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Repaying student loans is a necessary evil once you’ve graduated. Fortunately, payback time doesn’t always have to be painful. The interest rate on money borrowed from The Student Loans Company is always based on the rate of inflation, so if you can’t afford to start paying it back straight away there’s no need to panic. You won’t be stuck with runaway interest charges and a debt that grows steadily more enormous with each passing year, unlike many other loans that charge higher rates.

Some of the following strategies will help you payback a Student loan easily:

Apply for forbearance: It works as a quick solution to paying back Student loan. It is allowed for a temporary period on a federal or direct loan once repayment has started and the student fails to qualify for deferment. You can apply for a forbearance, which will enable you to hold off payments for some months, provided you’ve been paying them regularly.

Often recommended as the best alternative by experts, federal student loan consolidation is a process that puts together all the student loans into one loan at a reduced interest rate. The process is completely free and often takes only a few minutes with most companies. It helps a borrower to reduce the monthly payment of a student loan. By debt consolidation, the average monthly payments can be cut by up to 60%. Though it is merely an estimate, the accurate monthly payment will depend upon the amount borrowed, mode of consolidation of loans and rates of interest.

The best thing students can do is to consolidate during deferment or the grace period before repayment of the loan begins. The reason? Federal loans are structured so that the interest rate is lower while students are in school, but once a student begins repayment, the rate increases.

“The average student carries about $20,000 in student loan debt. For someone just starting to earn a salary, or planning to continue their education, this number can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be a burden,” says Kevin Walker, CEO of Simple Tuition, Inc. A company that helps students and parents objectively compare education financing options. “A basic understanding of how and when to consolidate the loans can alleviate confusion and help lower payments from the start.”

When you’ve found the best interest rate, you’ll want to make sure that this loan also has the best terms for payback. In other words, be sure that the date set for the termination of the loan is reasonable. If you say that you’ll have your loan paid off in five years, be sure that this is feasible. Of course we can’t predict everything that will happen, but you should have a good idea of the amount that you’ll be able to afford over time. If ten years is more workable, find the best student loan consolidation program that has a good interest rate and the best payback terms.

A flexible loan payback program can be most helpful. There are those times in everyone’s life that money is tight. In those times it may be helpful to put your loan into forbearance. Be sure that the loan you decide to go back is willing to agree on a forbearance or restricted payback amount for a certain period of time while you get your finances back in order.