Again, I’m behind the ball on where I would like to be on paying these student loans off. I am down to 38K though! And less loans is an accomplishment in itself. How I’m gonna pay 38K off in 2 1/2 years is still a stretch! That would mean I need to put 1,300/month towards loans… 300 more than usual. Eek. Gotta step up my game… or ask for money for all birthday and holiday gifts in the future!
- Starting Balance: $38,812.46 (April 1 ,2013)
- End Balance: $38,002.84 (April 30,2013)
- Paid Towards Loans: $972.73
- Interest Paid: $168.51 <— this number is getting lower! It was $190 when I started
- Principle Paid: $804.22
I was trying to squeeze in another $500 payment this past month, but by the time I had enough, it was May. Oh well, it’ll go out next week and maybe I can scrounge up a couple hundred more at the end of the month to send in as well. All these extra payments are going to payoff the next loan on my list that’s already down to $1,900.
Short Term Goals Pay off this loans in this order (deadline)
1-08 @ 6.55% (February ’13): $0- 1-07 @ 6.55% (
AprilJul ’13): $1901.70 - 1-05 @ 6.55% (Dec ’13): $3147.66
- 1-06 @ 6.55% (2014): $5056.91
If I play my cards right, I can get that 1900 paid off in the next three months. That means an extra $634 each month towards that loan. I can do that…. just keep my eyes on the prize and squeeze every penny to put towards loans.
Here’s a glimpse into what my massive spreadsheet looked like this month:
I gotta look into my VSAC Loans (Vermont Student Assistance Loans)… because their interest rate has gone down slightly (Yay!). I thought they were fixed, but sometimes if you use the auto pay, it will decrease your interest percentage – so maybe that’s what happened? Either way, I hope it’s not a glitch, because that just means less interest to pay and more of the payments go towards the actual loan!
May Plan
- Pay (at least) $634 extra to Sallie Mae Loan 1-07 ($1901.70)
- Pay minimum on other Sallie Mae Loans
- $40 bi weekly to VSAC Loans
Reflections I was hoping to catch up the past couple months, but I keep slipping behind. It’s really tough to wrangle up extra $ every month. Pretty much what I do is, every week X amount of $ gets pulled from my account to our joint account, which we use for all our family needs – mortgage, groceries, gas, etc. The remainder ($255/wk), I barely touch. I don’t use my debit card. Ever. I rarely buy anything for myself, and when I do, it’s a $5 salad once a week when I forget to bring lunch, or I bought gym shoes and some new clothes months ago, and recently registrations to races. But I think I’m good about being frugal – but not so frugal that I don’t eat or don’t enjoy things I like to do, like running or buying a gift for a friend getting married.
So if you do the math – $255/wk x 4.33wks/mo = $1104 – $352 (sallie mae min) – $80 (VSAC) – $634(extra sallie mae payment) = $38/mo to use for myself. Kinda cutting it close there, but lets see if I can do it…
Do you think I can do it?! $1900 EXTRA LOAN PAYMENTS in 3 months…. eek!
Did you miss the previous posts on this financial challenge? Play catch up here:
