My friends,

I keep thinking that since Jess is an adult now, and a college graduate, I'll be off the hook somewhat... not so...

We looked at her HUGE college debt yesterday... there's no way an MBA graduate could manage that monthly payment. Oh, and Jess called Sallie Mae... oh, sorry, we're not consolidating loans right now, because of the state of the economy.

Wait... we've bailed out banks to the tune of $750 billion dollars and my daughter can't consolidate her loans because of the "economy?"... I'm just a little pissed off.

And, we discovered that we can't actually do anything proactively to manage this huge debt because, officially, her loans aren't "due" for the next 10 days...

After 4 years of dealing with Sallie Mae, I am ready to tear my hair out.

And there's only me to help her... and that's a sorry resource to have, as I have nothing.

Don't get me wrong, Bob will help as he always does... he is such a blessing to me and my daughter.

But that doesn't change how angry I am with this whole process!!

And to top it off, we got a call that Bob's nephew had some trouble with the law.. it's a bit serious but not so much so in the greater scheme of things... we're hoping it will be dealt with quickly and easily... but, Bob's extremely concerned about it... he's an adoring uncle and is adored by his niece and nephews .. but, he's not a talker... sigh... so I have to do what I can...

Like maybe go and cuddle with him....

Hope everyone else's Halloween was fun!!!

All the best,

Smokey

You know, reading this made me think of one more reason I should go back to school: to put my payments in deferment once more! Sigh...

Brian was reading somewhere that Sallie Mae has been a huge rip off to many. And while my interest rates could be higher with SM, they certainly could be lower.

I'm sorry you're going through this, bro. Not sure what help is out there for consolidating. Anyone else have this experience or an idea to help with it?

Hey li'l bro,

Thanks for you concern, as always...

And it's not like we didn't know that Jess was going to a VERY expensive university... I guess I just figured that it could be worked out... because that's what Sallie Mae is supposed to do, right? And, historically, I've never been able to say no to anything Jesse wants... so, if she wanted this university, that's what I tried to make sure that she had.

As it is, they strongly encourage you to do business with them online, which is extremely confusing... or, if you dare to call them and actually connect with a real person... well, every person tells you something different then the last person you spoke with...

Sigh... we'll figure this out, as we always do... but I'm still damned annoyed.

All the best,

Smokey