I went to law school (stupidest mistake I ever made) and borrowed approximately $140K. I have about $80K in private loans. I consolidated the federal loans last year at 2.88%.

My SL payments are approximately $980 a month. I've made every payment on time because I make a decent income. But the interest rate on the private loans is variable and adjusts every quarter so I am very worried about what my payment could be in the future.

Did any of you successfully make it out of SL 'hell?' I know I have to pay these loans back but I wish I could find a way to stabilize the payments.

I've done some research on private loan consolidation and don't get the point of them. The loan I looked at has a variable interest rate.

I'm buying a condo in a few months. Unfortunately I can't put much down because of the $1000K a month SL payment. Has anyone here used the appreciation in their home to pay off the principle in their SL?

I would check out this website. It has some good tips.

http://www.finaid.org/loans/privateconsolidation.phtml

Just want to say, I know how you feel. I am in the same boat...150k. Around 30k is private.
Looking back, I wished I would have stopped after the Bachelors degree. Oh well.

I'm trying to figure out what to do with the private loans too and working with direct on
consolidating the others. Want to get these paid off and be able to eat.

If you find any light at the end of the tunnel, please let me know...and I'll do the same.

Good luck