If you’re like most students, you went through college unaware of the fact that you were spending a whopping amount on your education! You certainly enjoyed those years, but now it’s time to pay for them.

Now, the first major task is to figure out who you’re paying and how much you owe. The following should help you out with that:

What types of loans did I take out? Many types of loans exist. Some of the more popular ones are Stafford, Perkins, HEAL, and PLUS loans. You won’t have to worry about PLUS (Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students) because that one is your parents’ responsibility, but mostly everything else is your burden now. Take time to go through all the contracts you signed (and kept a copy of. You did, right?) and make a list of all the loans you now have.

How much do I owe in total? One way you can figure out how much you actually borrowed is to take a look at all the contracts you signed — they should have the dollar amount spelled out to the penny. Another way is to take a look at the notices that your lenders have been mailing you each semester (warning: be careful not to mix up your grants with your loans. Grants such as the Pell Grant do not have to be paid back. It was free money — sweet huh?).

Who is/ are my lender/s? Here’s how it works: You choose a bank to put up your money, you sign all sorts of forms, then the bank hands you the money in installments. Then they usually turn around and sell your forms to Sallie Mae for the same amount. By selling off loans, banks gain more money to lend to other students. What this means for you is that you’re now in Sallie Mae’s hands.

After finding out all this information, it’s now time to pay off all of that fun you had for four, six or eight years. Good luck!