Hi Friends!

Today, we're going to talk about something super important for people who have taken money to go to school. It's like borrowing money to buy a big bag of candy, but instead of candy, it's for learning lots of cool stuff! This money is called a student loan. 

Sometimes, paying back this money can be hard. But guess what? There's a cool way to make it easier! It's called the Income Driven Repayment (IDR) Plan. And there's good news! People can still use this plan if they do something called consolidating their federal student loans, until December 31, 2023!

### What is Consolidating?

Imagine you have lots of small bags of candy. Consolidating is like putting all your small bags of candy into one big bag! So, for student loans, it's like putting all the money you borrowed into one big loan. This can make it easier to keep track!

### What is the IDR Plan?

The IDR Plan is like a special deal that helps people pay less money every month. It looks at how much money you make and decides how much money you need to pay back every month. If you make a little money, you pay a little back. If you make more money, you pay more back!

### How to Get the IDR Plan?

To get this cool plan, people need to consolidate their federal student loans. That means putting all their loans into one big loan! And guess what? If people do this before December 31, 2023, they can get a recount!

### What is a Recount?

A recount is like when you count your candies, and then you count them again to make sure you got it right! For the IDR Plan, a recount can help people pay even less money every month!

### The Awesome Parts of Consolidating and IDR Plan:

1. **Easier to Remember:** Having one big loan is easier to remember than lots of small loans!
   
2. **Pay Less Money:** With the IDR Plan, people can pay less money every month!

3. **Recount Bonus:** If people consolidate before December 31, 2023, they can get a recount and maybe pay even less!

### The Not-So-Cool Parts:

But, like when you find out a candy is not as sweet as you thought, there are some not-so-cool parts too.

1. **Takes Longer Time:** Sometimes, consolidating can mean it takes a longer time to pay back all the money.

2. **Pay More Money in the End:** Because it takes longer, sometimes people might have to pay more money in the end.

3. **Less Plans to Choose From:** When people consolidate, they might have less special deals or plans to choose from.

### Should You Consolidate?

It's like deciding which candy to eat! It's important to think about the sweet parts and the not-so-sweet parts. Talking to a grown-up, like a parent or a teacher, can help make this decision easier!

### What to Remember:

1. **Consolidating is like putting all your small bags of candy into one big bag!**
   
2. **The IDR Plan can help people pay less money every month!**

3. **People can get a recount if they consolidate before December 31, 2023!**

4. **It's important to think about the good and the not-so-good parts before deciding!**

So, friends, that's the story of the Income Driven Repayment Plan and consolidating! Remember, if you know someone who borrowed money for school, tell them about this cool way to pay less! And remind them to think about it and talk to a grown-up before December 31, 2023!

Thanks for reading, and remember, learning about money can be fun, just like picking out your favorite candy!