Author Topic: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)  (Read 68663 times)

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #100 on: March 01, 2018, 08:11:43 PM »
2/1/18 - $87,728 .74 @2.57% variable rate
2/22/18 - $81,748.39 @2.57% variable rate (Put my after tax amount from my new job's signing bonus into attacking the balance).
2/27/18 - 74,821.93 @ 2.64% used our federal return to pay it down.  Unfortunately the variable rate increased with LIBOR so the rate went up by .07%.

The war on my student loan balance is raging. I am finally below $80k.  This means the principal reached the half way mark.
3/1/18 - $72,332.43 @2.64%

I badly want another financial windfall to make another extra payment.  Waiting on State tax return now to make another extra payment.

sweetkerryline

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #101 on: March 01, 2018, 09:50:27 PM »
Final Update:

Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Total Current Debt: ZERO

Made my last payment and paid off my student loans. Thank you all for standing with me and encouraging me. I look forward to hearing about your successes.

Nicely done! Did you wipe the remaining balance using savings? Couldn't wait until July? hehe.


I actually ended up getting a bonus, a tax refund and an extra paycheck. I moved some of these funds to savings and used the rest to pay off the remaining student loans. E-Fund is still intact.
« Last Edit: March 03, 2018, 09:24:29 AM by sweetkerryline »

Jim Fiction

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #102 on: March 03, 2018, 06:09:12 AM »
Final Update:

Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Total Current Debt: ZERO

Made my last payment and paid off my student loans. Thank you all for standing with me and encouraging me. I look forward to hearing about your successes.

:)



Congrats!

JustGettingStarted1980

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #103 on: March 03, 2018, 09:28:06 AM »
Final Update:

Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Total Current Debt: ZERO

Made my last payment and paid off my student loans. Thank you all for standing with me and encouraging me. I look forward to hearing about your successes.

:)



Congrats!

Well Done!!!

leverage

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #104 on: March 03, 2018, 09:54:57 PM »
First post! Hello everyone. :) So inspiring to see everyone focused on nuking their loans. My own status:

Original balance: ~$120,000 in 2012 (undergrad)
Current balance: $73,500
Rate: 3.865%
2018 end-of-year goal: $48,000
2018 stretch goal: $20,000

After paying the minimum payments of $900 for years, in August 2017 I refinanced the remaining $85k down to a 3.865% 5-year repayment @ $1,500/month (via SoFi). Obviously, aiming to pay that down a lot sooner! With my current budget, I shouldn't have any trouble dropping it down to $48k this year, though I'm really hoping to be able to hit my stretch goal of $20k via side hustle.

Right now I'm paying the $1,500 minimum while I vanquish the SO's remaining car loan: $12k at a soul-crushing 14% interest! That should be gone by July, after which all the surplus goes to these bad boys.

eightyeighttoone

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #105 on: March 03, 2018, 10:39:21 PM »
Final Update:

Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Total Current Debt: ZERO

Made my last payment and paid off my student loans. Thank you all for standing with me and encouraging me. I look forward to hearing about your successes.


Congrats! I look forward to seeing what you do next.

tanzee

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #106 on: March 04, 2018, 06:31:09 AM »
I had a good December in terms of student loan payoff.  I'm set for a couple more good months with tax returns etc.  My highly ambitious goal for this year is to have the loans totally paid off, though I'm not sure how feasible that is.  Here is my situation:

Loan 1:  4178.88  @  5.16%
Loan 2:  1802.99  @  5.16%
Loan 3:  9517.22  @  5.31%

Total:   15,499.09

A great month for me!  By the end of the month, I will be paid down to about 13,197 total.  I am in the midst of a frugal month challenge and I got my tax returns to boot.  I'm hoping to have these paid off by August.

I should add that I'm currently making about 25k per year between my two jobs.  I'm a graduate student, so making money can be a bit challenging.  But I'm living lean and crushing these loans.  It's so much fun!

Loan 1: 4112.94 @ 5.16%
Loan 2: 1775.82 @ 5.16%
Loan 3: 7479.17 @ 5.31%

Total: 13367.96  (reduced 2131.04 since last post)

tanzee

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #107 on: March 04, 2018, 06:32:38 AM »
My largest remaining loan just got transferred to another servicer (ironically to Discover, from whom I originally got the loan). As a result, I'm locked out of making payments for a few days while the transfer completes. The auto-withdrawal occurred just before the transfer, but now I want to make my extra payment and I can't. Darn it!

Perhaps I should post this into the mustachian people's problems thread. I mean, normal people don't derive this much joy from paying bills, right?

So true.  I think I get more pleasure from crushing these loans than most people do from buying whatever crap they are spending their cash on. 

tanzee

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #108 on: March 04, 2018, 06:40:50 AM »
First post! Hello everyone. :) So inspiring to see everyone focused on nuking their loans. My own status:

Original balance: ~$120,000 in 2012 (undergrad)
Current balance: $73,500
Rate: 3.865%
2018 end-of-year goal: $48,000
2018 stretch goal: $20,000

After paying the minimum payments of $900 for years, in August 2017 I refinanced the remaining $85k down to a 3.865% 5-year repayment @ $1,500/month (via SoFi). Obviously, aiming to pay that down a lot sooner! With my current budget, I shouldn't have any trouble dropping it down to $48k this year, though I'm really hoping to be able to hit my stretch goal of $20k via side hustle.

Right now I'm paying the $1,500 minimum while I vanquish the SO's remaining car loan: $12k at a soul-crushing 14% interest! That should be gone by July, after which all the surplus goes to these bad boys.

Welcome, leverage! 

Seems like you're taking great steps.  Join us in crushing these loans!

Ms. Maggie

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #109 on: March 08, 2018, 10:09:01 AM »
A huge congratulations to Sweetkerryline!! What an amazing success. Hope you're enjoying the freedom!


sweetkerryline

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #110 on: March 08, 2018, 12:49:17 PM »
A huge congratulations to Sweetkerryline!! What an amazing success. Hope you're enjoying the freedom!

I seriously don't know what to do with myself. I'm now paying down my car loan aggressively as I try to save up for a house. I want to put a fair bit down when I buy. Good luck as you continue the good fight!

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #111 on: March 08, 2018, 03:06:02 PM »
A huge congratulations to Sweetkerryline!! What an amazing success. Hope you're enjoying the freedom!

I seriously don't know what to do with myself. I'm now paying down my car loan aggressively as I try to save up for a house. I want to put a fair bit down when I buy. Good luck as you continue the good fight!

Save for a house and, if you aren’t maxing your retirement accounts, invest in an after tax account.

sweetkerryline

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #112 on: March 09, 2018, 08:24:17 AM »
A huge congratulations to Sweetkerryline!! What an amazing success. Hope you're enjoying the freedom!

I seriously don't know what to do with myself. I'm now paying down my car loan aggressively as I try to save up for a house. I want to put a fair bit down when I buy. Good luck as you continue the good fight!

Save for a house and, if you aren’t maxing your retirement accounts, invest in an after tax account.

I meant that in a more colloquial sense. So far, I've decided to put ~$2,000 aside a month for my house account, continue maxing out my 401(k) (I get a 7.5% match) and finally get on taking advantage of the backdoor Roth. I've also dropped 1,000 a month in non-tax advantaged account. Other than overpaying my car loan, I feel like I'm in a weirdly decent financial spot.

ontheroaderic

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #113 on: March 09, 2018, 11:57:56 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)
12/9/16 $24,662.23 (-2600)
1/13/16 $22,203.78 (-2600)
2/8/17 $19,691.71 (-2600)
3/8/17 $19,463.69  (-312.98)
4/7/17 $16,959.27 (-2600)
5/7/17 $14,435.04 (-2600)
6/7/17 $13,203.99 (-1300)
7/7/17 $11,966.85 (-1300)
8/7/17 $10,725.44 (-1300)
9/7/17 $9,473.36 (-1300)
10/7/17 $8,265.30 (-1300)
11/7/17 $6995.62 (-1300)
12/7/17 $5689.39 (-1300)
1/7/18 $4444.60 (-1300)
2/7/18 $4340.22 (-96.55)
3/7/18 $4262.37 (-95.55)
3/8/18 $0.00 (-4235.02)

DONE! We took some money from here and there and just killed it yesterday! Almost three years to the day since we decided to get serious about them. It feels pretty good, but I’m sure it will feel even better when I can start diverting that money to other goals next month.

haypug16

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #114 on: March 09, 2018, 01:15:57 PM »
Congrats @ontheroad that must feel awesome!

I forgot to update on Feb and mar 1st. Probably because there was nothing exciting to update but here goes;

Jan 1st 2018 $61,210.17
Feb 1st 2018 $61,498.36
Mar 1st 2018 $60,712.61

$497.56/$10,000 paid off in 2018 Pretty slow start to the year but I hope to pick up the pace in May once the CCs are all paid off.

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #115 on: March 09, 2018, 11:00:43 PM »
A huge congratulations to Sweetkerryline!! What an amazing success. Hope you're enjoying the freedom!

I seriously don't know what to do with myself. I'm now paying down my car loan aggressively as I try to save up for a house. I want to put a fair bit down when I buy. Good luck as you continue the good fight!

Save for a house and, if you aren’t maxing your retirement accounts, invest in an after tax account.

I meant that in a more colloquial sense. So far, I've decided to put ~$2,000 aside a month for my house account, continue maxing out my 401(k) (I get a 7.5% match) and finally get on taking advantage of the backdoor Roth. I've also dropped 1,000 a month in non-tax advantaged account. Other than overpaying my car loan, I feel like I'm in a weirdly decent financial spot.
that’s such an exciting place to be in.  I hope to be standing in your shoes in 21 months or less.

Earnest says if I did nothing more than make my regular monthly over payment of $2500,  I would pay off on September 1, 2020.  I’m putting another $750 payment in next week.  Combination of state tax return money and $200 I received because someone decided to get an ultra low refinance (plus $200 for themself) through earnest via the referral link in my signature.  My next big threshold is getting under $70,000.00.  Can’t wait to do it.

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #116 on: March 09, 2018, 11:01:41 PM »
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)
12/9/16 $24,662.23 (-2600)
1/13/16 $22,203.78 (-2600)
2/8/17 $19,691.71 (-2600)
3/8/17 $19,463.69  (-312.98)
4/7/17 $16,959.27 (-2600)
5/7/17 $14,435.04 (-2600)
6/7/17 $13,203.99 (-1300)
7/7/17 $11,966.85 (-1300)
8/7/17 $10,725.44 (-1300)
9/7/17 $9,473.36 (-1300)
10/7/17 $8,265.30 (-1300)
11/7/17 $6995.62 (-1300)
12/7/17 $5689.39 (-1300)
1/7/18 $4444.60 (-1300)
2/7/18 $4340.22 (-96.55)
3/7/18 $4262.37 (-95.55)
3/8/18 $0.00 (-4235.02)

DONE! We took some money from here and there and just killed it yesterday! Almost three years to the day since we decided to get serious about them. It feels pretty good, but I’m sure it will feel even better when I can start diverting that money to other goals next month.
that’s a huge congratulations to you. Seriously, great work.

imadandylion

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #117 on: March 10, 2018, 06:26:11 PM »
Seriously... how is this even fair? One of the student loan "accounts" I paid off closed, which apparently bumps my credit score down 3 points because it's an account closure? Come on... I thought this was going to have a positive impact. Has this happened to anyone else?

"Lenders like to see that you have experience successfully managing your credit. Closing an account could affect your average age of credit history. Generally, you'll want to keep your oldest accounts active and in good standing in order to prevent them from being closed.
Between February 23, 2018 and March 10, 2018, your US DEPT OF EDUCATION/GLE student loan account appears to have been closed."

So paying off your student loan isn't considered successfully managing your credit...?

EDIT:  After a little bit of googling, this is apparently a normal result of paying off student loan(s). Really wish the credit system didn't work this way, but doesn't everyone? Sigh.
« Last Edit: March 10, 2018, 06:43:09 PM by imadandylion »

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #118 on: March 10, 2018, 08:24:06 PM »
Seriously... how is this even fair? One of the student loan "accounts" I paid off closed, which apparently bumps my credit score down 3 points because it's an account closure? Come on... I thought this was going to have a positive impact. Has this happened to anyone else?

"Lenders like to see that you have experience successfully managing your credit. Closing an account could affect your average age of credit history. Generally, you'll want to keep your oldest accounts active and in good standing in order to prevent them from being closed.
Between February 23, 2018 and March 10, 2018, your US DEPT OF EDUCATION/GLE student loan account appears to have been closed."

So paying off your student loan isn't considered successfully managing your credit...?

EDIT:  After a little bit of googling, this is apparently a normal result of paying off student loan(s). Really wish the credit system didn't work this way, but doesn't everyone? Sigh.

Refinancing to 2-3 times over the life of my student loans to get a lower rate has been like a rocket ship to my credit score (830+).  Total credit availability improves it.  Toward the end I might slow down payments to keep my score artificially high until after I buy a house.

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #119 on: March 10, 2018, 09:44:15 PM »
Congrats @ontheroad that must feel awesome!

I forgot to update on Feb and mar 1st. Probably because there was nothing exciting to update but here goes;

Jan 1st 2018 $61,210.17
Feb 1st 2018 $61,498.36
Mar 1st 2018 $60,712.61

$497.56/$10,000 paid off in 2018 Pretty slow start to the year but I hope to pick up the pace in May once the CCs are all paid off.

Why did your balance increase from January to February 2018?

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #120 on: March 11, 2018, 10:23:29 PM »
My largest remaining loan just got transferred to another servicer (ironically to Discover, from whom I originally got the loan). As a result, I'm locked out of making payments for a few days while the transfer completes. The auto-withdrawal occurred just before the transfer, but now I want to make my extra payment and I can't. Darn it!

Perhaps I should post this into the mustachian people's problems thread. I mean, normal people don't derive this much joy from paying bills, right?

So true.  I think I get more pleasure from crushing these loans than most people do from buying whatever crap they are spending their cash on.

For me, it’s been so long, the thrill of paying it off wore pretty thin awhile ago.
The first 200K was exciting, like slaying a dragon, the next 100K was like “nice, I can see the end in sight”, the last ~140K is kind of like “ugh...I’m so over this”

It’s pretty much autopilot now. Although, I do feel like I’ll get a good jolt of excitement from when I down to 5 digits this year.

What is your interest rate at?

palebluedot

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #121 on: March 11, 2018, 10:39:39 PM »

Happy to be posting twice in a month on this thread :-) I sent another $750 last week which was about 1/2 of my tax refund. At this pace I'll be done by September instead of the previous November forecast.



March payment is in and I paid off another loan. Only two remain. At current pace should be done by September.



And congrats to ontheroaderic, astounding job!

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #122 on: March 11, 2018, 10:42:51 PM »

Happy to be posting twice in a month on this thread :-) I sent another $750 last week which was about 1/2 of my tax refund. At this pace I'll be done by September instead of the previous November forecast.



March payment is in and I paid off another loan. Only two remain. At current pace should be done by September.



And congrats to ontheroaderic, astounding job!


You’re crushing it. 

appleseed

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #123 on: March 12, 2018, 12:18:18 PM »
Thanks for starting a 2018 thread! I kept trying to update my balances for the end of December in the old thread, instead  I'll start here new for 2018.

These are my husband's loans from 2005ish. They've been low interest and low priority, but I'm so sick of them and sending money to a loan instead of stashing it.

Loans:

DB1 - 2.5% - $5,991.33 (monthly payment - $182.67)
DB2 - 2.5% - $6,388.29 (monthly payment - $194.77)
N1 - 2.625% - $6,171.61 (monthly payment - $91.08) 
N2 - 2.625%  - $5,392.19 (monthly payment - $79.59 

Total - $23,943.42

I only starting increasing our payments in August by about $500/month to the N1 and N2 loans due to lurking in this forum and seeing so many people have great progress.

My goal for 2018 is to get the total under $10k, which will be a stretch but I think doable especially with motivation from here.

End of January update:

DB1 - 2.5% - $5,819.28 (monthly payment - $182.67)
DB2 - 2.5% - $6,149.84 (monthly payment - $194.77)
N1 - 2.625% - $5,824.97 (monthly payment - $91.08) 
N2 - 2.625%  - $5,089.28 (monthly payment - $79.59 

Total - $22,883.37

I sent an extra $500 to N1 and N2 plus threw $55 at D2 to get the total for the first two loans under $12k (it was $23 over so I added to cover February interest, so I don't have to see it over $12k ever again!). It's silly, but paying attention to those milestones (my next one - all 4 loans will be under $6,000) has been motivating to me! Getting the total below $20,000 will be cause for celebration!
End of February update/mid-March update:

DB1 - $5,652.79
DB2 - $5,972.17
N1 - $5,483.76
N2 - $4791.12

Total - $21,899.84

Sending an extra $500 to the N1&N2 loans makes our principal payment about $1k, so I'll be under $20k in 2 months! Getting ready to invoice a $2k project, so I may send half of that in addition depending on how 2017 taxes wash out.

Congratulations to everyone for chipping away and sharing your success!

eightyeighttoone

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #124 on: March 12, 2018, 09:35:37 PM »
First post! Hello everyone. :) So inspiring to see everyone focused on nuking their loans. My own status:

Original balance: ~$120,000 in 2012 (undergrad)
Current balance: $73,500
Rate: 3.865%
2018 end-of-year goal: $48,000
2018 stretch goal: $20,000


Welcome! Looking forward to seeing your progress!

3/5/15: $74,618.23 at 5.625% {Starting Balance}

3/8/18 $0.00 (-4235.02)

DONE! We took some money from here and there and just killed it yesterday! Almost three years to the day since we decided to get serious about them. It feels pretty good, but I’m sure it will feel even better when I can start diverting that money to other goals next month.

Congrats!!!!!! Seriously, nice work!

Jim Fiction

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #125 on: March 15, 2018, 05:48:57 PM »
Beginning balance and goals for 2018

Loan 1: $461 @ 0.40%
Loan 2: $2,859 @ 2.15%
Loan 3: $12,302 @ 4.50%

Total: $15,622

March payments are in the books:

Loan 1: $362 $312 @ 0.40%
Loan 2: $2,681 $2,592 @ 2.15%
Loan 3: $9,417 $7,859@ 4.50%

Total: $12,460 $10,763


Steady as she goes...

Jim Fiction

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #126 on: March 15, 2018, 05:51:30 PM »
Congratulations to our recent graduates! Your hard work has paid off, on to the next financial goal!

eightyeighttoone

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #127 on: March 15, 2018, 10:30:36 PM »
Starting Balance  : 27,416
January Balance  : 25,831
February Balance : 24,047

March Balance     : 22,198

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #128 on: March 19, 2018, 06:58:03 PM »
Starting Balance  : 27,416
January Balance  : 25,831
February Balance : 24,047

March Balance     : 22,198

Keep plugging away at that. You’re steadily knocking it down.

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #129 on: March 19, 2018, 07:02:57 PM »
A huge congratulations to Sweetkerryline!! What an amazing success. Hope you're enjoying the freedom!

I seriously don't know what to do with myself. I'm now paying down my car loan aggressively as I try to save up for a house. I want to put a fair bit down when I buy. Good luck as you continue the good fight!

Save for a house and, if you aren’t maxing your retirement accounts, invest in an after tax account.

I meant that in a more colloquial sense. So far, I've decided to put ~$2,000 aside a month for my house account, continue maxing out my 401(k) (I get a 7.5% match) and finally get on taking advantage of the backdoor Roth. I've also dropped 1,000 a month in non-tax advantaged account. Other than overpaying my car loan, I feel like I'm in a weirdly decent financial spot.

FWIW, The backdoor Roth is best done in the total amount for the year. One deposit and conversion of $5500 is a lot less work than 5 deposit and conversions of $1100.  That match is pretty great though.

tanzee

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #130 on: March 23, 2018, 05:29:17 AM »
I had a good December in terms of student loan payoff.  I'm set for a couple more good months with tax returns etc.  My highly ambitious goal for this year is to have the loans totally paid off, though I'm not sure how feasible that is.  Here is my situation:

Loan 1:  4178.88  @  5.16%
Loan 2:  1802.99  @  5.16%
Loan 3:  9517.22  @  5.31%

Total:   15,499.09

A great month for me!  By the end of the month, I will be paid down to about 13,197 total.  I am in the midst of a frugal month challenge and I got my tax returns to boot.  I'm hoping to have these paid off by August.

I should add that I'm currently making about 25k per year between my two jobs.  I'm a graduate student, so making money can be a bit challenging.  But I'm living lean and crushing these loans.  It's so much fun!

Loan 1: 4112.94 @ 5.16%
Loan 2: 1775.82 @ 5.16%
Loan 3: 7479.17 @ 5.31%

Total: 13367.96  (reduced 2131.04 since last post)

Loan 1: 4098.55 @ 5.16%
Loan 2: 1769.61 @ 5.16%
Loan 3: 6523.26 @ 5.31%

Total: 12391.42

I'll have a few more dollars to throw at this before the end of the month.  But I felt like posting to maintain a sense of progress.  Thanks, guys!

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #131 on: March 23, 2018, 05:40:12 AM »

We’ve paid off about 280K in the last 4 years.

We have ~140K left as of now

-111K in student debt at prime - ~3K monthly payment
-11K DH’s loan at ~4% -  $500 monthly payment
-6K left on car loan 2.9% $300 monthly payment
-11K on LOC ~4.99%

Another $2500 paid today, 118.5K remaining, may pay another 2K before the month is over, it’s been a lucrative March.

-~104K student debt ~3%, ~3K monthly payment
-~9K DH’s loan at 4%, $500 monthly payment
-car is paid off
-5.5K on LOC, 4.99%, interest only min payment

What are you and DH earning that you're able to dedicate $3500+/month to debt?

Is there any reason you and DH are not just putting to rest the $9k loan at 4% interest?  It's a low enough balance where you could kill it in a few months and it's higher interest than the 104k balance loan so it's mathematically sound to kill the higher rate debt.

BluePhoenix75

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #132 on: March 24, 2018, 04:25:34 PM »
We are making progress.  Had a big snowball to throw at this in March!

$142,000..........October 2017
$134,237..........December 2017
$128,797..........January 2018
$125,966..........February 2018 
$110,751..........March 2018

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #133 on: March 24, 2018, 05:17:34 PM »
We are making progress.  Had a big snowball to throw at this in March!

$142,000..........October 2017
$134,237..........December 2017
$128,797..........January 2018
$125,966..........February 2018 
$110,751..........March 2018

Kicking butt!  You’re almost at the big benchmark.

recklesslysober

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #134 on: March 25, 2018, 08:10:05 PM »
$86,700 January
$85,300 February
$81,800 March

$7,400/$40,000 = 18.5% for 2018

zeli2033

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #135 on: March 30, 2018, 01:59:11 PM »
I am so excited to be joining this thread! I've been waiting until this year's savings goals were met. Now we're finally throwing some extra cash at the student loan. I made an additional $1,500 payment today but it won't hit my account until next week so I'll have to update then.

"Original" balance as of February 2018: $63,221
Rate: Variable, but majority @ 6.8%.
2018 year-end goal: $30,000
Payoff goal: June 2019

2/28/18: $63,221 [Starting Balance]
3/8/18: $62,846 (-375)
3/20/18: $60,722 (-2,124)

I'm still paying off interest to get down to the principal balance (ouch) but once that's handled, I'll be tracking and knocking off specific loans to help make this a little more fun.

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #136 on: March 30, 2018, 05:16:27 PM »
I am so excited to be joining this thread! I've been waiting until this year's savings goals were met. Now we're finally throwing some extra cash at the student loan. I made an additional $1,500 payment today but it won't hit my account until next week so I'll have to update then.

"Original" balance as of February 2018: $63,221
Rate: Variable, but majority @ 6.8%.
2018 year-end goal: $30,000
Payoff goal: June 2019

2/28/18: $63,221 [Starting Balance]
3/8/18: $62,846 (-375)
3/20/18: $60,722 (-2,124)

I'm still paying off interest to get down to the principal balance (ouch) but once that's handled, I'll be tracking and knocking off specific loans to help make this a little more fun.

You should really refinance those loans. 6.8% is insane.   If you can cut even one or two percent, you’ll save hundreds of dollars and possibly more than $1000.  If you use the right referral program with someone on this thread, you might end up getting an extra couple of hundred dollars too.   Seriously, go check out rates from Earnest, SoFi,or the like.

zeli2033

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #137 on: March 30, 2018, 05:36:15 PM »
I am so excited to be joining this thread! I've been waiting until this year's savings goals were met. Now we're finally throwing some extra cash at the student loan. I made an additional $1,500 payment today but it won't hit my account until next week so I'll have to update then.

"Original" balance as of February 2018: $63,221
Rate: Variable, but majority @ 6.8%.
2018 year-end goal: $30,000
Payoff goal: June 2019

2/28/18: $63,221 [Starting Balance]
3/8/18: $62,846 (-375)
3/20/18: $60,722 (-2,124)

I'm still paying off interest to get down to the principal balance (ouch) but once that's handled, I'll be tracking and knocking off specific loans to help make this a little more fun.

You should really refinance those loans. 6.8% is insane.   If you can cut even one or two percent, you’ll save hundreds of dollars and possibly more than $1000.  If you use the right referral program with someone on this thread, you might end up getting an extra couple of hundred dollars too.   Seriously, go check out rates from Earnest, SoFi,or the like.

Yeah, I've certainly looked into it. We could cut a couple percent off the interest with SoFi but it will more than triple our minimum monthly payment. Even though we're certainly planning to pay much more than that per month, there's also the chance that our employment may shift before we're able to pay it off in which case we want to make sure we're only on the hook for a few hundred dollars each month instead of a couple thousand. And since we're set to pay it off in a little more than a year, we're comfortable trading the additional cash to maintain a bit of a buffer since we are rolling with a limited e-fund.

tanzee

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #138 on: March 31, 2018, 04:23:57 AM »
I am so excited to be joining this thread! I've been waiting until this year's savings goals were met. Now we're finally throwing some extra cash at the student loan. I made an additional $1,500 payment today but it won't hit my account until next week so I'll have to update then.

"Original" balance as of February 2018: $63,221
Rate: Variable, but majority @ 6.8%.
2018 year-end goal: $30,000
Payoff goal: June 2019

2/28/18: $63,221 [Starting Balance]
3/8/18: $62,846 (-375)
3/20/18: $60,722 (-2,124)

I'm still paying off interest to get down to the principal balance (ouch) but once that's handled, I'll be tracking and knocking off specific loans to help make this a little more fun.

Welcome, zeli!  Glad to have another student loan slayer on board. 

tanzee

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #139 on: March 31, 2018, 04:27:57 AM »
I had a good December in terms of student loan payoff.  I'm set for a couple more good months with tax returns etc.  My highly ambitious goal for this year is to have the loans totally paid off, though I'm not sure how feasible that is.  Here is my situation:

Loan 1:  4178.88  @  5.16%
Loan 2:  1802.99  @  5.16%
Loan 3:  9517.22  @  5.31%

Total:   15,499.09

A great month for me!  By the end of the month, I will be paid down to about 13,197 total.  I am in the midst of a frugal month challenge and I got my tax returns to boot.  I'm hoping to have these paid off by August.

I should add that I'm currently making about 25k per year between my two jobs.  I'm a graduate student, so making money can be a bit challenging.  But I'm living lean and crushing these loans.  It's so much fun!

Loan 1: 4112.94 @ 5.16%
Loan 2: 1775.82 @ 5.16%
Loan 3: 7479.17 @ 5.31%

Total: 13367.96  (reduced 2131.04 since last post)

Loan 1: 4098.55 @ 5.16%
Loan 2: 1769.61 @ 5.16%
Loan 3: 6523.26 @ 5.31%

Total: 12391.42

I'll have a few more dollars to throw at this before the end of the month.  But I felt like posting to maintain a sense of progress.  Thanks, guys!

OK, end of the month update:

Loan 1: 4103.18 @ 5.16%
Loan 2: 1771.61 @ 5.16%
Loan 3: 5755.66 @ 5.31%

Total: 11,630.45

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #140 on: March 31, 2018, 06:48:41 PM »
2/1/18 - $87,728 .74 @2.57% variable rate
2/22/18 - $81,748.39 @2.57% variable rate (Put my after tax amount from my new job's signing bonus into attacking the balance).
2/27/18 - 74,821.93 @ 2.64% used our federal return to pay it down.  Unfortunately the variable rate increased with LIBOR so the rate went up by .07%.

The war on my student loan balance is raging. I am finally below $80k.  This means the principal reached the half way mark.
3/1/18 - $72,332.43 @2.64%

I badly want another financial windfall to make another extra payment.  Waiting on State tax return now to make another extra payment.

4/1/18- $68,738.42 @2.88% another LIBOR increase screwing up my world.  Fortunately it’s still under what my rate would have been if fixed.  I increased my monthly payment from $2,500 to $3,000.00.  It’s full bore warfare on student loans.

BluePhoenix75

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #141 on: April 02, 2018, 04:57:48 AM »
We are making progress.  Had a big snowball to throw at this in March!

$142,000..........October 2017
$134,237..........December 2017
$128,797..........January 2018
$125,966..........February 2018 
$110,751..........March 2018

Kicking butt!  You’re almost at the big benchmark.

Thanks! The goal is to get to under $100K in June.

zeli2033

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #142 on: April 03, 2018, 08:48:36 AM »
Previous payment finally hit - updated balance owed below.

2/28/18: $63,221 [Starting Balance]
3/8/18: $62,846 (-375)
3/20/18: $60,722 (-2,124)
4/2/18: $59,399 (-1,324)

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #143 on: April 03, 2018, 11:03:39 AM »
Previous payment finally hit - updated balance owed below.

2/28/18: $63,221 [Starting Balance]
3/8/18: $62,846 (-375)
3/20/18: $60,722 (-2,124)
4/2/18: $59,399 (-1,324)

You keep Attacking it at that rate and you’ll slay that balance.

What rate are you fighting against?

eightyeighttoone

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #144 on: April 04, 2018, 09:55:32 PM »
Starting Balance  : 27,416
January Balance  : 25,831
February Balance : 24,047
March Balance     : 22,198

April Balance       : 19,920

I passed the final 5 digit milestone! Normally I wait till the middle of the month, but was feeling frisky tonight.

haypug16

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #145 on: April 05, 2018, 01:58:51 PM »
2018 Student Loan Pay down
Jan 1st 2018 $61,210.17
Feb 1st 2018 $61,498.36
Mar 1st 2018 $60,712.61
Apr 1st 2018 $59,888.71 down $823.90 this month

$1,321.46/$10,000 paid off in 2018

Happy to be out of the $60Ks. I got my bonus on March 31st so I set up an additional $1,000 payment (about 80% of the bonus) a couple days ago so my May 1st total should be extra good. I will also get a small tax refund (I know shame on me) but that will all go to Student Loans as well. I may be able to up my goal of $10k paid off this year but I'll hold off until I see a few month months of data before I make that call. :)

Also, nice job 88to1


minimos

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #146 on: April 06, 2018, 05:20:31 AM »
This month just eeked under the 50k line. Feels like we overcame another hurdle - Woo Hoo!  There is a light at the end of this tunnel!
Updated # are:

Loan 1 - 21,375  (3.28 Variable)
Loan 2 - 28,217  (2.85 Variable)

Total:  49,592

April 1st check in ...


Loan 1 - 16,160 (3.28 Variable)
Loan 2 - 28,027  (2.85 Variable)

Total now down to $44,187

Just keep swimming..... slow and steady :)

appleseed

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #147 on: April 09, 2018, 01:09:30 PM »
Starting Balance  : 27,416
January Balance  : 25,831
February Balance : 24,047
March Balance     : 22,198

April Balance       : 19,920

I passed the final 5 digit milestone! Normally I wait till the middle of the month, but was feeling frisky tonight.
Congratulations! I should hit that same milestone after this month's payments (end of April). I'm shooting for under $10k balance by the end of the year, which means extra extra payments I have to figure in somewhere.

Ms. Maggie

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #148 on: April 10, 2018, 12:33:26 PM »
Hi All!

I am extremely excited to say that as of April 1st, I am debt free!! Took about 20 months to pay off these grad school loans and definitely was a worthwhile experience to complete so quickly. I'm celebrating by saving an emergency fund and opening my own business! Good luck finishing everyone! I'm rooting for you. See you on the other side...

Student Loan total Aug 2016: 41,000
April 2018: 0

Loan 1: 0       @ 6.55%
Loan 2: 0       @ 6.55%
Loan 3: 0       @ 6.55%
Loan 4: 0       @ 5.16%
Loan 5: 0        @6.55%

Slow&Steady

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #149 on: April 11, 2018, 02:48:52 PM »
The 2018 challenge has started!  I graduated in 2006 with over $30k and only occasionally focused on paying them off, but I have now been out of school for over 10 years and these need to be gone.

Goals (Jan 2018):  Wait until baby gets here safe and healthy (and maybe until after maternity leave) then pay these suckers off!  Assuming no hiccups with baby or maternity leave I would like to pay these off when or before I return from maternity leave around June/July.

Total: 02/18/16 = $16,505.16 (7.5% interest)
         01/09/17 = $10,572.09
         01/04/18 = $7,849.41
         02/02/18 = $7,743.03
         03/01/18 = $7,636.06
         04/04/18 = $7,537.60       

         12/31/18 = $0 (Goal)

Baby is here and healthy, now just waiting until I get back to work in June.  I am hoping to throw $2k-3k at this loan in June/July and then several hundred each month and another $2k-ish at the next 3 paycheck month.  It should be paid off by late fall!