Lots of us out there have student loans and what you’re going to find out is that you can’t avoid it sometimes, especially if you want to head to college.  If you’re one of the unlucky ones holding a student loan balance today, you’re going to find that paying it off may seem as if it’s going to take a longggg time.

Did you know that even if you throw a few extra dollars toward your payment each month,  that you can pay it off a lot faster?  It’s true and with the calculator sites that I’m going to list below, you can input extra payments and it will show you how fast you can truly pay off your balance.

• #1 CNN Calculator: Simple and easy to use.  Input the loan amount, your monthly payment, as well as the interest rate.  It’s going to tell you how long it’s going to pay off, as well as how much you gave away in interest.
• #2 FinAid: FinAid.org has a different set up but you’re going to get a detailed report that you can study to see how long it’s truly going to take.  You’re going to want your loan balance, the fees, rate, as well as what you’re paying in terms of a minimum payment.
• #3 DinkyTown: I love DinkyTown because they are packed with calculators that you can take advantage of.  They have everything from student loan payoff based ones to paying off a home mortgage.  Think about any calculator out there and there’s a good chance that they have it.
• #4 BankRate: BankRate, just like DinkyTown has a bunch of calculators that you can use.  They have a cool calculator because you can throw in debt such as your credit card and more.  They also produce a great looking graph that you can take advantage of as well.
• #5 Money Zine: The last one on the list is a calculator by Money Zine.  A simple, yet effective calculator that is going to show you your payoff period results, as well as how much you’re going to pay in interest.

While many of these calculators work the same, you’re going to find that by imputing the numbers, you’re going to get a better idea on when your loan is going to be paid off.  If you can pay off the extra payments, by all means, do it.  Even if you can only pay an additional $30, it’s all going to add up in the long haul!