Because Young Adult Money focuses on the 20- and 30-something demographic, student loans are an important topic for us to address.
After all, there is over $1 trillion in outstanding student loan debt held by more than 40 million Americans.
I’m not a huge fan of writing about how people shouldn’t get in student loan debt because most of our readers are typically already college grads.
One thing I do like to talk about, though, is strategies for paying down student loans. While we are definitely advocates of saving money when possible, we put a lot of emphasis on increasing income.
Increasing the amount of money you make at your 9 to 5 should always be a top priority, but sometimes that’s not always possible. If you’re one of the many people who have student loans and have maximized your earnings potential at your 9 to 5, it may be time to look into earning some money through a side hustle.
Today I want to talk about not just how to make extra money, but specifically how to make extra money to pay down student loans.
Introducing Gradible
Today I want to talk about Gradible, which is essentially a website whose entire focus is helping people pay more towards their student loans. It’s free to sign up and can help you find ways to make a little additional money here and there to help pay down student loans faster.
Once you sign up for Gradible, you will go to a dashboard where you can see all the available opportunities that will help you pay back your student loans. When you complete an opportunity you are given LoanCreds that can be used to redeem for student loan payments. You’ll need 10 LoanCreds for $1 of debt repayment.
Opportunities on Gradible
There are three different ways to earn LoanCreds on Gradible. They include tasks, surveys, and shopping.
- Tasks – Tasks include online work such as data entry, writing, research, and other tasks. These are an ideal “side hustle” for making money in addition to your full-time job because they can be done from home in your free time. An added bonus is they can also be done from wherever you have an internet connection.
- Surveys – From my research on Gradible I learned that the survey section not only has surveys you can complete, but also focus groups and site reviews, along with other market research activities.
- Shopping – Similar to how credit card companies give you cash back for using their card for your purchases, Gradible will reward you with LoanCreds when you make purchases at qualifying retailers. While this does require spending money to gain LoanCreds, the concept is to use the Gradible browser plugin to make purchases that you would make anyway.
So let’s say you went through and completed various opportunities to gain LoanCreds, now what? You can redeem LoanCreds once you have at least 100 of them.
The redemption process involves linking one (or more) of your student loans to Gradible. Gradible has relationships with the major student loan servicing companies so this process is easy. Once LoanCreds are redeemed, payments are made directly to your student loans.
If you’re curious what typical opportunities are, here are a few that were listed on my dashboard:
If you have student loans and are interested in participating in making a little extra money towards your student loans, consider signing up for Gradible (it’s free) and checking out the offers. Worst case scenario you decide it’s not for you; best case scenario you pay off your loans faster.
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Interesting. Guess this forces you not to blow your extra income elsewhere :)
This sounds like a great idea, DC. Anything people can do to help dump those student loans faster is a good thing, IMHO.
Looks like an interesting idea – especially if it’s something you’d be doing or would consider doing and using the funds to go directly against your loans.
Interesting, I always like to find new ways to earn money and I do have a good amount of student loans. What is the value of a loan cred? One of my student loan providers use upromise which is somewhat similar but focuses on spending to get cash back. I think the task/survey part intrigues me more. For the tasks…do you have to be chosen?
Andrew LivingRichCheaply Hi Andrew, I’m Pete, one of the co-founders of Gradible. 10 LoanCreds = $1 We’re very familiar with uPromise, and we also have cash-back deals for shopping. We know that the real issue is getting more income focused on the student loan, though, and that’s the major focus of the site. Some tasks are open to all right off the bat, like surveys, and others require a screener test, like writing and editing. Come check it out, it’s free to join, and we’re happy to answer any other questions.
brokeandbeau Haha yes. It makes it easier when you HAVE to spend the money on student loans.
Laurie TheFrugalFarmer Definitely, Laurie. I like that there are more and more companies that are focusing on helping people get rid of their student loans.
FrugalRules Yes, we will have to see how the service develops over time. I’m sure the goal is to have more and more companies source through it so that people have virtually unlimited opportunities to earn extra money.
It sounds like an interesting concept. Every little penny is certainly helpful and I like that it can only be used to student loans, correct?
I have never heard of this but it sounds awesome! I am thankful that I didn’t graduate with student loans, but if I did, I would want to know of every way I could combat them!
ShannonRyan Yes you are absolutely correct. It can only be used for student loans. Anything to help get rid of those loans!
blonde_finance I think everyone who graduated without student loans is thankful! Unfortunately that is becoming much more rare these days. It’s great to hear about all the new services that help grads pay down loans.
Wow this sounds fantastic. Even if it is a few dollars a month. Every bit helps and with the student loans I have, plus my wife’s definitely something I am going to check out.
Interesting. It seems pretty similar to any rewards program you can use, except that it’s clearly more direct. Which is a big deal to be sure.
I will say that I’m guessing cash back sites pay more than Gradible, so I’d shop around on that front.
j3edwards It’s worth checking out for sure. Like you said, anything to pay down student loans quicker.
AbigailP Cash back shopping is just one way to earn points. I agree with you, though, it’s always good to check out your options.
Hey DC,
Great initiative here to hopefully help people reduce their amount of student debt.. Agree that it’s something that will contribute to a reduction, although probably more of a band-aid solution.. Could be more of a focus on why a person is undertaking study first, although I remember @ 20 I though going to university or college is all about being successful :)!
mycareercrusade You’re right, Gradible (or anything else similar) will not solve 100% of someone’s student loan “problem,” but it can help in a small way. I think we all know how small efforts can add up over time.
I think you’re right that it’s important to reflect on why you went to college and how you can utilize your degree. After all, increasing your income at your 9-5 is the best way to have additional funds to pay down debts.