What’s your next step and what’s holding you back? If you are like most who have graduated college and started a new career, you probably have dreams of getting your own place, traveling or maybe getting married. And it’s also likely that student loan debt is interfering with those plans.

If you want to save thousands of dollars in interest payments on your college loans and reduce your monthly payout so you have more cash every month, student loan refinancing is the answer.

When prospective college students don’t qualify for enough federal funding, a supportive parent may step in to cover the financing gap. The Department of Education’s Direct PLUS Loan program allows parents to take out a federal student loan on their child’s behalf to cover any remaining education expenses.

While this is a popular solution to soaring education costs – more than 3 million parents are currently repaying PLUS loans – it also leaves parents with a major portion of their kids’ student loan debt. And, Parent PLUS loans come with a much higher interest rate than other federal student loans.

If you are like most college graduates with student loans, you probably have two goals that seem to cancel each other out: pay off your student loans and save money.

Ready to get both those goals in gear and breathe a whole lot easier? Here’s how:

As a recent grad with student loans, you probably already know your repayment is just around the corner. I encourage you to take advantage of your grace period and not wait to get your first bill before making plans for repayment. Here are a few tips I thought I’d share to help you tackle your student loan debt head on.

Striking out on your own after college can be challenging for financial novices. For graduates with record student loan debt and entry-level jobs or worse, no jobs at all, learning to manage debt wisely will pave the way to a good credit score. That in turn creates opportunities down the road, including the possibility to refinance student loans at a better rate.

If you're a recent college graduate who took out student loans, you likely owe about $35,000. As eye-popping as that average debt figure is, you're certainly not the only one wondering how you'll possibly get out from under your loans. As with any difficult assignment, though, research and a well-thought-out plan will help you tackle even the most challenging of debt situations.

Making use of the following strategies will help you get out of student loan debt. Here's a look at where to get started.