I'm super lucky to be engaged to a wonderful person, who unfortunately has not-very-wonderful student loan debt. All of this was acquired before we met, and my partner has excellent saving habits now. But as I approach debt-free life myself, I find myself panicking about being in a relationship with someone who has debt that far exceeds anything I ever had.
Here are the details:
Balance Interest rate Minimum Daily interest
1 $6,706.43 3.25% $38.59 $0.60
2 $6,740.12 3.25% $50.00 $0.60
3 $7,077.77 4.25% $44.43 $0.82
4 $24,512.44 4.50% $156.89 $3.02
5 $7,314.74 4.75% $47.91 $0.95
6 $19,260.52 5.25% $131.36 $2.77
7 $2,727.33 5.25% (not sure) $0.39
8 $2,942.27 6.55% $60.90 $0.53
The minimum payments are over $500, but we try to pay at least $600 each month. Still, the principal isn't decreasing much, the daily interest accrues more than $9/day (more than our daily food budget!), and most of these are variable rate loans which worries me. We don't have much extra money to throw at it (working on increasing income, but we're not there yet) but I could probably chip in more than I have been out of my own savings. Should I? How would you approach repayment on this debt, with a combined income of $56,000/year? Any tips for sleeping better would also be appreciated.