Loan plan advice for medical residents in high cost of living cities who aren't interested in PSLF?
I am a physcian resident with 2 years left in my program working in a public city hospital. My SAVE application has been pending since July 2024, and Edfinancial I think shows "administrative forbearance" and $0 for each payment month due since starting. I'm not even sure whether my PSLF form was processed because everything seemed to have been stuck since July 2024. I've been avoiding this topic since starting. My understanding now is that we have to switch to something else 90 days after the deadline in this July for SAVE or something bad will happen and I really am unsure what repayment plan to choose next or if I even need to?
More info:
~30M, single, no children. I have ~$221k in loans ($209k principal, ~$11k accrued interes. My income is ~$95k. I have never made a payment during residency so far. My budget is super tight right now and I really can't afford much extra. I don't trust the government and my luck that PSLF will workout for me in the future and I'm leaning towards conituing to live as a resident for my first few years out to aggresively pay the loan on my own.
TLDR: I don't see much advice for people who aren't interested in PSLF to manage their loan payments as cost effectively as possible and would apperciate any feedback on this point as well.
Any advice from physicians, residents, or student loan experts would be greatly appreciated.