It can all happen so fast!

One month I'm attending graduate school and two months later my consolidated student loan payment from undergrad is due. And I almost forgot to pay it. Well I did forget to pay it on time because for some reason I thought I had a six month grace period, but I didn't because the payment was due on the 18th of October.

I paid it 5 days late.

The next payment is due November 18 and I already have an automatic payment set up through Bank of America.

Being late on a student loan payment will never happen to me again!

Paying Off Student Loans

I am slowly paying off my student loans but I will not be rushing to pay off my $22,000 consolidated loan from undergrad. Its at a measly 4.25% and the monthly payment is only $140.00 a month the monthly payment will not be affecting my monthly budget that much. I also have graduate student loans that are at a higher interest rate ( like 6.25%) and those will be my first priority.

I'm still working on a repayment plan aka snowball for the graduate loans which come out of deferment in Feb and will post as soon as I complete them.

Are you snowballing your student loans or just paying the minimum?

until next time, think prosperous thoughts

YBP

Beaucoup de Student Loans!

Last week my final installment of student loans for my graduate program went through so I have a final grand total for my federal student loans ( for undergraduate, and two masters)

and that total is......... ( drum roll please)............


$75,739

it is certainly not as much as some of my other blogger friends but it is a lot to me! I wanted to be debt free by the time I am 30 but in order to do that now I will have to make sure at least half of my income for the next three years goes to student loans.

That is a major commitment but I don't want to carry this debt into the my next decade. However, I still want to travel and have a little fun too.

I also probably will qualify for the federal government's loan forgiveness program where I pay a certain percentage of my income to the loan and it is forgiven after 10 years, but really, 10 years is a long time.

...Sigh... what would you do if you were in my shoes?

YBP

Making Slight Changes to 2010 goals

Most of my 2010 goals are on track except for one

paying off $20,000 in the student loan debt!

I know for sure that is not going to happen. I will be changing that to a goal of paying off my small private loan that has a balance of $4750.

The loan should have really been paid off but I don't pay it every month.

I know, so sad, so irresponsible!!!


I wish I could set up automatic payments for this but because it's a small non profit company I have to write them a check every month, and most months I forget!

From now until the end of the year I am making a commitment to myself to pay this loan every month, and pay it off by the end of the year.

Help keep me accountable!!!

until next time, think prosperous thoughts

YBP

Just looking....

at my student loan balance makes me want to scream. I don't mind having a mortgage but my student loan debt is driving me crazy. I want it gone ASAP!!!

My federal loan debt stands at $69570

and I also have 0% interest loan from a private organization that is $4875.

I just want it to be over... ( in my Keyshia Cole voice).

When I am done with my second Masters program this summer I will probably have a total of $80000 in federal loans.

One of my goals is to pay off at least $20000 in loans this year I wish I could pay off more. I don't even want to begin to think about what my monthly payment would be for this mess.

Starting September 1, 2010 my salary goes up to $61686 from my full time job. I also applied for an adjunct professor job at a local university so if I get that I am hoping to at least bring my income up to $71000.

Hopefully, I am able to double the amount I pay off from $20,000 this year to $40,000 next year. This will leave a balance of $20,000 to pay off in 2012, and that should be relatively easy.

Stay tuned for SMART Goals related to getting rid of these loans.

until next time, think prosperous thoughts

YBP

I think it would be grand

to have a $20,000 fully funded emergency fund. As me and my fiance prepare for our March budget meeting I am going to see if there is a way to work this in the plan for this year. That would make me feel so much more comfortable with life.

I also think it would be grand to have no student loan debt. I have 3 years to move this monkey from my back. We won't start trying to have children until we have no debt.

Finally, I think it would be grand to prepay my mortgage. If we could pay an extra $1200 to our mortgage every month it would be paid off in 9 years. Imagine being 35 and living in a paid off house.

Where they do that at??? LOL


until next time, think prosperous thoughts

YBP

Attacking debt with Gazelle Intensity!!!

My small student loan will be paid off on friday. I set up and automatic payment of $830 to the company and that will take care of it.

Next I have a $4875 0% interest private student loan to pay off. I am giving myself until the end of April to pay if off.

My vision board is in the front of my mind.

Paying off student loans while they are in deferment, where dey do that at??? LOL


until next time, think prosperous thoughts

YBP

Dave Ramsey setting me on the road to financial freedom

I have been listening to Dave Ramsey for the past month and have really started following his program.

If you haven't read The Total Money Makeover, you really should. His baby steps are truly life changing. I am on baby step #2 which is pay off all debt excluding the house. I even have my fiance on board. In January we are going at this debt with gazelle intensity while also cash flowing our wedding in Jamaica.

As a couple our debt stands at close to $100000. I have roughly 80000 in student loan debt while my fiance has $20000 in debt. We are giving ourselves 2 years to pay it off.

Right now in my debt snowball I have my undergrad loans and my first masters loans. According to my snowball and my own type A tendencies one will be paid off this month, one in May, one next December, and one in November of 2011.

That does not include the loans from the second masters. Just getting rid of half my student loans will make my financial life a lot better.

Baby Step 3 is to save 3-6 months expenses in an emergency fund
I love that idea but I am going to follow Suze Orman and save a little more than 6-8 months, which for me would be $20000.

Slowly but surely I'm on the path to financial freedom!

until next time, think prosperous thoughts

YBP

Another Loan will paid of this month!!

I have made the decision to pay off another student loan this month. I have a small student loan in the amount of $1785.88 and I am paying it off right after Christmas. This will be my Christmas present to myself. Paying of these student loans is bringing me closer and closer to being debt free ( except the house)!!!!

The $900 Budget

I did a rough budget based on a take home pay of 900.00 a month. The rest of money will go to debt for the next year. This won't officially start until January but I like to prepare for things and decided to figure out what I would be spending the 900.00 on ahead of time.

Here is what it is looking like.

Mortgage 302
Water Bill 55
Gas Bill 160
Website 13
Gym 56
Car Ins 75
Gas(car) 50
Food 189

If I can do this for a year I will have paid off $32,000 in student loan debt.

I won't stop saving, this budget does not include money I get for the two special assignments that I do in school or my tax returns and some scholarship money I will be getting in spring.

until next time, think prosperous thoughts

YBP

Can I live off $900 a month?

I am quite sure that I can, I just have to budget. I may have to do this until at least August or September which is after my wedding and when my second pay increase goes into affect because I will have a second Master's Degree. At the present time I have $62000 in student loan debt which will increase another $20000 in January leaving me with a grand total of $82000. I want this paid of within the next two- three years so I have started a debt snowball specifically for student loans which is my only other consumer debt besides my mortgage.

Why Now?

1. I have significantly more debt than my fiance and I don't want to start my marriage "unequally yoked". As a couple we are going to spend or first year of marriage getting completely out of consumer debt and just having fun ( My FI has less than $20,000 in debt).
2. We would love to buy another rental property within the couple of years or right after we get married so I need to get my debt to income ratio down a bit and they only way to do that is to get rid of the bulk of my student loans.
3. I will be 26 next month and would like to start having children by 30 or 31, and in preparation for that we feel that it is important to get rid of all debt and have a husky personal savings of at least $50,000 ( more on that later).
   
4. I want to be able to max out my retirements, my student loans are a hindrance to that process.
   

I am wondering if I should go back to following Dave Ramsey's baby steps, but the first step is seeing if I can live off 900 a month. I do want to enjoy the finer things of life.

I love Payday

Today is big paycheck day. I get paid my school district paycheck today plus I will deposit my tenants rent money in the bank. My mortgage payment and my Roth IRA contribution come out on Monday as well as a few other bills... the rest will go right into savings.

I am thinking about paying off all my student loans except for my big consolidated one. The interest rate is 4% on it, and in 2 years I will have another $5000 forgiveness from the government to apply to it, and after 10 years of steady payment the balance will be forgiven. What do you think? Should I just plow through it and get it paid within these next 2 years or slow and steadily pay the minimum?



until next time, think prosperous thoughts

YBP

First student loan may be paid off in August

I am starting debt snowball in August but due to an extra large paycheck on Thursday and all these extra hours I am doing at my second job it seems my Stafford loan with its balance of $2726.00 maybe paid off in August instead of September. This calls for a serious change in budget and no frivolous spending on furniture for the house but it looks like it can be very possible. Then one debt will be gone and there will be four more to go before I scream I'M DEBT FREE!!!!

until next time, think prosperous thoughts

YBP