As you all may have noticed, this blog has been on a tiny bit of hiatus since around the July time! Well, I’m a new writer currently on top of this, so we’re back! Hooray!

Let me first start by saying that I’m fairly sure everyone has been following this current financial crisis. Students, especially, are feeling the brunt of this situation. I am currently a student myself who has just went through the joys of attempting to get a student loan for the first time, and let me tell you, it was a complete pain in the butt! So I understand the situation for all of you college students out there, and even for people who are just trying to find a safe financial point for their families. Soooo to get you all up to speed, read on!

One of the big things that originally pushed us to this point was the sub-prime lending. If you aren’t sure what sub-prime lending is, it’s when companies extend loans to families or individuals, at an adjustable low interest rate for an extended period of years. The idea behind this is that people who so-so credit, not established credit, or bad credit can still get a house loan and pay it over a long (small chunk) their life. It may be an exciting time in your life until… your adjustable interest rate rises to almost 4 times your normal number, and you suddenly find yourself scrambling to making ends meet. Enter foreclosure, stage left. So as you can see, this was something that has been going on for a long time. People were put under false pretenses and now we are paying a major price. With all the foreclosures currently going on, big investment firms being investigated for shady practices and loan companies trying to take an arm, a leg and your first born child… I think it’s time to say things are getting difficult. If you’re curious about reading more on sub-prime lending, please go over to this wonderful link- http://current.com/items/89124784_mortgage_crisis_blues

Now that we’re past THAT wonderful subject matter, we can look into the current situation of the stock market. It’s been fluctuating like crazy lately and we all have a stake in what is going on. Whether it be because our parents have a 401k, maybe our college fund is in a COD, or maybe our loans are through smaller banks who are having trouble staying afloat amidst all this. Everybody is affected and it’s nothing to feel bad about. There is one thing you cannot do however. Do not take your money out of the bank. I know, I know, it’s a tough suggestion to follow, but let me break this down for you. When we have money sitting in the bank, it’s what the bank “borrows” from us to give out other loans, which keeps currency flowing as well as keeps interest rates down. But when people act frantically and start pulling their money out of the banks in times of crisis, suddenly the banks are peering around the corners of their empty vaults going… “who the heck are we going to borrow money from for these loans?” aaaaaaaand say hello to a credit freeze. I can’t stress enough how important it is that we all keep our money in the banks!

So what is the best plan of attack? In the next few posts I write, I’ll be going into some ideas on how students can save and invest money, banks they can use that have free checking accounts, as well as rehashing each presidential candidate’s tax plans and campaigns. You only have 24 days left to make your decision… I’ll be right there behind you to keep you informed! This post was just a warm-up, so pardon the fact that I didn’t hone in on one particular topic yet. I’m just getting my feet wet!

So I hope you get used to me being here because I have a lot of exciting financial information coming up!! =)

Helpmepaymyloans is now on Twitter. For those who don’t know what Twitter is, it can be summed up as a free social networking and micro-blogging web application that allows people to send “updates” to the Twitter website, via short message service (SMS), instant messaging or a third-party application. It’s not too well known outside the tech industry (I’m actually a web designer during the day, or so I hear) but it is a great tool to keep in touch with the latest news and happenings from the people you follow.

Updates are displayed on a user’s profile and delivered to people who sign up to receive them. People can receive updates via the Twitter website, instant messaging, SMS, RSS, email or through a third party application (I recommend Twhirl or Twitterrific on a Mac).

So if you’d like to receive up to the minute news, resources and info about college finances, ways to save money and student loans news, follow Helpmepaymyloans on Twitter. First, signup at Twitter.com if you haven’t yet (it’s free). Then go to Helpmepaymyloans’s Twitter page and start following. Or just look on the sidebar. Go ahead, take a peak, it’s over there too.

I will be covering interesting articles and news that I may not normally cover in the regular HMPML blog. So check out Twitter and as always, let me know what your thoughts in the comments (or just @helpmepay through Twitter)!

Ever want to go to art school but thought it was just to pricey? Well, you’re right, it is too expensive, but if win the The FindYourArtSchool.com Young Adult Art Competition you won’t have to worry about money quite as much. The contest, which includes straight up cash prizes, is sponsored by The Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online Division. It’s geared towards helping current students and prospective art students gain experience through competition.

The best part? Actual people view and vote for your work. Once submitted, your piece will be judged upon by the web surfing public. Fifty percent of your score is decided by the public and the other half is decided by three independent judges; so your mom can’t sit in front of the computer all day and just vote for you. It’s also open to all legal residents of the United States who are between 16 and 35 years of age on the date of entry.

To enter:

Register online at www.FindYourArtSchool.com/contest/ and post your art work submission. Before being awarded a prize, FindYourArtSchool.com will verify the contest entrants identity, including with name, address, city, state, zip code, age, phone number (including area code), and e-mail address.

The contest surprisingly has no restrictions on how the prize money may be spent. It can go towards your art education, art supplies, or “anything an aspiring artist’s heart may desire.” First place gets a whooping $2500, second a nice $600 and third receives $400. Winners will be announced June 21st and will be posted at FindYourArtSchool.com. The deadline for submitting an entry is June 16th. So role up those sleeves, break out the paint, paper, mouse, camera or whatever you like to use, and create! Good Luck!

I’m happy to announce that Helpmepaymyloans.com will be sponsored by the web-based student loan comparison tool, SimpleTuition.

SimpleTuition is dedicated to enabling students and families through the confusing education loan process with tools, resources and choices that help them to make informed decisions about getting loans for college. Like many search and comparison loan shopping sites, SimpleTuition is free for its users and features comparisons for all types of loans from top lenders such as NextStudent, SunTrust Bank, Susie Mae and Wells Fargo. SimpleTuition isn’t a lender, but a tool to learn about and compare various student loans and lenders. Read more…

The Federal Reserve readied itself to lower interest rates yet again in the wake of the housing and credit crises. By lowering the interest rates, the government hopes to brace the economy by cutting a key interest rate. That’s great, but what does this mean for me and my student loans?

If your loans are already consolidated, you really don’t have any worries since your rate is most likely locked in. But for those looking to consolidate or refinance, paying attention to the key benchmarks at which banks base their rates from is a wise decision. Unlike home loans, student loans use different benchmarks to base their lending and rates from. Three of the main benchmarks used are Cost of Funds Index (COFI), London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and prime rate. By looking at these different benchmarks, you can better understand if refinancing your student loans is the right thing for you to do or not.

If you have a variable rate loan, the COFI is probably responsible for your rate of interest. The COFI is a regional average of interest expenses incurred by financial institutions. It is used to calculate variable rate loans. Many lenders will use this rate if you decide to consolidate your private student loans with a variable rate product. The LIBOR rate is the interest rate the most credit-worthy banks around the world charge each other for loans. This rate fluctuates throughout the day and is based on the market, similar to stocks. Read more…

Yeah. You heard right. Free college. From Stanford nonetheless. On February 19th Stanford University announced that it will no longer require tuition from students whose families earn under $100,00 a year. Along with free tuition for those students, more financial aid opportunities will be available for students whose families make over $100,000 a year.

Stanford decided to drop tuition due to the fact that the University’s endowment had grown almost 22 percent last year to $17.1 billion. That sum had begun to attract notice from lawmakers who want wealthy institutions and universities to do more to reduce tuition costs. Read more…

Did you go overboard last holiday season? Maybe that new surround sound system you bought for your brother was a little out of your price range? If you are up to your eyes in credit card debt from the past holiday season there is something Mint wants you to know.

Mint.com is sponsoring a free personal finance contest called Mint’s $5k Cure for Your Holiday Spending Hangover. Share your money management mishaps by submitting a story or video and you could win the chance to get your credit cards paid off by Mint! Read more…

I’d like to thank Laura Moran from TheStreet.com for writing about this site in her recent article How to Get Someone Else to Pay Your Student Loans. The article takes a look at the alternatives other people have thought of to pay off their student loans.

One of those chronicled in her article is Luke Livingston. Upon graduating college, Livingston thought of an interesting way to pay off his student loans. He started a website called sponsormyloans.com, where he offers to provide advertising and ad space on his website to anyone willing to pay $200 each month. He is hopeful that more businesses will advertise, thus sponsoring his student loan payment for the month. Read more…

After much work and toil Helpmepaymyloans.com has launched! As a former student with large student loans, I wanted a place where students, old and new, could get resources and info about student loans in one place; resources like consolidation tools to news about changes in the laws that affect student loans. It seemed logical to bring all this under one place, one site. In the coming months this site will be packed with facts, tips, resources, news and information about student loans and related topics, like college tuition, building credit, managing your money and more.

If you have a tip for me or think there is a good story to cover, please let me know by emailing me at derek@helpmepaymyloans.com. Check back often for the latest news!