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Have you faced a financial hardship lately that’s preventing you from making payments on your student loan?

If you’re struggling to stay current on your monthly payment  or you’ve fallen several months behind, forbearance and deferment are two terms you need to know more about.

If you happen to be one of the 44 million U.S. adults who have student loan debt, making a plan to pay it off in a timely manner can feel daunting, but it doesn’t have to. 

By being smart and strategic about how you go about paying down your debt, you can pay off your student loans a little quicker and with a lot less pain. Here are some strategies you can try. 

If you’re in the process of repaying student loans, your monthly payment probably ranks among your largest expenses. By some estimates, most recent graduates pay more than $300 a month, which is no small figure on any budget. Additionally, as they build their careers, millennials typically earn less than the median national income. That can make keeping up with significant payments difficult if they rely on their salaries alone.

Medicine is a fulfilling profession on many levels, including the prospect of earning a comfortable salary. But before doctors can bring home a six-figure paycheck, most medical students rack up six-figure student loan debt. The average medical school student graduates with $190,000 in student loan debt, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Working hard is good – but sometimes working smart is better. This saying applies to many situations, including eliminating your student loans. If you want to pay off your loans faster, you need to be strategic. It’s difficult to put a dent in your debt by just making minimum payments on high-interest loans. We’ve put together 10 tips to help you lower your interest rate, find extra cash, and make progress on reducing your balances quicker.