If you look at what you’re doing online, be it blogging or on social media, and you are proud of it, then you are success! And you know what, if you’re producing good content, your readership and followers will grow naturally anyway.

Big thanks to Dr Lyerly for the interview and giving some insight on what it takes to build a successful blog while holding down a full time job.

Her blog is called Eyedolatry.  Check it out for consistent quality information about eye conditions and the field of optometry.

The East Coast is now recovering and digging out from one of the worst blizzards it has seen in years.  In the MD/DC/VA area we got the brunt of it, so digging out has been a process for sure.

While being at home with my family for days was fun, cabin fever started to set in after a while, especially with my 3 year old son.  He begged us to take him to the nearby park which was covered in snow and he absolutely loved it!

It was an interesting and sometimes character building experience trying to dig ourselves out.  I saw the spectrum of humanity out there.  From neighbors helping each other shovel out of their driveways to guys taking selfies of themselves in their clean driveways and not lifting a finger to help others in need right next door.

Shoveling snow is kind of a cathartic experience because things are very quiet and still all around.  And all you’re left with is your thoughts while repetitively shoveling and pushing snow around.

In between thinking about my mortality and wondering if we had enough eggs to last the next few days, I did draw some financial analogies related to the blizzard:

1.  Debt keeps you from moving forward

Seeing the magnitude of the storm when it was finished and how helpless everything looked, I realized that this is what debt can do to your financial life.  If you have debt lying around all around you, it becomes very difficult to just take a step towards financial freedom.

Once you can stop the debt from piling on, the next action step should be to get rid of that crushing debt so you can actually move on and advance with your life.  Which brings me to my next realization:

2.  Large goals are best completed in stages

Once I got my gear on and opened the door to take a look outside, it was incredible to see how much snow there was.  My Corolla was almost completely covered and the mounds of snow in the driveway and on the sidewalk were enormous.  I thought to myself that we’re never going to be able to get out of this.

But once I started working, I just made a goal to clear off certain sections and take breaks every so often.  Before I knew it, I had most of the driveway clean that day and two days later the car is able to get out and the sidewalk is passable.

This concept can be applied to pretty much anything in life, be it paying off debt or starting a new business.  The final goal can seem daunting and even unattainable at first, but if you break it up into smaller goals and work on them consistently, the end goal will become much clearer.

3.  Focus on your own situation and don’t keep up with the Joneses

It’s interesting to see how differently people approach shoveling.  Some perfectly healthy people can’t be bothered and will hire somebody to clean.  Some people are out during the storm itself and to get a head start.  And some people just wait until the plows come by to get started.

People also have different levels of preparation.  Some are using their rickety old shovels that have lasted them for years.  Others are eager to start up their brand new snowblowers.  Everyone has different situations but my philosophy is to do what you can with your situation and help those who need it.

If you were unprepared for this storm, just do what you can and prepare better for the next storm.  Financially, constantly having your eyes towards those who have more will just make you feel worse and affect how you deal with your current situation.

4.  Having a partner helps.  A LOT.

Shoveling snow by yourself is repetitive, boring and time consuming.  I noticed when I had one or two more people helping, all with the same goal, things were just more fun and work got done more effectively.  Even if one of the other people was my 3 year old son with a sand shovel, it was still fun having him out there.

In the same way, I think it’s important to have a partner when it comes to your finances.  This could be an accountability partner, a spouse who is on the same page or just a friend who enjoys talking about finances (I’m taking applications if you’re looking for one.)

There’s a nice synergy that is created when you’re working with someone towards the same goal.  You feed off of each other and new ideas can be found during the journey.

Luckily the forecast is calling for temperatures to be in the mid 40’s this week, so hopefully we will have a lot less snow to contend with this time next week.

Now only if there was an act of God that could evaporate everyone’s student loan debt…