More than 5 million. That is the estimated number of borrowers who are in default on their federal student loans, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

We would encourage everybody at this moment if you've been disengaged from your student loans, especially going back before the pandemic, to just see what you owe and who you owe it to.

That is Mike Pierce, of the Student Borrower Protection Center.

And here's what's going on.

The Department of Ed announced earlier this month that its office of federal student aid would resume collections.

That means it can start taking funds out of borrowers, tax refunds, social security benefits, and wages in an effort to collect on defaulted student loans.

The issue a lot of borrowers face now is how to make room in their budget for something that wasn't there before,

especially when things in the U.S. right now are economically a bit dicey.

And not just for student loan borrowers.

Groceries cost a lot more than they did in 2020.

You can see the impact of inflation most clearly these days at the grocery store.

The cost to feed families is so high that more Americans are taking out short-term loans just to buy their groceries.

Tariff disputes make it not only difficult to plan future purchases, but finding everyday

items at an affordable price is getting harder.

President Trump, a short time ago, telling Walmart that the company should, quote,

now, eat the cost, end quote, of higher tariffs.

The comments come after the retail giants said this week that it would raise prices because

of Trump's tariffs being too high.

And whether it's your mortgage or your rent, housing remains expensive.

Plus, the job market is tough, and that includes for new college grads.

Many graduates were won into a bottleneck of entry-level openings as companies hold hiring-level

steady. Something like this can be really challenging, so the first thing I would say is to

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