Author Topic: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)  (Read 80072 times)

ingrownstudentloans

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #250 on: September 22, 2016, 03:28:00 PM »
Joining back in (was in previous year challenges but got distracted by multiple long distance moves and job changes over the past two years).

As of 9/1/16 I had the following loans:

AES: $13,677 (3.7% variable - 5 years left) - minimum payment $87
SOFI: $54,114 (3.2% variable - 8 years left) - minimum payment $698
= $67,791 total - down from $120,000 when I graduated.  God writing that down makes me realize again how much these debts f*cking suck.

My goal is to pay at least $2,500 each month to the loans, aiming to knock out the AES loan by my birthday in April 2017 and the SOFI debt by November 2018, which will require a few additional payments along the way.

I hit send payment on $1,900 towards the AES loan today and will ramp up to the $2,500 amount for next month.

clarkfan1979

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #251 on: September 24, 2016, 01:29:35 PM »
I started with $56,500 in Jan 2012. About $16,500 was at 2.4% and about $40,000 was at 6.55%.

I'm currently at $35,500 in Sept 2016. About $14,000 is at 2.5% and $21,500 is at 6.55%. I have been making extra payments on the higher interest rate loan.

I started off making a minimum payment of about $335/month in 2012 & 2013. In 2014 & 2015, I was probably averaging around $600/month of payments. For the last 12 months, I have been averaging around $1,000/month in payments.

My high interest rate loan at 6.55% should be gone in about 2 years.

ingrownstudentloans

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #252 on: September 30, 2016, 08:39:21 AM »
As of 9/1/16 10/1/16 I will have the following balances:

AES: $13,677 $12,413.39 (3.7% variable - 5 years left)
SOFI: $54,114 $53,551.16 (3.2% variable - 8 years left)
= $67,791 $65,964.55 total - down $1,826.45 from last month.

My goal is to put $2,500 towards these loans in October - minimum payments are only about $780.




sweetkerryline

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #253 on: September 30, 2016, 09:29:04 AM »
Background: Class of 2013; CCN; Working in Biglaw

Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Explanation: Full Scholarship (The 90,000 is attributable to living in New York and interest); Refinanced with SoFi in 2013 (3.31%)
Total Current Debt: $52,387 49,886.40
Required Payment ($543 $520 minimum
September Payments: $3,606

Still trying to get re-motivated to pay this down while trying to save for a house; only managed to make approximately $3,500 in payments in a month with an extra check. This month was tricky with Birthdays, Hamilton tickets, and certain other costs. Hoping to be better in October, but back to two paychecks a month.
« Last Edit: September 30, 2016, 09:33:10 AM by sweetkerryline »

Slow&Steady

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #254 on: October 03, 2016, 10:45:44 AM »
I haven't posted progress since May! I had asked for opinions on if I should keep paying the student loan that is in deferment until I finish grad school and got wonderful advice to set the payment aside to use as car fund if needed or to pay a lump sum to the student loan when deferment ended.  While my lovely SL company must check with my school monthly or something, I keep getting taken out of deferment and have to re-request it.  I have decided to just make payments on the loan to avoid missing a payment because I was taken out of deferment without know it.

Loan A: $11,468.27 @ 7.5% - $10,987.68 @ 0% (most of the time)
Loan B: $5,036.89 @ 7.5% - $2950.99

Total: 2/18 = $16,505.16
            3/2 = $14,795.16
            4/2 = $14,359.70
            5/2 = $14,228.67
         5 /10 = $11,277.68
          9/19 = $10,987.68
I was really hoping this year would be the year I was done with these but DH's business is not doing what we expected at all, it is basically doing nothing right now.  I will just keep making payments monthly and try not to wish away the time it will take for these to be done but I am hoping to be under $10k by the end of the year, four digits sounds so much better than 5 digits.

Loan A: $11,468.27 @ 7.5% - $10,787.68 @ 0% (most of the time)
Loan B: $5,036.89 @ 7.5% - $2950.99

Total: 2/18 = $16,505.16
            3/2 = $14,795.16
            4/2 = $14,359.70
            5/2 = $14,228.67
         5 /10 = $11,277.68
          9/19 = $10,987.68
          10/3 = $10,787.68

ptgearguy

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #255 on: October 08, 2016, 10:18:34 PM »
A little late to the party for September. Not my best month to date as I had a few unexpected expenses come up: Car battery, furnace pump failure. I also had to pay for my professional insurance renewal (850 bucks :(). Able to pay about 1850 this month.

December 2015: 50200
January 2016: Start of Jan 47621; End of January at 42,185
Feb 2016: 36355.42  (5830 payed off principle)
Mar 2016: 26091.37
Apr 2016: 23014.68
May2016: 22888.13
June 2016: 12778.59
July 2016: 8612.85
August 2016: 5233.65
September 2016: 3393.10

ontheroaderic

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #256 on: October 10, 2016, 08:42:22 AM »
3/5/15: $74,618.23 at 5.625% {Starting Balance}
3/5/15: $72,613.01 (- 2005.22)
3/7/15: $72,650.18  (-271.44)
3/9/15: $72,219.94  (-177.6)
4/9/15: $69,889.41 (-2600.00)
5/7/15: $67,086.58 (-3100.00)
6/12/15: $64,281.49 (-3100.00)
7/7/15: $61,917.04 (-2600)
8/7/15: $59,610.78 (-2600)
9/7/15: $57,385.37 (-2600)
10/7/15: $54,931.48 (-2600)
11/13/15: $52,325.25 (-2900)
12/9/15: $49,975.41 (-2600)
1/11/16: $47,557.16 (-2600)
2/7/16: $47,557.16 (-376.81)
3/7/16: $47,451.50 (-376.81)
4/7/16: $45,531.28 (-1941.73)
5/16/16: $$43,161.09  (-2600)
6/8/16: $40,746.42 (-2600)
7/8/16: $38,328.00 (-2600)
8/10/16: $36,104.98 (-2600)
9/8/16 $33,652.74 (-2600)
10/10/16 $29,609.78 (-4038.67)

This past month was one of those where my wife got an extra pay check so we had a little more to throw at it. Celebrating two victories this time - 1) we now owe less that 30K! and 2) at the rate of $2600/mo we'll be done in less than a year! Of course hoping to throw extra at it here and there but it's pretty great to know that worst case we'll be done with this sh*t in a year.
« Last Edit: October 10, 2016, 12:42:57 PM by ontheroaderic »

Commander Baggins

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #257 on: October 10, 2016, 10:13:35 AM »
Hi guys!

Details on our families student loans (wife is graduating from her master's program in April 2016, final tuition payment is being sent this week--IN FULL :) )

My loans:
Stafford:
1. $2041.54 @ 3.15%
2. $3202.22 @ 5.35%
Perkins:
3. $10,474.65 @ 5%

Wife:
All Stafford:
1. $18,318.02 @ 6.8%
2. $5284 @ 3.4%
3. $2,212.36 @ 5.41%

Total: $41,532

PHEW!! That's really daunting. There is the possibility of some student loan forgiveness (wife wants to work in a low-income school district) and also a possibility of wife's parents helping to pay some of it off, but we don't know anything about either of those things yet, so we're preparing to pay the whole thing by ourselves! Given that wife is not going to graduate until April and if she works in a school, there's a possibility of no job until September, it'll be hard to really hit the student loans hard, but it's really important to us to pay it off quickly. My goal is to pay off $12,000, or $1000/month off our loans averaged over the whole year. That would put us under $30,000 left. And then, be totally free of the full loans by the end of 2017!

Update since almost a year ago:

Me:
$12,284.88
DW:
$5783.14

Total: $18,068.02

So we've come a looong way from over $41k last November, but it still feels like a long way away to be done with it too. We should have about $3k to put towards the loans come the first of November, so we're on track to be done by Feb/March if all goes well.

palebluedot

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #258 on: October 12, 2016, 09:26:06 PM »
Quote

I was able to finish maxing my 2015 Roth IRA by April 15th. I am now focused on the loans and building a 3 month basic expenses fund.

As of May 13 2016             
Loan                           Original Balance              Interest       Current Balance Date Paid Off
PER24A                           $1,200.00           5.00%        $0.00                   5/13/16
DLUNST 09/15/2014    $4,288.00                   4.41%        $3,054.02   
DLSTFD 09/15/2014    $5,500.00                   4.41%        $5,267.93
DLSTFD 08/29/2013    $2,250.00                   3.61%        $2,192.72
DLSTFD 08/30/2012    $3,496.00                   3.15%        $3,396.79
DLSTFD 05/24/2012    $2,750.00                   3.15%         $2,627.60
DLSTFD 02/29/2012    $2,750.00                   3.15%         $2,627.60   
Total                            $22,234.00                             $19,166.66

Started a new job in September. Sent an extra $650 this month on loan DLUNST.

Oct 11 2016             
Loan                        Original Balance              Interest             Current Balance   Date Paid Off
PER24A                                    $1,200.00            5.00%               $0.00            5/13/2016
DLUNST 09/15/2014 $4,288.00                 4.41%                             $2,287.53    
DLSTFD 09/15/2014    $5,500.00                 4.41%                           $5,076.87    
DLSTFD 08/29/2013    $2,250.00                 3.61%                           $2,110.12    
DLSTFD 08/30/2012    $3,496.00                 3.15%                           $3,266.05    
DLSTFD 05/24/2012    $2,750.00                 3.15%                          $2,526.45    
DLSTFD 02/29/2012    $2,750.00                 3.15%                           $2,526.45    
Total                        $22,234.00                                                 $17,793.47

sweetkerryline

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #259 on: October 13, 2016, 10:34:57 AM »
Background: Class of 2013; CCN; Working in Biglaw

Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Explanation: Full Scholarship (The 90,000 is attributable to living in New York and interest); Refinanced with SoFi in 2013 (3.31%)
Total Current Debt: $52,387 49,886.40 49,213.53
Required Payment ($543 $520 minimum
September Payments: $3,606
October Payments: $593.47

Still trying to get re-motivated to pay this down while trying to save for a house; only managed to make approximately $3,500 in payments in a month with an extra check. This month was tricky with Birthdays, Hamilton tickets, and certain other costs. Hoping to be better in October, but back to two paychecks a month.

Ugh. I hate paying these things every month. I'm challenging myself (and posting it here for accountability) to $2,000 in each of October/November and then minimum $3,500 in December depending on my bonus.
« Last Edit: October 14, 2016, 09:44:52 AM by sweetkerryline »

daurelia

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #260 on: October 13, 2016, 01:04:48 PM »
OK! Hi everyone. This is literally my first post on MMM. I AM JOINING THIS CHALLENGE! Reading all your posts were inspiring to me.
I recently read the Simple Path to Wealth. For those of you more seasoned money people, it's pretty basic. But for me, it inspired me and got me excited to think about what the future might hold.
The sucky thing is, student debt.
I've never had any debt aside from a mortgage, but I met my husband eleven years ago with him being $87,000 in student debt and not huge earning potential. (please don't say disparaging things about my choice of mate, he's the best and most amazing person, husband, and father; also other than the student debt he is very financially responsible). We work in the nonprofit sector, but we can't do the public service forgiveness thing because he consolidated his loans with a private company before that was law. The interest rate on his loans is SO HIGH that we checked the balance after paying for the last eleven years, and it was $71,000!!!
I've always been our money manager and a careful saver... we've never made huge salaries and we've always saved 10-15% of our income and maxing out 403(b) plans... but I didn't really think about the potential to reduce our overall interest in the long run by paying off the student debt sooner. We've just dutifully paid the monthly payment. I considered it a small price to pay for my amazing hubs, but now we have our eyes on something bigger.

But one year ago we moved to a LCOL area (low cost of living), and we both got jobs that pay 10k more than our jobs before. So we have decided we are going to DESTROY that 71k in 2-3 years.

I just threw some savings at it, so it's now at $62,000. Here are our stats:

My job  before taxes    $75,000.00
husband's job before taxes    $64,000.00
Total salaries:    $139,000.00
so our post tax take home pay:   about  $100,000.00

Monthly expenses:
Mortgage, home insurance, property taxes, average utilities: $1,815
Sinking fund for home maintenance (our house is a fixer upper): $400
Cable and internet    $122.66 (husband is also a part time sports writer so we need this. His website doesn't bring in more than $1,500 a year, but we can deduct this from our taxes)
our cell phones    $178.88 (I really, really love my iphone, I know there are cheaper plans, but I love it).
monthly bill to the student loans:  $528.42
Childcare    $980.00
car insurance    $75.00
Cleaning lady     $270.00
Gym program    $12.50
Groceries    $400.00 (we like fancy groceries but we are trying to keep it low!)

We also like to travel, but if we take two years off trips, we could throw that money into student loans.

My budget spreadsheet tells me that we could potentially put 35k in it a year, so hopefully be done with the student debt by July 1, 2018, or maybe even sooner!

Hello fellow student loan fighters! Since my first post a few weeks ago, which several of you gave me great suggestions, I've been hard at work on this student loan.

--- Debt is currently $61,800 since I threw 10k at it.
--- I started a journal to track my progress :)
--- I'm firing my expensive cleaning lady and getting a cheaper lady to come once a month. Going from $270/month for two visits to $80/month for one visit.
--- I have been looking into reducing our cellphone and cable/internet bills, to no avail. With cellphones we are locked in a contract for another 18 months (plus I do love my iphone not going to lie), and the cable/internet is a monopoly in the area. My husband needs the cable for his sports website. Ugh.
--- I'm working on re-financing the loans again. My husband tried with So Fi and got offered an even higher interest rate. I'm trying with Earnest and going for a 5-year term, hoping we can get a lower rate as we continue to endeavor to pay it off faster than 5 years. The early estimate from Earnest is 4.2% which is better than our current rate...
-- We've purchased a lot of the groceries we need for the month, I'm anticipating about $150 more in groceries, and about $150 other expenses, plus a couple draws to some sinking funds we have for home repair and travel. My paycheck covers all recurring expenses, and my husband has two more paychecks coming this month.... so my hope is we can put $2,000 toward the loan this month.
-- Hoping to have it down to $57,500 by the end of 2016, and then by January 1 2019 be completely done with it.
Woohoo!
« Last Edit: October 13, 2016, 01:06:36 PM by daurelia »

Wanderlusting

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #261 on: October 15, 2016, 07:17:36 PM »
I don't think i've updated my totals in this or the 2015 thread, but as of yesterday I am done with all my student loans! When I started on this site a little over 2 years ago I had about $48,000 outstanding and now i'm officially at $0. It definitely doesn't feel like anything has changed, but it'll be nice to see all that money that was burning a hole in my net worth start building up in savings accounts, i'm excited.

QueenAlice

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #262 on: October 18, 2016, 06:19:14 AM »
All my loans are accruing interest at this point, but on the bright side I have paid off more than 50% of the loan since the beginning of the year!

Loan
Rate
01/16
02/16
03/16
04/16
05/16
06/16
07/16
08/16
Current
Loan 1
1.72%
$2577.18
$2577.18
$2577.18
$2577.18
$2577.18
$2577.18
$2577.18
$2558.23
$2538.80
Loan 2
6.8%
$1598.74
$1598.74
$1598.74
$1598.74
$1598.74
$0
$0
$0
$0
Loan 3
6.8%
$5271.00
$5271.00
$5271.00
$5271.00
$5271.00
$5271.00
$5271.00
$5208.79
$3171.89
Loan 4
5.6%
$5246.00
$5246.00
$5246.00
$5246.00
$5246.00
$5246.00
$5246.00
$5213.10
$5178.78
Loan 5
6.8%
$1474.21
$1158.35
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
Loan 6
6.8%
$10452.30
$7444.83
$7485.15
$7498.36
$5041.39
$4667.37
$2693.51
$0
$0
Loan 7
6.8%
$2073.29
$2043.96
$1218.21
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
Loan 8
5%
$5000.00
$5000.00
$5000.00
$5000.00
$5000.00
$5000.00
$5000.00
$5000.00
$4967.80
Total
$33692.72
$30340.06
$28396.28
$27191.28
$24734.31
$22761.55
$20787.69
$17980.12
$15857.27


It looks like I probably won't finish these off by the end of the year, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel! 20k down from January. I can't wait to be able to redirect these payments towards my future instead of the past.

Loan
Rate
01/16
02/16
03/16
04/16
05/16
06/16
07/16
08/16
09/16
Loan 1
1.72%
$2577.18
$2577.18
$2577.18
$2577.18
$2577.18
$2577.18
$2577.18
$2558.23
$2538.80
Loan 2
6.8%
$1598.74
$1598.74
$1598.74
$1598.74
$1598.74
$0
$0
$0
$0
Loan 3
6.8%
$5271.00
$5271.00
$5271.00
$5271.00
$5271.00
$5271.00
$5271.00
$5208.79
$3171.89
Loan 4
5.6%
$5246.00
$5246.00
$5246.00
$5246.00
$5246.00
$5246.00
$5246.00
$5213.10
$5178.78
Loan 5
6.8%
$1474.21
$1158.35
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
Loan 6
6.8%
$10452.30
$7444.83
$7485.15
$7498.36
$5041.39
$4667.37
$2693.51
$0
$0
Loan 7
6.8%
$2073.29
$2043.96
$1218.21
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
Loan 8
5%
$5000.00
$5000.00
$5000.00
$5000.00
$5000.00
$5000.00
$5000.00
$5000.00
$4967.80
Total
$33692.72
$30340.06
$28396.28
$27191.28
$24734.31
$22761.55
$20787.69
$17980.12
$15857.27
Loan
Rate
Current
Loan 1
1.72%
$2498.41
Loan 2
6.8%
$0
Loan 3
6.8%
$1193.90
Loan 4
5.6%
$5095.40
Loan 5
6.8%
$0
Loan 6
6.8%
$0
Loan 7
6.8%
$0
Loan 8
5%
$4935.60
Total
$13723.31
« Last Edit: October 18, 2016, 06:36:25 AM by QueenAlice »

EOS

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #263 on: October 18, 2016, 08:08:59 AM »
Love this thread!  Very motivating.

I didn't officially post here to sign up, but this thread single handedly fueled me to wipe my student loan debt this year.

This month, i made my last student loan payment!!!!!!!!   5 years ahead of schedule  :)

Nick_Miller

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #264 on: October 18, 2016, 08:24:22 AM »
Holy crap you people are killin' it.

I have just lurked on this thread but I am 100% ready to dive into the 2017 edition. We'll have $ set aside to max out IRAs in Jan/Feb, and 401k will be on cruise control, so I can devote most of my mental energy and budgeting towards increasing student loan payments all year. Maybe I can chop them in half.


rageth

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #265 on: October 18, 2016, 08:57:13 PM »
Balances January 31
$9502 at 5.25% Payoff by 07/16
$3300 Perkins
$30,927 at 3.4-6.8% Pay down $10k in principal in 2016

Total: $43,729

Balances February 26
$8166 at 5.25%
$3300
$30927

Total: $42,393
Principal Paid in February: $1336

Balances April 2
$6981 at 5.25%
$3200
$30927

Total: $41,108
Principal Paid in March: $1285


Balances as of April 30
$5911
$3000
$31000

Total$39,911
Principal paid in April: $1,197

Just getting going with my summer side hustling, so hopefully we can get down below $5000k on the car loan by the end of the month.

Balances as of May 29
$4905
$2950
$31000

Total $38,855
Principal Paid in May: $1,056

Balances as of July 4
$4052
$2822
$31000

Total $37,874
Principal Paid in June: $981

A little less this month than our previous monthly average, but we're preparing to close on a house at the end of the month and some of that extra money is going towards that.
[/quote]

Balances as of October 18:
$890
$2600
$30,606
Total $34,096

That first loan is going to be gone by the end of November!  Next it'll be finishing off the second loan and then it'll be paying off that big loan.  We can pay that big one with a CC since it's with Great Lakes, so I'm going to be applying for the Chase Sapphire Reserve and making the minimum spend with one big payment.  Whoop whoop!

Nick_Miller

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #266 on: October 19, 2016, 07:04:30 AM »
That first loan is going to be gone by the end of November!  Next it'll be finishing off the second loan and then it'll be paying off that big loan.  We can pay that big one with a CC since it's with Great Lakes, so I'm going to be applying for the Chase Sapphire Reserve and making the minimum spend with one big payment.  Whoop whoop!

Can you talk more about that? You'll be able to get a $30k credit limit? What would the interest rate on the credit card be? I've considered using a balance transfer to surf part of my student loan balance to a 0% APR card, but the 3% fee, loss of deduction ability, and a few other factors always stop me.

dividendsplease

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #267 on: October 19, 2016, 07:41:01 AM »
That first loan is going to be gone by the end of November!  Next it'll be finishing off the second loan and then it'll be paying off that big loan.  We can pay that big one with a CC since it's with Great Lakes, so I'm going to be applying for the Chase Sapphire Reserve and making the minimum spend with one big payment.  Whoop whoop!

I have Great Lakes and paying online you cannot use a credit card. How would you make a payment then? I've called and asked if I can pay by credit card and they told me no.

hudsoncat

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #268 on: October 19, 2016, 09:18:11 AM »
I posted my goal here early in the year and promptly forgot about the thread, but I'm posting to join the group who reached their goals and paid of their student loans! Last payment made and 403b now being maxed out. For those still working toward this goal, there is light at the end of the (sometimes long) tunnel. Good luck!

rageth

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #269 on: October 19, 2016, 09:13:39 PM »
That first loan is going to be gone by the end of November!  Next it'll be finishing off the second loan and then it'll be paying off that big loan.  We can pay that big one with a CC since it's with Great Lakes, so I'm going to be applying for the Chase Sapphire Reserve and making the minimum spend with one big payment.  Whoop whoop!

Can you talk more about that? You'll be able to get a $30k credit limit? What would the interest rate on the credit card be? I've considered using a balance transfer to surf part of my student loan balance to a 0% APR card, but the 3% fee, loss of deduction ability, and a few other factors always stop me.

Sorry, I won't be paying off the entire loan on the CC.  I'll just be making my payments for the year in one big lump sum payment of $4k to meet the CSR minimum spend requirement to get the 100K points bonus.  When I can hold onto the loan and use it to easily get CC bonuses here and there, I'll be taking my time to repay the big student loan.

That first loan is going to be gone by the end of November!  Next it'll be finishing off the second loan and then it'll be paying off that big loan.  We can pay that big one with a CC since it's with Great Lakes, so I'm going to be applying for the Chase Sapphire Reserve and making the minimum spend with one big payment.  Whoop whoop!

I have Great Lakes and paying online you cannot use a credit card. How would you make a payment then? I've called and asked if I can pay by credit card and they told me no.

Really?  I called last week Friday, and made my monthly payment and my wife's monthly payment on my credit card.  I had no issue.

daurelia

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #270 on: October 26, 2016, 07:35:29 AM »
OK everyone. I've been plugging along on the 2016 student loan challenge and as part of that, I'm refinancing. I have a question I could use help with. The short version of the question is, should I do variable APY considering I want to obsessively pay it off in two years?

I just finished a refinance application of my husband's awful student loans, currently with Navient, the balance is $61,801 and interest rate 5.25%, with 18 years left on the loan.

We are able to pay about $2,000/month, in a year we will be able to pay at least $3,000 a month (daycare cost goes away), maybe more if one of us gets a raise or promotion.

Earnest is offering us, for a 5 year loan, 3.9 variable APR, or 4.94 fixed APR. This will have a payment of $1140 a month (with the term being a few months longer with the higher, fixed APR). Regardless of what I choose, my plan is to make additional payments, totaling between $1800 and $2200 a month regardless, and hopefully much more in one year.

For something like a mortgage I wouldn't choose variable, that's too risky, but given that I plan to pay it off in about two years, three years tops, should I choose the variable?


onlykelsey

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #271 on: October 26, 2016, 07:40:18 AM »
OK everyone. I've been plugging along on the 2016 student loan challenge and as part of that, I'm refinancing. I have a question I could use help with. The short version of the question is, should I do variable APY considering I want to obsessively pay it off in two years?

I just finished a refinance application of my husband's awful student loans, currently with Navient, the balance is $61,801 and interest rate 5.25%, with 18 years left on the loan.

We are able to pay about $2,000/month, in a year we will be able to pay at least $3,000 a month (daycare cost goes away), maybe more if one of us gets a raise or promotion.

Earnest is offering us, for a 5 year loan, 3.9 variable APR, or 4.94 fixed APR. This will have a payment of $1140 a month (with the term being a few months longer with the higher, fixed APR). Regardless of what I choose, my plan is to make additional payments, totaling between $1800 and $2200 a month regardless, and hopefully much more in one year.

For something like a mortgage I wouldn't choose variable, that's too risky, but given that I plan to pay it off in about two years, three years tops, should I choose the variable?

Is there a cap on how high the variable rate can float?  Is it prime plus x%? You could look back at prime rates and get some idea of your potential liability.  Obviously none of us have a crystal ball, but I do think we'll see the Fed raise rates in the next few years.  I can't run the numbers without knowing if there's a cap, but I suspect you would probably come out ahead taking the variable.

daurelia

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #272 on: October 26, 2016, 07:42:45 AM »
OK everyone. I've been plugging along on the 2016 student loan challenge and as part of that, I'm refinancing. I have a question I could use help with. The short version of the question is, should I do variable APY considering I want to obsessively pay it off in two years?

I just finished a refinance application of my husband's awful student loans, currently with Navient, the balance is $61,801 and interest rate 5.25%, with 18 years left on the loan.

We are able to pay about $2,000/month, in a year we will be able to pay at least $3,000 a month (daycare cost goes away), maybe more if one of us gets a raise or promotion.

Earnest is offering us, for a 5 year loan, 3.9 variable APR, or 4.94 fixed APR. This will have a payment of $1140 a month (with the term being a few months longer with the higher, fixed APR). Regardless of what I choose, my plan is to make additional payments, totaling between $1800 and $2200 a month regardless, and hopefully much more in one year.

For something like a mortgage I wouldn't choose variable, that's too risky, but given that I plan to pay it off in about two years, three years tops, should I choose the variable?

Is there a cap on how high the variable rate can float?  Is it prime plus x%? You could look back at prime rates and get some idea of your potential liability.  Obviously none of us have a crystal ball, but I do think we'll see the Fed raise rates in the next few years.  I can't run the numbers without knowing if there's a cap, but I suspect you would probably come out ahead taking the variable.

Thank you so much, OnlyKelsey.
Here's what Earnest says: "Your rate is variable. This means that your actual rate varies with the market and could be lower or higher than the rate on this form. The variable rate is based on one month LIBOR (as published in the Wall Street Journal). For more information on this rate, see the Reference Notes.

Although your rate will vary, it will never exceed 8.95% APR."

And then also, in the payment section, it says: "initial payment $1,140. All future payments will vary based on the variable rate at the time but will never exceed $1,373.28."

therethere

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #273 on: October 26, 2016, 08:18:29 AM »
In your case I would not take a variable rate. Its actually not that great of an offer. My variable rates from Earnest were 3.36% for one loan and 2.44% for another. To take on the risk of a variable loan it should be a significant discount. Right now you are only looking at a 1% discount from a fixed rate.That's only $600 savings in the first year and this will continue to drop with increase of rates and decrease of balance. Rates are expected to rise at least slightly over the next few years and they jump 0.25% generally when congress or whatever decides on rate hikes. They have not been doing this the past few years luckily. But they are expected to soon.

For some perspective, I graduated with a 60k variable loan in 2007. From 2006-2008 it varied between 6-9% and I was LIBOR +2.89%. There definitely is potential for it to return to historical levels that high again while you still have the loan. Check out "historical 1-month libor". The rate they are quoting you is the 1-month LIBOR (currently 0.53%) + 3.46%. So as the libor increases or decreases your rate will change accordingly. Always 3.46% higher.

Some questions I would ask to help you decide..
How safe is your income? How solid is your payoff plan? What cash reserves are available to pay off the loan should it rise to a high interest level (say idk >6%)?

As an FYI I am more cautious on this now than I may have been originally. But I've learned the payoff end date, while you can calculate it out all you want, will vary and major events can impact it by years. Unemployment, new jobs with relocation, bonuses, bonus babies, these can all affect your payoff date greatly. I can't accurately predict what unexpected stuff will come up within a 5 year payoff and to me the savings is not worth it unless the payoff is really short (say 2-3 years) or I already have the cash or investments to pay it off immediately should the rates rise.
« Last Edit: October 26, 2016, 08:26:26 AM by therethere »

daurelia

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #274 on: October 26, 2016, 08:29:35 AM »
In your case I would not take a variable rate. Its actually not that great of an offer. My variable rates from Earnest were 3.36% for one loan and 2.44% for another. To take on the risk of a variable loan it should be a significant discount. Right now you are only looking at a 1% discount from a fixed rate.That's only $600 savings in the first year and this will continue to drop with increase of rates and decrease of balance. Rates are expected to rise at least slightly over the next few years and they jump 0.25% generally when congress or whatever decides on rate hikes. They have not been doing this the past few years luckily. But they are expected to soon.

For some perspective, I graduated with a 60k variable loan in 2007. From 2006-2008 it varied between 6-9% and I was LIBOR +2.89%. There definitely is potential for it to return to historical levels that high again while you still have the loan. Check out "historical 1-month libor". The rate they are quoting you is the 1-month LIBOR (currently 0.53%) + 3.46%. So as the libor increases or decreases your rate will change accordingly. Always 3.46% higher.

Some questions I would ask to help you decide..
How safe is your income? How solid is your payoff plan? What cash reserves are available to pay off the loan should it rise to a high interest level (say idk >6%)?

As an FYI I am more cautious on this now than I may have been originally. But I've learned the payoff end date, while you can calculate it out all you want, will vary and major events can impact it by years. Unemployment, new jobs with relocation, bonuses, bonus babies, these can all affect your payoff date greatly. I can't accurately predict what unexpected stuff will come up within a 5 year payoff and to me the savings is not worth it unless the payoff is really short (say 2-3 years) or I already have the cash or investments to pay it off immediately should the rates rise.

Thank you, therethere. This is really good advice that I'll take into consideration. I have NO idea why we haven't been getting good rate offers (sofi's offer was garbage). We both have stellar credit, have a combined income of $140,000.

therethere

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #275 on: October 26, 2016, 08:49:00 AM »
Hah my Sofi rates were garbage too. Like 6+%. Earnest was great but they seem to be based more on assets while Sofi is based more on income. I think my retirement account balances definitely helped out on the loan rates.

onlykelsey

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #276 on: October 26, 2016, 09:07:50 AM »
In your case I would not take a variable rate. Its actually not that great of an offer. My variable rates from Earnest were 3.36% for one loan and 2.44% for another. To take on the risk of a variable loan it should be a significant discount. Right now you are only looking at a 1% discount from a fixed rate.That's only $600 savings in the first year and this will continue to drop with increase of rates and decrease of balance. Rates are expected to rise at least slightly over the next few years and they jump 0.25% generally when congress or whatever decides on rate hikes. They have not been doing this the past few years luckily. But they are expected to soon.

For some perspective, I graduated with a 60k variable loan in 2007. From 2006-2008 it varied between 6-9% and I was LIBOR +2.89%. There definitely is potential for it to return to historical levels that high again while you still have the loan. Check out "historical 1-month libor". The rate they are quoting you is the 1-month LIBOR (currently 0.53%) + 3.46%. So as the libor increases or decreases your rate will change accordingly. Always 3.46% higher.

Some questions I would ask to help you decide..
How safe is your income? How solid is your payoff plan? What cash reserves are available to pay off the loan should it rise to a high interest level (say idk >6%)?

As an FYI I am more cautious on this now than I may have been originally. But I've learned the payoff end date, while you can calculate it out all you want, will vary and major events can impact it by years. Unemployment, new jobs with relocation, bonuses, bonus babies, these can all affect your payoff date greatly. I can't accurately predict what unexpected stuff will come up within a 5 year payoff and to me the savings is not worth it unless the payoff is really short (say 2-3 years) or I already have the cash or investments to pay it off immediately should the rates rise.

Hmm.  I think daurelia is talking about a relatively short payoff period. 

If you are for sure going to pay 2000 a month for the first 12 months (http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/college-planning/loan-calculator.aspx), even if you never pay a dime more than that, you could be done in 33 months.  I do think we'll probably see a rate hike in that period, but it will be a rate hike on whatever remains outstanding, not your original balance.  So if you pay 2000 and owe 1140 for the first year, and then rates go up from 3.9 to 5 after a year, you're then paying 3000 towards a new 1170 payment, which has your last payment coming due in August 2018.

Will you be building up other savings during this period so you could pay it down more aggressively if the rate jumps quickly?

daurelia

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #277 on: October 26, 2016, 09:13:05 AM »
Will you be building up other savings during this period so you could pay it down more aggressively if the rate jumps quickly?

Thank you OnlyKelsey that's a really good analysis. You guys both make very good points.

Right now we can solidly pay $2000/month toward the loan, and that amount will go up in the future with our son graduating from daycare and possible raises/promotions on the horizon. However, that $2,000 is very aggressive- it leaves no extra money (outside of retirement contributions) to build other assets. The idea was to treat this debt like a house on fire situation. We do already have a solid emergency fund, enough to pay all our most basic bills for six months, but I DO worry about other expenses coming up-- like for example, our parents are very old and live far away, what if we had to visit them suddenly...

I'm still torn about what to do here. Pay a little more for stability and peace of mind? Or take a risk and stay aggressive? (I realize this is a common financial dilemma!)

therethere

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #278 on: October 26, 2016, 09:22:48 AM »
Apologies. For some reason I read it as a 5-year payoff.... Two years is a different story. I would definitely go variable due to short timeline. I retract my advice! The base info is still useful though for how high your variable could go long term.

I've thrown this into my loan calc since I just did this with a loan refinance last month. Looks like you could save ~$800 over a 26mo payoff switching to variable (that's with some rate increases over time assumed)  +$200 if you use a referral for your refinance so $1,000. (you need to use it before you quote or you can email them to add a referral after you refinance to get the bonus).

Either way, I would still refinance again with Earnest to snag a lower rate and the $200 referral.

« Last Edit: October 26, 2016, 09:25:26 AM by therethere »

wintertell

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #279 on: October 27, 2016, 03:30:25 PM »
That first loan is going to be gone by the end of November!  Next it'll be finishing off the second loan and then it'll be paying off that big loan.  We can pay that big one with a CC since it's with Great Lakes, so I'm going to be applying for the Chase Sapphire Reserve and making the minimum spend with one big payment.  Whoop whoop!

I have Great Lakes and paying online you cannot use a credit card. How would you make a payment then? I've called and asked if I can pay by credit card and they told me no.

You can only make extra payments on top of your minimum payments via Credit Card. It can only be done over the phone. I did this when I paid off my student loan and got a whole 2% cash back for my trouble!
« Last Edit: October 27, 2016, 03:38:18 PM by wintertell »

rageth

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #280 on: October 29, 2016, 08:44:47 AM »
That first loan is going to be gone by the end of November!  Next it'll be finishing off the second loan and then it'll be paying off that big loan.  We can pay that big one with a CC since it's with Great Lakes, so I'm going to be applying for the Chase Sapphire Reserve and making the minimum spend with one big payment.  Whoop whoop!

I have Great Lakes and paying online you cannot use a credit card. How would you make a payment then? I've called and asked if I can pay by credit card and they told me no.

You can only make extra payments on top of your minimum payments via Credit Card. It can only be done over the phone. I did this when I paid off my student loan and got a whole 2% cash back for my trouble!

I have been making regular monthly payments over the phone. They are not extra payments. Example: My regular monthly payment is $311.XX and I pay $312 each time I call. We do not get the .25% rate decrease for auto-pay but we get the CC rewards.  Maybe if you have auto-pay setup, you can't pay exclusively with CC because you have to call to pay.

Again, I am not making extra payments. These are the required minimum monthly payments I make by calling over the phone.

DanishMM

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #281 on: October 30, 2016, 01:10:53 AM »
I found the perfect song to celebrate whenever you pay your student loans of…:-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqbXQa05Z6c

sweetkerryline

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #282 on: October 30, 2016, 06:52:09 PM »
Background: Class of 2013; CCN; Working in Biglaw

Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Explanation: Full Scholarship (The 90,000 is attributable to living in New York and interest); Refinanced with SoFi in 2013 (3.31%)
Total Current Debt: $52,387 $49,886.40 $49,213.53 $46,513
Required Payment ($543 $520 minimum
September Payments: $3,606
October Payments: $593.47 + $1,000 + 1700

Still trying to get re-motivated to pay this down while trying to save for a house; only managed to make approximately $3,500 in payments in a month with an extra check. This month was tricky with Birthdays, Hamilton tickets, and certain other costs. Hoping to be better in October, but back to two paychecks a month.

Ugh. I hate paying these things every month. I'm challenging myself (and posting it here for accountability) to $2,000 in each of October (shifted priorities and fell short by about $500)/November and then minimum $3,500 in December depending on my bonus.

Getting more "hair on fire" about these loans. Still, I didn't make my 2,000 goal for October due to some shifting priorities (Heck no, no excuses).  Since I will not be traveling home for either holiday, I'm hoping to throw the amount of money I otherwise would have spent toward these loans.

Edited to note: I had some liquid funds from a stock sale that I had been letting sit in Robinhood. Transferred that money into my bank account and am making an additional 1700 dollar payment.
« Last Edit: October 31, 2016, 11:07:47 AM by sweetkerryline »

Lanthiriel

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #283 on: October 31, 2016, 12:15:03 AM »
I found the perfect song to celebrate whenever you pay your student loans of…:-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqbXQa05Z6c

This absolutely made my day.

wintertell

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #284 on: October 31, 2016, 04:52:15 PM »
That first loan is going to be gone by the end of November!  Next it'll be finishing off the second loan and then it'll be paying off that big loan.  We can pay that big one with a CC since it's with Great Lakes, so I'm going to be applying for the Chase Sapphire Reserve and making the minimum spend with one big payment.  Whoop whoop!

I have Great Lakes and paying online you cannot use a credit card. How would you make a payment then? I've called and asked if I can pay by credit card and they told me no.

You can only make extra payments on top of your minimum payments via Credit Card. It can only be done over the phone. I did this when I paid off my student loan and got a whole 2% cash back for my trouble!

I have been making regular monthly payments over the phone. They are not extra payments. Example: My regular monthly payment is $311.XX and I pay $312 each time I call. We do not get the .25% rate decrease for auto-pay but we get the CC rewards.  Maybe if you have auto-pay setup, you can't pay exclusively with CC because you have to call to pay.

Again, I am not making extra payments. These are the required minimum monthly payments I make by calling over the phone.

It must have been because my regular payments were on auto payment and I was getting the .25% discount that I couldn't make my regular payments over the phone.

ptgearguy

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #285 on: November 01, 2016, 07:08:17 PM »
My second pay cheque was not as much as I would have liked so I wasn't able to pay my loan down completely. I am almost done this thing and will meet my goal to kill my student loan this year. Keep up the great work everyone.



December 2015: 50200
January 2016: Start of Jan 47621; End of January at 42,185
Feb 2016: 36355.42  (5830 payed off principle)
Mar 2016: 26091.37
Apr 2016: 23014.68
May2016: 22888.13
June 2016: 12778.59
July 2016: 8612.85
August 2016: 5233.65
September 2016: 3393.10
October 2016: 888.03

Slow&Steady

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #286 on: November 07, 2016, 01:11:38 PM »
I was really hoping this year would be the year I was done with these but DH's business is not doing what we expected at all, it is basically doing nothing right now.  I will just keep making payments monthly and try not to wish away the time it will take for these to be done but I am hoping to be under $10k by the end of the year, four digits sounds so much better than 5 digits.

Loan A: $11,468.27 @ 7.5% - $10,787.68 @ 0% (most of the time)
Loan B: $5,036.89 @ 7.5% - $2950.99

Total: 2/18 = $16,505.16
            3/2 = $14,795.16
            4/2 = $14,359.70
            5/2 = $14,228.67
         5 /10 = $11,277.68
          9/19 = $10,987.68
          10/3 = $10,787.68
We ended up loaning (giving?) my brother some money in October so at this point even 4 digits by Jan might not be happening.
Loan A: $11,468.27 @ 7.5% - $10,687.68 @ 0% (most of the time)
Loan B: $5,036.89 @ 7.5% - $2950.99

Total: 2/18 = $16,505.16
           
          11/7 = $10,687.68

darknight

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #287 on: November 07, 2016, 05:09:01 PM »
I just found this thread and I'm in!
I actually started on my own last year for a personal challenge to be debt free by the end of 2016.
Thankfully I graduated with only $12,500 in SL (more on this, it was over $20k with cc)
I know this is a student loan thread, but I'll give a couple more details. Last July I found the MMM and it completely changed me. I just started a new job, started paying minimum payments on SL (graduated Dec 2014), and living a terrible financial lifestyle. Not included with actual student loans was $12k in credit card debt that I used to carry us instead of  more student loans.. I know, terrible.
$12,500 SL
~$12000 CC (basically Student loans)
$3500 loan on ford expedition (11mpg)
=$28,000
-I was driving a 1 ton diesel (older and paid off) truck daily to an office, spending frivolously and going nowhere.
I sold the expedition, sold the diesel, and did a 180*. We bought a 92 toyota camry wagon (utility car for $900!!) I got a raise at my job and it still feels like we're broke as we have been working like mad to be debt free and have some FU money by the end of the year.
-Currently we have $5780 left!
By the end of Sept we should be down to $0!!
It's been a brutal year to turn around years of stupid decisions, but it's entirely possible. We had our second child and have spent less money with 2 than we did with 1 previously.

Very cool stroy, thanks for sharing

Well, just submitted final payment on my student loan this afternoon. I had an "investment" truck I purchased a few months ago that I did some work to that just got sold last week. We're now under $2k in leftover debt and should be clear by 2017(likely end of this month)! It's been so amazing to see that debt go away and feel the burden lifted. My final payoff was roughly $3,800 and it wasn't fun to see it go into the abyss, however it reminded me not to make stupid financial decisions in the future. I'll keep  you updated when I'm free completely, however my Student Loans are completely gone!!

ontheroaderic

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #288 on: November 09, 2016, 10:06:11 AM »
3/5/15: $74,618.23 at 5.625% {Starting Balance}
3/5/15: $72,613.01 (- 2005.22)
3/7/15: $72,650.18  (-271.44)
3/9/15: $72,219.94  (-177.6)
4/9/15: $69,889.41 (-2600.00)
5/7/15: $67,086.58 (-3100.00)
6/12/15: $64,281.49 (-3100.00)
7/7/15: $61,917.04 (-2600)
8/7/15: $59,610.78 (-2600)
9/7/15: $57,385.37 (-2600)
10/7/15: $54,931.48 (-2600)
11/13/15: $52,325.25 (-2900)
12/9/15: $49,975.41 (-2600)
1/11/16: $47,557.16 (-2600)
2/7/16: $47,557.16 (-376.81)
3/7/16: $47,451.50 (-376.81)
4/7/16: $45,531.28 (-1941.73)
5/16/16: $$43,161.09  (-2600)
6/8/16: $40,746.42 (-2600)
7/8/16: $38,328.00 (-2600)
8/10/16: $36,104.98 (-2600)
9/8/16 $33,652.74 (-2600)
10/10/16 $29,609.78 (-4038.67)
11/9/16 $27,145.46 (-2600)

Didn't have extra to toss at it this month, but even at the min. $2600/mo we'll get there soon!

wintertell

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #289 on: November 09, 2016, 11:20:12 AM »
I just found this thread and I'm in!
I actually started on my own last year for a personal challenge to be debt free by the end of 2016.
Thankfully I graduated with only $12,500 in SL (more on this, it was over $20k with cc)
I know this is a student loan thread, but I'll give a couple more details. Last July I found the MMM and it completely changed me. I just started a new job, started paying minimum payments on SL (graduated Dec 2014), and living a terrible financial lifestyle. Not included with actual student loans was $12k in credit card debt that I used to carry us instead of  more student loans.. I know, terrible.
$12,500 SL
~$12000 CC (basically Student loans)
$3500 loan on ford expedition (11mpg)
=$28,000
-I was driving a 1 ton diesel (older and paid off) truck daily to an office, spending frivolously and going nowhere.
I sold the expedition, sold the diesel, and did a 180*. We bought a 92 toyota camry wagon (utility car for $900!!) I got a raise at my job and it still feels like we're broke as we have been working like mad to be debt free and have some FU money by the end of the year.
-Currently we have $5780 left!
By the end of Sept we should be down to $0!!
It's been a brutal year to turn around years of stupid decisions, but it's entirely possible. We had our second child and have spent less money with 2 than we did with 1 previously.

Very cool stroy, thanks for sharing

Well, just submitted final payment on my student loan this afternoon. I had an "investment" truck I purchased a few months ago that I did some work to that just got sold last week. We're now under $2k in leftover debt and should be clear by 2017(likely end of this month)! It's been so amazing to see that debt go away and feel the burden lifted. My final payoff was roughly $3,800 and it wasn't fun to see it go into the abyss, however it reminded me not to make stupid financial decisions in the future. I'll keep  you updated when I'm free completely, however my Student Loans are completely gone!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!

GetItRight

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #290 on: November 10, 2016, 07:53:31 PM »
1$04.99%
2$42,108.886.00%
3$26,612.77 4.75%
401k$9,681.314.25%
Total: $78,402.96
Paid since 1/12/2016: $5,586.98
$/day since 1/12/2016: $68.14

1$04.99%
2$06.00%
3$04.75%
4$66,950.743.85%
401k$7,548.504.25%
Total: $74,499.24
Paid since 4/12/2016: $5,756.67
$/day since 4/12/2016: $27.15

I refinanced again some months ago, interest is as optimized as it's going to get. Way down on payments and way down on $/day. I have some things going on where I want to be as liquid as possible in the short term, and as such I have about $45k in the bank. Not sure what my cash reserves were in April when I made the previous post, but I'd guess $1k-$3k. I'll likely continue to pay minimally on student loans and accumulate cash until that situation has passed, but I hope to be able to make a $20k-$30k payment in early 2017.

sweetkerryline

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #291 on: November 11, 2016, 11:44:25 AM »
Background: Class of 2013; CCN; Working in Biglaw

Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Explanation: Full Scholarship (The 90,000 is attributable to living in New York and interest); Refinanced with SoFi in 2013 (3.31%)
Total Current Debt: $52,387 $49,886.40 $49,213.53 $46,513, $44594
Required Payment ($543)
September Payments: $3,606
October Payments: $593.47 + $1,000 + 1700
November Payments $2,057


Ugh. I hate paying these things every month. I'm challenging myself (and posting it here for accountability) to $2,000 in each of October/November and then minimum $3,500 in December depending on my bonus.


Getting more "hair on fire" about these loans.


Continuing to be very hair on fire re: these loans. The last two months I have met my goal of paying more than $2,000 toward them. Very tempting to liquidate assets and pay a large lump sum but I'm going to try to stay the course. Slow and steady wins the race.

I've notice a fair amount of leakage in my finances that I really need to track down. Ideally, I would reallocate those funds toward student loans once I track them down.
« Last Edit: November 15, 2016, 12:14:13 PM by sweetkerryline »

palebluedot

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #292 on: November 14, 2016, 09:05:50 PM »

Started a new job in September. Sent an extra $650 this month on loan DLUNST.

Oct 11 2016             
Loan                        Original Balance              Interest             Current Balance   Date Paid Off
PER24A                                    $1,200.00            5.00%               $0.00            5/13/2016
DLUNST 09/15/2014 $4,288.00                 4.41%                             $2,287.53    
DLSTFD 09/15/2014    $5,500.00                 4.41%                           $5,076.87    
DLSTFD 08/29/2013    $2,250.00                 3.61%                           $2,110.12    
DLSTFD 08/30/2012    $3,496.00                 3.15%                           $3,266.05    
DLSTFD 05/24/2012    $2,750.00                 3.15%                          $2,526.45    
DLSTFD 02/29/2012    $2,750.00                 3.15%                           $2,526.45    
Total                        $22,234.00                                                 $17,793.47

Sent an extra $700 to the first loan listed. I hope to eliminate it by year's end but it will tight. My company is moving to a new building this upcoming March and I need to start looking for a new place to live. The new office will be 40 miles each way from where I currently live which I have no desire to commute. I will start saving up for moving costs.

November 14 2016
PER24A                   $1,200.00    5.00%   $0.00    5/13/2016
DLUNST 09/15/2014   $4,288.00    4.41%   $1,562.49    
DLSTFD 09/15/2014   $5,500.00    4.41%   $5,038.47    
DLSTFD 08/29/2013   $2,250.00    3.61%   $2,093.54    
DLSTFD 08/30/2012   $3,496.00    3.15%   $3,239.80    
DLSTFD 05/24/2012   $2,750.00    3.15%   $2,506.14    
DLSTFD 02/29/2012   $2,750.00    3.15%   $2,506.14    
Total                           $22,234.00               $16,946.58    

ptgearguy

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #293 on: November 15, 2016, 10:58:07 PM »
My second pay cheque was not as much as I would have liked so I wasn't able to pay my loan down completely. I am almost done this thing and will meet my goal to kill my student loan this year. Keep up the great work everyone.



December 2015: 50200
January 2016: Start of Jan 47621; End of January at 42,185
Feb 2016: 36355.42  (5830 payed off principle)
Mar 2016: 26091.37
Apr 2016: 23014.68
May2016: 22888.13
June 2016: 12778.59
July 2016: 8612.85
August 2016: 5233.65
September 2016: 3393.10
October 2016: 888.03

November 2016: 0
They are finally payed off :)
Thanks for all your hard work guys. It has kept me motivated all year long. Ill keep checking on you guys and good luck to your journey getting to debt free. Keep up the good fight

JustGettingStarted1980

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #294 on: November 16, 2016, 05:58:18 AM »
Way to go ptgearguy! $50200 in principal in less than a year is mucho impressive.

ptgearguy

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #295 on: November 16, 2016, 08:28:21 PM »
Way to go ptgearguy! $50200 in principal in less than a year is mucho impressive.

Thank you! :)

Zaga

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #296 on: November 17, 2016, 07:34:36 AM »
As of yesterday we are below $30K!  $10K paid off so far in 2016.
Scheduled the payment that will put us below $25K next week.  I'm kind of amazed at how fast this is going after years of just ambling along!

$12K in the first 6 months, aiming for more than that the second 6 months!
Now at $19K exactly.  That's $21K paid off this year.  The original goal for 2016 was to pay off $20K, we have already beat that, hooray!  3 more months to go, plan is to pay off another $6k before the end of the year.
The original plan for the year was to pay the loan from $40K to $20K.  As of today the stinking thing is below $15K, and I think that a final result of $12K is likely!  I'm very proud of us.

Lanthiriel

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #297 on: November 18, 2016, 11:58:26 AM »
Way to go ptgearguy! $50200 in principal in less than a year is mucho impressive.

WOW! That's amazing. Congratulations!

rageth

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #298 on: November 22, 2016, 07:19:13 PM »
Balances January 31
$9502 at 5.25% Payoff by 07/16
$3300 Perkins
$30,927 at 3.4-6.8% Pay down $10k in principal in 2016

Total: $43,729



Balances as of November 22:
$2340
$30,428
Total $32,768

First loan gone and we've paid off just shy of $11k in 12 months with buying a house right in the middle!  Hopefully we can knock out that other small loan in the coming months and then earn some reward points for awhile on the bigger loan courtesy of Great Lakes.

sweetkerryline

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)
« Reply #299 on: December 01, 2016, 12:16:06 PM »
Background: Class of 2013; CCN; Working in Biglaw

Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Explanation: Full Scholarship (The 90,000 is attributable to living in New York and interest); Refinanced with SoFi in 2013 (3.31%)
Total Current Debt: $52,387 $49,886.40 $49,213.53 $46,513, $44594, $42,562
Required Payment ($543) $532.86
September Payments: $3,606
October Payments: $593.47 + $1,000 + 1700
November Payments $2,057
December Payments: $1,532.86 + $500 (Targeting $3,000+)

I previously challenged myself to $2,000/minimum payments per month. I'm still shooting for that as I think about the new year. At that rate, I would have these paid off in two years, but I'm impatient for freedom. I'm going to sit down this weekend to see if I could swing more per month. It's going to be stretching as I am also saving for a house and live in a high COL area.
« Last Edit: December 09, 2016, 02:03:26 PM by sweetkerryline »

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!