The pandemic dealt a financial blow to Americans across the board. And student loan borrowers were no exception. As such, lawmakers allowed borrowers to pause their federal loan payments to avoid piling onto other financial hardships.
But the days of paused student loan payments are coming to an end. Now that the Supreme Court has ruled against President Biden's student debt forgiveness plan, millions of federal loan borrowers will soon have to start making payments again.
And while the exact start date of those payments might vary from person to person, generally, early October is when they'll resume. This means that your first student loan payment in years may be due in less than two months from now.

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That may be enough to induce a panic. But before you get worked up, take these steps to prepare so you can manage your loan payments more calmly.
1. Figure out exactly what you owe -- and when it's due
It may be years since you last made a payment on your student loans. Before you assume you won't be able to afford your payments, make sure you know what they officially look like. And also, contact your loan servicer to see exactly when your first payment is due. The key is basically to avoid surprises.
2. See if your monthly payments can work based on your income and expenses
The average monthly student loan payment for federal borrowers is $337. Your payments may be higher or lower. But either way, now's the time to see if your payments work given your budget.
Let's say your monthly payments come to $300 apiece. You may not want to cut back on $300 worth of expenses to make room for those payments. But if it's doable, you're in decent shape.
On the other hand, if you know there's no way you can swing $300 monthly payments given your current expenses, then you may want to look at getting a second job so you're able to keep up with them. A lot of people's expenses have risen in the past few years since student loan payments were paused. If your rent is higher now than it was when you last had to make payments, and your other bills have also gone up, then a monthly loan payment that was once manageable for you may now be anything but.
3. Explore your options for a new repayment plan
If you can't swing your monthly student loan payments in their current state, the good news is that you may be able to change them by getting onto a new repayment plan. In fact, you may want to look into the SAVE plan, which is a brand-new option that was introduced by the Biden administration.
The Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, Plan replaces the Revised Pay As You Earn, or REPAYE, Plan. Under the SAVE plan, your monthly student loan payments will be calculated as a percentage of your discretionary income. If you're a lower earner, you may not be liable for monthly payments at all.
Now the SAVE plan is only one of several options you can look into. But now's the time to start looking at options rather than waiting until October.
Having to repay student loans after an extended pause may be a tough adjustment. But if you make these moves now, you can ease your way into those payments and potentially avoid some financial stress in the process.