My student loans are in 8 different accounts through Nelnet over $70k total. I recently filled out an IDR application and my payments are jumping to $440/month.

Last week, I filled out an application to have my loans consolidated but have seen mixed reviews after. I have 10 business days to accept the request or it’ll be canceled. My payments don’t seem to change, but was hoping they’d be lower.

I’m afraid I won’t be able to consistently make that payment each month for X amount of years. I’m getting married later this year and hope to have kid(s) someday. Would those payments lower after having a kid?

I also read that if we later file taxes jointly after getting married that payments could get even higher?

Any help would be appreciated!