Wife has auto debit set up on Nelnet for minimum amount currently. We want to begin paying extra monthly to get rid of this thing ASAP.

Where I get confused is due I need to call the people monthly and let them know we are paying extra and have them apply it to the principal. OR just pay the extra per month and have them roll in into the advanced due date portion?



I've been reading so much mis-info online it is making my head explode. This is what their website says....Keep in mind all her loans have been consolidated so they just fall into one umbrella. I am student loan dumb since I never had to deal with them.

Paying More Than Your Current Amount Due: Unless you direct your payment to an individual loan or group, the standard allocation method is as follows. After your current amount due is paid, payments are allocated across loans in repayment status starting with the highest interest rate. Once the loans in repayment status with the highest interest rate are paid in full, any remaining payment amount will be allocated across the loans with the next highest interest rate. If two or more loans in repayment status have the same highest interest rate, the payment will be allocated first to the unsubsidized loans and then to the subsidized loans, in proportion to each loan's regular monthly payment amount.
When you pay more than your current amount due, your due date on loan groups in repayment status will advance by one month each time you satisfy the regular monthly payment amount for that group. Your monthly billing statement will show $0 due for that loan group.

• Since your excess payment will continue to be applied to the loan group starting with the highest interest rate, you will continue to have an amount due for loan groups with lower interest rates.**
• You have the option to request that we not advance your due date when you pay more than your current amount due. See "Can I direct payments to loans or loan groups?" below for more information.
• If you want your excess payment to continue to advance the due date of all of your loan groups in repayment status, you can direct your excess payments to all loan groups in repayment status, instead of targeting the loan group(s) with the highest interest rate, as a one-time or recurring special payment instruction. This will help keep the due dates for all loan groups aligned.

Since you have consolidated, I think you are going to be good to go. It doesn't matter that they are advancing your due date as long as they are still pulling the same amount each month. They apply your payment toward interest due at the time of payment, and then the rest goes toward principal (at least that's my memory). I would just confirm that they are still pulling the money each month even if you don't have a payment due after they've advanced your payment. You should be able to figure that out after a few months.

My wife's student loans were consolidated as well and Mohela handled the servicing. When I setup autodraft, they had an option to pull extra to be applied toward principal for each payment.

Might want to check out Elfi if you haven't refinanced recently. I got an amazing rate with them awhile back switching over from Nelnet. Very simple to use and they consolidated all the groups together.

They also have a referral program where they cut you a check (I think for $100) if you use my personal link:

https://www.elfi.com/referral/186/

Full disclosure: I get a kickback too but saves you some cash and then you can handout to other friends / family that may be in a similar situation.

Best of luck, student loans can be annoying as hell...been paying mine off for about 7 years now...

I just finished paying off one of the two loans I had with Nelnet. CJS4715 is right when he says you just need to make sure you are not pushing the due date and they are collecting every month.

The payment will cover any interest accrued first, and then will hit principle.

YourFavAggie said:

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I just finished paying off one of the two loans I had with Nelnet. CJS4715 is right when he says you just need to make sure you are not pushing the due date and they are collecting every month.

The payment will cover any interest accrued first, and then will hit principle.

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did you have to call them and tell them that specifically, or When you paid extra online in addition to what is set for auto draft it did it automatically?

AustinCountyAg said:

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YourFavAggie said:

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I just finished paying off one of the two loans I had with Nelnet. CJS4715 is right when he says you just need to make sure you are not pushing the due date and they are collecting every month.

The payment will cover any interest accrued first, and then will hit principle.

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did you have to call them and tell them that specifically, or When you paid extra online in addition to what is set for auto draft it did it automatically?

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When I was paying off my Nelnet loan off early, I just paid extra every month online rather than call and have them withdraw a new amount monthly That way I was in control of when I would pay the extra amount. I didn't want them withdrawing more than what was required in case something happened financially where I couldn't pay off loans quicker.

Every time I paid online, I was given the option to push the due date and declined.

If you pay extra (as stated by others), it first goes towards interest. Then if there is anything left over it goes to principle.

so did you have auto draft set up. and just randomly during the month applied an extra one time payment in addition to your monthy minimum?

Or did you just increase you pre-set auto draft amount each month on the date for which it automatically withdrew the amount?

I know my wife has it on auto draft because of the .5 interest rate reduction it gives

I am trying to determine if I should just increase my monthly payment, or continue to pay the minimum on auto draft and just add in a one time payment each month

AustinCountyAg said:

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so did you have auto draft set up. and just randomly during the month applied an extra one time payment in addition to your monthy minimum?

Or did you just increase you pre-set auto draft amount each month on the date for which it automatically withdrew the amount?

I know my wife has it on auto draft because of the .5 interest rate reduction it gives

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I had autodraft set up to only pay the monthly amount required. For example the 5th of every month. This was done so I wouldn't forget to pay this every month and for the 0.5% interest rate deduction.

Then usually the next day (6th of every month), I would pay in my extra amount (say $500). $3 of that would go to the interest that accrued for one day. The $497 would go to the principle amount.

I never increased the pre-set auto draft amount. I never did this because I was concerned that if some financial catastrophe came my way I would forget to set this back to the original amount and it would continue to be withdrawn monthly.

do you know if I just increase my monthly payments will the extra go straight to principal? I do not want it going to advanced payments...I just tried paying a one time payment like you talked about and I was not offered any box to check/uncheck in regards to advance payment or not.

AustinCountyAg said:

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do you know if I just increase my monthly payments will the extra go straight to principal? I do not want it going to advanced payments...I just tried paying a one time payment like you talked about and I was not offered any box to check/uncheck in regards to advance payment or not.

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I would assume that it would.

For example, let's say my auto pay was $200 a month, and I paid the extra $500 on the same day. The $200 would be broken down to interest first, then principle. The extra $500 should go directly to principle.

This is all an assumption, and the only way to get a definitive answer is to call or e-mail (to get it in writing).

It's been a year or so since I paid mine off but I remember you have to select a box to not advance your payment due date or else it will just assume you are making several payments up front. I had like $200 in interest accrued up when I logged back in.

I did what someone else mentioned and paid my minimum on auto payment and went in and made my additional principal payment myself the next day.

You could have your questions answered in 30 minutes by calling them.

false. youo get put on hold for an hour, and then the person you talk to is no help

Nelnet was a crapshoot getting someone who could be helpful. I only made one extra payment, but I also recall there being an extra box to check and the wording making it sound like the opposite of what I wanted.

Call back until you get some lady who sounds like she's in her 50s. That lady was helpful.