Many young people with student loan debt say they've had to put off major life goals like getting starting a family, saving for retirement, or buying a home. 1 Many would jump at the chance to pay off their loans faster and get on with their lives. Others are looking for ways to reduce their monthly payment to free up some money for their essentials.

Short of winning the lottery, refinancing is one of the most effective ways to ease the burden of paying off student loans. However, many borrowers don't know how or where to start.

While refinancing my own loans, it was a stressful situation to navigate, even with the help of my parents. Coming out of school with a $200,000 degree but only a $40,000 annual salary was a tough pill to swallow, and I wasn't alone - several of my friends found themselves in a similar situation. Between refinancing myths and the endless trail of online lender forms, it's a process that can create a lot of anxiety.

Credible is working to change all of that by simplifying the refinancing process. Instead of hopping from lender to lender and form to form looking for a good rate, Credible provides a one-stop shop where you can connect with a variety of vetted lenders and get real rates in about two minutes, without affecting your credit score.

Getting started on Credible is easy - after answering a few questions about themselves, eligible borrowers see real rates from lenders they're prequalified with. Other websites that claim to help borrowers often have some hidden drawbacks -- like not showing actual rates, or favoring one lender over the other. Credible puts real options in front of you, so you can make the choice that's the best with with your goals and needs.

Because a growing number of lenders are competing to refinance students loans, comparing rates can help you find the best deal. If you don't check rates with more than one lender, you may miss out on a better rate. With Credible, you don't have to go to multiple lender sites and fill out the same information over and over again. Once you've provided a little information about yourself, much of the legwork is done for you. Because the Credible marketplace is integrated with lenders and credit bureaus, they can connect you with multiple lenders at once. Also, checking rates generates only a "soft inquiry" that won't affect your credit score. It is a risk-free way to see what your options are, and your personal information is never shared with a lender unless you see an option you want to move forward with.

Often, borrowers are rejected when they apply directly to a lender. When this happens, they may assume that refinancing is not an option. But every lender has their own qualifications for refinancing, so getting turned down by one lender doesn't mean you're not eligible for others. One of the benefits of the Credible marketplace is that you have access to many lenders. When you come to Credible, you increase your chances of finding a lender that will work with you.

Whether your goal is to slash your interest rate, reduce your monthly payments, or pay your loans off faster, Credible can help you explore your options. Clients who refinance into loans with shorter repayment terms can expect to save an average of $18,000 2 over the lifetime of their loans. Even though I've almost paid off my loans, Credible is the kind of service that I wish I had encountered sooner. If you're looking to get control of your debt through refinancing, Credible can help make that possible.

1ASA

2Credible Blog

Shopping takes an eternity! I see something that looks cute on a mannequin, but on me, it's all wrong. Too baggy, too tight, or just plain ugly. I end up taking things home and wanting to return them, and who wants that! They might as well all come with a warning: "objects will fit much worse than they appear." Who has time to make returns at the store or send back clothes that you order online? That's why I was so excited to hear about a new service from Le Tote called Le Tote Select, an online personal shopping service that makes finding your perfect style easier than ever.

Le Tote Select is a service that uses in-house personal stylists in combination with a super smart fashion technology to get higher quality, better fitting, and more personalized clothes to your door. By filling out a simple but comprehensive fashion questionnaire, they're able to put together a box filled with clothing that's hand-selected to fit your style, silhouette, and schedule. They ship you clothes and accessories, then you send back what you don't like, and keep and purchase what you do like, all for only a $20 stylist fee that gets credited to your purchases. This service sounded like it was made for me, so I decided to try it out.

Signing up and filling out their style profile couldn't have been easier. I chose my favorite tops, pants, dresses, jewelry, and favorite colors and entered my size information. The fit also was pretty amazing, considering I'm a different size in almost every single brand. Then, I picked a box theme and checked out. Simple as that!

My clothes came conveniently to my door a few days later. When my clothes came, I was eager to try everything on and everything fit perfectly. That never happens! I picked a dress, a pair of slacks, and a top to purchase, and sent back the rest in their pre-paid bag.

Le Tote Select is such a fashion life-saver. I found my perfect fashion fix without spending hours trying on and returning items at the store. It truly takes the stress out of finding the right size and style. Le Tote Select knows my style better than I do, and I feel great! For just $20 a box, that's every woman's dream come true. Follow this link to sign up with Le Tote Select today!

I've always had a problem hanging onto things for much longer than I really needed to. Especially, when it came to clothes. When I was younger, I always had music and dance recitals, soccer games, and cheerleading competitions. All the costumes, uniforms and special attire I had to wear for those events were sentimental for me, so I would keep EVERYTHING to keep my favorite childhood memories alive. That habit stuck with me through high school and college from my prom dress to my graduation gown. Now at 29, you can imagine how that added up over the years!

I recently moved in with my boyfriend and it's been quite an adjustment to share space. Sharing a closet was our biggest wake up call. He's a minimalist and I'm, well, "sentimental." He has always loved my style but now realized I had so many clothes, almost half of them he said he's never seen me wear over the 2 years we've known each other. Was I a clothing hoarder?! He was totally right.

Not only were we adjusting to our newly shared space, we were never home at the same time.. He just finished his Master's program, so he was spending most of the time in meetings and adjusting to city life, and I just got a promotion at work. I wanted to be supportive and make our home comfortable for the both of us. So I went through my closet over the next week, seeking through each article of clothing to determine whether or not it was worth keeping or to donate it to The Bowery Mission.

After a long week of cleansing my closet and all my emotional attachment baggage, we now had a decent "his and hers" closet set up. We made so much progress. The next thing on my now anal retentive mind was how was I going to maintain my new closet. That's where Le Tote came in.

I was speaking with my coworker about the big move in with my guy and my concern about cluttering up our shared closet space. She told me it was similar for her when she moved in with her husband and understood the importance of respecting each other's space. She recommended I try Le Tote. For her birthday, her sister bought her a subscription to Le Tote, a clothing rental service. She said it was a big surprise to her since she's never used a service like that before, but she loved that she would have a nice, customized package waiting at home every few weeks. She said it would be perfect for me!

I went on the website and signed up for my first tote. Le Tote has brands from Lucky Brand and Nike to Vince Camuto and Nine West. I picked out a beautiful, flowy Free People skirt, 2 tops, a pair of Rebecca Minkoff earrings and a scarf. 3 garments and 2 accessories. Within the next week, my tote arrived! I loved all the items, especially the skirt. I kept spinning around the apartment in it and my boyfriend thought I was the cutest thing ever. After spending a few days with the items, I was ready to return them all, except for the skirt. I was keeping that skirt! For any items you want to keep, Le Tote offers a special discount off the retail price of the item. This particular item was nearly 40% off the retail price! Score!

Le Tote helped me try new clothes without having to worry about finding space to store them. I didn't even have to put them through the laundry either! I just folded up all of my items after I was done with them, placed them in the Le Tote return bag, and drop it in the mailbox. Easy! Le Tote helped me to keep my wardrobe refreshed without all the baggage. It's now kind of a big event when my Le Tote box comes in because my boyfriend knows he gets a private fashion show from me at least once a month. Now we're creating our own sentimental memories with my clothes together! From my boyfriend and I both, thanks Le Tote!

UPDATE: The folks at Le Tote are offering subscriptions starting at $39/month! Shipping is always free, so follow this link to order yours today!

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How Clothing From Le Tote Cured My Cluttered Closet

How I revamped my wardrobe, one outfit at a time.

I've always had a problem with hoarding, especially when it comes to clothes. From my old dance costumes and soccer uniforms to my prom dress and graduation gown, clothes held so many memories for me. Now at 29, you can imagine how that added up over the years!

I recently moved in with my boyfriend, and one of the biggest wake up calls was having to share a closet for the first time. He's a minimalist and I'm, well, "sentimental." He has always loved my style but soon realized he was moving in with someone with serious attachment issues!

Not only were we adjusting to our newly shared space, we were never home at the same time. I thought I'd surprise him one week by cleaning out my closet little by little. Each day was a hard-fought contest of "keep or donate?" between all my beloved clothes and accessories. By the end of the week, we now had a decent "his and hers" closet set up. But my next project was maintaining it for the long run. That's where Le Tote came in.

I was speaking with my coworker about my new move, and she said the same dilemma happened to her when she moved in with her husband. She recommended I try Le Tote, an online clothing subscription service that sends her new clothes and accessories every month. So instead of filling up her closet, she could return the items at the end of the month and get a brand new outfit the next week! She loved that she would have a nice, customized package of new clothes waiting at home every few weeks. That sounded just perfect for me!

I went on the website and signed up for my first tote. Le Tote has brands from Lucky Brand and Nike to Vince Camuto and Nine West. I picked out a beautiful, flowy Free People skirt, two tops, a pair of Rebecca Minkoff earrings and a scarf - three garments and two accessories in all. Within the next week, my tote arrived! I loved all the items, especially the skirt. I kept spinning around the apartment in it and my boyfriend thought I was the cutest thing ever. After spending a few days with the items, I was ready to return them all, except for the skirt. I was keeping that skirt! For any items you want to keep, Le Tote offers a special discount off the retail price of the item. This particular item was nearly 40% off the retail price!

UPDATE: The folks at Le Tote are offering subscriptions starting at $39/month! Shipping is always free, so follow this link to order yours today!

Over the holidays, I have an annual tradition of Facebook stalking myself. I know, it sounds lame, but I like to take the time to reflect on all the stuff I've done over the past year. It's amazing how time goes by! But the one thing I noticed about all of my pictures was not how much fun I was having, but my terrible breakouts. Since I've done a lot this year, all the stress (and pore-clogging makeup) took a toll on my face.

While I knew I had an occasional breakout problem, I didn't realize how bad it was until I saw picture after picture of red, irritated skin. I tried almost everything under the sun: from skin care aisle solutions to strong prescription medications, but they didn't always help, and sometimes made things worse. Then when I resorted to some all-natural remedies I'd read about online like honey and oatmeal, they weren't strong enough. I've always had trouble finding the right acne treatment for my very sensitive skin.

Seeing those pictures inspired me to finally get my acne under control. So I decided to go to the professionals: Proactiv. They've been around forever, we've all seen the commercials at least one time on a lazy Saturday afternoon. Needless to say, I was a bit skeptical at first, but having tried everything else, I wanted to give them a chance. At first, I thought it might also be too harsh on my skin, I did some research and found out that Proactiv has a line called Proactiv+, which is effective for all skin types. My super strong prescriptions, I found out, were irritating my skin because they were leaving too much benzoyl peroxide on the surface, rather than letting it sink in. But Proactiv+ has Smart Target® technology that gets the benzoyl peroxide right into the pore where it belongs.

I decided to give this 3-step system a try, and I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly it worked. Step one was the smoothing exfoliator, which got all of the gunk out of my pores. Then came the pore targeting treatment, which really was refreshing on my face. The last step was the Complexion Perfecting Hydrator Treatment, which helped soothe and soften my skin. Within a couple of weeks, my skin was even glowing a little bit!

I'm so happy with my new skin that I can't wait to start taking tons of pictures this year. Proactiv is really better than everything I've tried. The best part is, I know that I have an acne solution that won't let me down. If you have sensitive skin like me, don't rule out powerful medications because you're afraid of irritation. Proactiv+ was just what I needed to stay in the clear this year.

Update 5/1/17: The awesome team at Proactiv+ is extending a new limited-time offer to our readers. Follow this link to get FREE Shipping and Ultimate Trio Gift set FREE on your first purchase!

Presented by Proactiv®

Getting your teen ready to head back to school can be stressful. From buying the right school supplies and wardrobe staples to getting back into a routine, your teen might seem hesitant to get back to the grind. But there could be something more behind her back-to-school jitters. The culprit? Acne.

Remember the anxiety you felt on the first day of school? Not a lot has changed since you were her age. She might have the latest smart technology at her fingertips, but when it comes to putting her best face forward at the start of the school year, acne can be a serious roadblock. Sadly, acne hasn't changed much since you were a student, either. However, what has changed is the way acne is treated. Now, there's a much more effective acne treatment available that targets existing acne and helps prevent new breakouts from forming. We know your checklist is overflowing, but this is the one back-to-school must-have you don't want to forget!

The Proactiv® 3-Step System is truly an acne game changer. There's a reason this daily acne care system is trusted by millions nationwide and has been on the market for over 20 years: It really works! With Proactiv, it's not just the ingredients but the combination of treatments that make the difference.

First, exfoliating beads and glycolic acid gently sweep away dead skin cells, excess oil and impurities while benzoyl peroxide attacks acne-causing bacteria. Next, a refreshing, alcohol-free toner helps rebalance the complexion, leaving skin even-toned and soft. Finally, the Repairing Treatment delivers one final acne-fighting blow. This light, oil-free solution uses micro-crystal prescription-grade benzoyl peroxide deep into the pore to treat blemishes and help prevent future breakouts. While each product is powerful on its own, this combination acts as one powerhouse acne-fighting system.

Ready to ease your stress even further? Right now, there's a special Back-to-School offer that gives your teen the choice of 2 FREE gifts when you purchase the Proactiv 3-Step System. Plus, you'll get FREE shipping on your introductory kit. If you're not completely satisfied, Proactiv offers a 60-Day Money Back Guarantee - so there's really no risk involved.

Help your teen start the year in the clear and complete your back-to-school checklist in no time. Your teen will thank you! Follow this link to order Proactiv today!