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Previously, we talked about getting ready for the resumption of federal student loan payments. Now, here are a few more tips to consider when re-factoring these expenses into your budget.

Revise Your Budget

After estimating your monthly payments, factor those changes into your budget. Figuring out the numbers beforehand will help towards adjusting your spending in the near future.

Treat this payment as another monthly expense, just as you would for rent, mortgage, or utilities. Having a hard number to reference makes budgeting loan payments a more concrete concept, making it easier to work towards a goal.

While you can pull some money from your emergency savings account to cover the first installment or two, use this option sparingly. It wouldn’t be ideal to use your entire savings, if possible—the idea is to give yourself some breathing room as you take this time to revise your budget or adjust to any money-saving lifestyle changes.

Re-Evaluate Your Current Spending

The initial outbreaks of COVID-19 changed people’s lives in significant ways. Some of these changes may have affected you financially, which might have affected your spending habits. You can find money in many ways by moving around certain aspects of your current budget.

Find savings opportunities. Think about where your money is going. Re-evaluating your spending lets you differentiate between luxuries and necessities. As a result, you can see where to move money to the expenses that matter.

For instance, the height of the coronavirus resulted in the increased use of food delivery apps. See if you can save money by picking up your own groceries again. Or, reduce the reliance on takeout with less costly alternatives.

Has your career been part of the shift to hybrid or work-from-home settings? You might have spent less on commuting and had savings increase without realizing it. You can move that money towards financial obligations.

Identify—and tie up—financial loose ends. On the other hand, your spending habits may have also shifted towards unnecessary items. Perhaps some of your money got put into a new hobby that didn’t work out, or you started collecting things without a real investment strategy. Maybe you subscribed to too many streaming services in the past and no longer have time to enjoy them all.

Sell items or cancel subscriptions to get a positive cash flow. An impromptu garage sale is a good way to clear up some clutter in your home, and can help rebuild an emergency fund.

In some respects, making slight adjustments to lifestyle and spending can lead to paying down student loan debt. Depending on your situation, you may want to explore other options, such as student loan consolidation or taking on a side job to supplement your primary income.

Pay Now and Save Over Time

The Department of Education formally calls the pause on payments an “administrative forbearance.” Eligible loans during this period will accrue 0% interest, and additional interest will not capitalize on balances. As of this writing, loan interest will resume on September 1, 2023, with payments becoming due once again in October.

If you don’t owe any outstanding interest on your loans, then there is still time to take advantage of the loan pause in some way: making payments. That’s because all payments made during administrative forbearance would go directly to your loan’s principal balance.

As a result, you can potentially lower the total amount of money you’d pay over the life of the loan by taking advantage of administrative forbearance. So if you are ready to make payments now, there is no need to wait for the payment pause to end.

As student loan payments are set to continue, remember that you don’t need to evaluate your situation alone. Beyond the strategies we’ve discussed previously, there are other resources you can use to help navigate what’s ahead. Contact your student loan servicer or visit your financial institution for more information.