Author Topic: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)  (Read 68484 times)

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #250 on: July 25, 2018, 08:57:15 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%

98K remaining!

-~94K student debt ~3%, ~3K monthly payment
-loan is consolidated onto LOC
-car is paid off
-~4K on LOC 1, 4.99%, interest only min payment

FINALLY under 100K!
Only a month later than projected, which is not bloody bad considering I had a medical emergency and some significant business expenses come up in that time.

I have time off and two trips coming up in September, one for a course and one for a family wedding, so the remainder of the LOC will have to wait until after that, but it sure is nice to be out of the 6 figure category of debt.

It really does feel almost negligible now compared to the mountain I started with.


It’s awesome how it feels when you get below $100k.  You’re going to laugh at the debt when it’s undeer 50k.  It feels like an insanely high car payment. My student loan debt is our last debt with more than 0% interest.

Sibley

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #251 on: July 25, 2018, 09:03:48 AM »
I haven't been posting, but my student loan will be paid off in September :)

I've also functionally assumed responsibility for paying the PLUS loan in my parent's name. That's about $14k. Will possibly roll my SL payment into that one, but I will need to evaluate and make budget decisions later. My finances as a whole have gotten more complicated/had a change in the last month, so I want things to shake out before I decide.

Slow&Steady

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #252 on: July 25, 2018, 09:55:07 AM »
A really good question.  And the answer is a bit difficult to describe in this format.  It would take me a really long time to write up an inconclusive response.  But I'll try to sum it up.  She can definitely afford it.  There are no official strings attached, but she has been a bit isolated in recent years and sometimes I wonder if she wants to ensure I don't forget about her.  Not that I would have, though.  She's kinda kooky but she's a good person at heart.

Take the money and set up a calendar reminder in your phone to call her 1/month to say hi.  Not because she gave you money but because you generally see to like her and she seems to want somebody to think about her.

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #253 on: July 25, 2018, 04:12:54 PM »

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%

98K remaining!

-~94K student debt ~3%, ~3K monthly payment
-loan is consolidated onto LOC
-car is paid off
-~4K on LOC 1, 4.99%, interest only min payment

FINALLY under 100K!
Only a month later than projected, which is not bloody bad considering I had a medical emergency and some significant business expenses come up in that time.

I have time off and two trips coming up in September, one for a course and one for a family wedding, so the remainder of the LOC will have to wait until after that, but it sure is nice to be out of the 6 figure category of debt.

It really does feel almost negligible now compared to the mountain I started with.


It’s awesome how it feels when you get below $100k.  You’re going to laugh at the debt when it’s undeer 50k.  It feels like an insanely high car payment. My student loan debt is our last debt with more than 0% interest.

It certainly feels like nothing compared to $420K

A 3K payment used to feel like a negligible drop in the bucket on such a huge sum because it was not much more than half a percent of the total, now it feels like significant progress when I can shave an extra 3% with a single payment.
The difference between $100K and $90K feels significant. The difference between $420K and $410K feels like virtually nothing at all. It's a hugely different psychological experience.

It’s true.  I could pay my entire balance today if MrsUpwardlyMobile didn’t care about having a larger emergency fund.  Its extremely comforting to know that we can just afford to pay it off.

tanzee

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #254 on: July 26, 2018, 05:26:14 AM »
A really good question.  And the answer is a bit difficult to describe in this format.  It would take me a really long time to write up an inconclusive response.  But I'll try to sum it up.  She can definitely afford it.  There are no official strings attached, but she has been a bit isolated in recent years and sometimes I wonder if she wants to ensure I don't forget about her.  Not that I would have, though.  She's kinda kooky but she's a good person at heart.

Take the money and set up a calendar reminder in your phone to call her 1/month to say hi.  Not because she gave you money but because you generally see to like her and she seems to want somebody to think about her.

It's a good thought, Slow and Steady.  Thank you.

tanzee

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #255 on: July 31, 2018, 04:28:54 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

Decent month.  Not great, but decent.  Hopefully I will have these gone by October or so. 

Loan 1: 4082.96 @ 5.16%
Loan 2: 1761.35 @ 5.16%
Loan 3: 4481.78 @ 5.31%

Total: 10,326.09

I just looked back at my first post in this thread which suggested paying them off this year would be "highly ambitious".  But, at this point, I think it's perfectly reasonable.  I just need to stay on track.  May wasn't the best month for paying off loans because I didn't work for half of it and had some added expenses.  But as of June 1st I'm officially under $10k.  By the end of this month I'll be about half way there.  I'll post a more in depth breakdown later this month after I've made a couple more payments.


Loan 1: 4090.45 @ 5.16%
Loan 2: 1764.57 @ 5.16%
Loan 3: 3381.25 @ 5.31%

Total: 9236.28

I'm under 10k!!  That feels good. Unfortunately, I've encountered a tough situation where I might have to pay for a year's worth of health insurance up front.  That would set me back in my payments for a while.  But I'm not sure.  We'll see.

End of the month update:

Loan 1: 4072.53 @ 5.16%
Loan 2: 1756.84 @ 5.16%
Loan 3: 2874.01 @ 5.31%

Total: 8686.28


End of month update:

Loan 1: 4061.48 @ 5.16%
Loan 2: 1752.06 @ 5.16%
Loan 3: 1483.02 @ 5.31%

Total: 7296.57


I would really appreciate some input from this community.  A close relative called me today and was fairly insistent about paying off the rest of my loans for me.  She has been incredibly generous toward me throughout my life.  I can't deny feeling very excited and being highly tempted to take her offer.  But there is a small voice in the back of my head telling me that completing this challenge on my own without help is worth the struggle.  MMM wrote that article a while back called (I think) The Incomparable Advantage of Having to Work for What You Get.  I realize it is idealistic.  And, honestly, I'll probably take the money.  But do any of you have any thoughts on this?

Would it just be a generous gift or would it come with expectations of some sort.. If it a generous gift that the giver can afford without problems I would take it and then set up myself to save the amount of the loans in the timespan you planned the pay off. If the gift would lead to some expectations on me from the person I would not take it.

A really good question.  And the answer is a bit difficult to describe in this format.  It would take me a really long time to write up an inconclusive response.  But I'll try to sum it up.  She can definitely afford it.  There are no official strings attached, but she has been a bit isolated in recent years and sometimes I wonder if she wants to ensure I don't forget about her.  Not that I would have, though.  She's kinda kooky but she's a good person at heart.

Welp, it's all taken care of.  I just submitted my final payment, following the generous help of a close family friend.  This thread has been a great help at keeping me on target.  Despite the outside help, I paid off about 23k in 3 years on pretty meager salaries before lucking into this help.  Thank you all. 

Balance= 0$

JanetJackson

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #256 on: July 31, 2018, 05:18:12 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

Decent month.  Not great, but decent.  Hopefully I will have these gone by October or so. 

Loan 1: 4082.96 @ 5.16%
Loan 2: 1761.35 @ 5.16%
Loan 3: 4481.78 @ 5.31%

Total: 10,326.09

I just looked back at my first post in this thread which suggested paying them off this year would be "highly ambitious".  But, at this point, I think it's perfectly reasonable.  I just need to stay on track.  May wasn't the best month for paying off loans because I didn't work for half of it and had some added expenses.  But as of June 1st I'm officially under $10k.  By the end of this month I'll be about half way there.  I'll post a more in depth breakdown later this month after I've made a couple more payments.


Loan 1: 4090.45 @ 5.16%
Loan 2: 1764.57 @ 5.16%
Loan 3: 3381.25 @ 5.31%

Total: 9236.28

I'm under 10k!!  That feels good. Unfortunately, I've encountered a tough situation where I might have to pay for a year's worth of health insurance up front.  That would set me back in my payments for a while.  But I'm not sure.  We'll see.

End of the month update:

Loan 1: 4072.53 @ 5.16%
Loan 2: 1756.84 @ 5.16%
Loan 3: 2874.01 @ 5.31%

Total: 8686.28


End of month update:

Loan 1: 4061.48 @ 5.16%
Loan 2: 1752.06 @ 5.16%
Loan 3: 1483.02 @ 5.31%

Total: 7296.57


I would really appreciate some input from this community.  A close relative called me today and was fairly insistent about paying off the rest of my loans for me.  She has been incredibly generous toward me throughout my life.  I can't deny feeling very excited and being highly tempted to take her offer.  But there is a small voice in the back of my head telling me that completing this challenge on my own without help is worth the struggle.  MMM wrote that article a while back called (I think) The Incomparable Advantage of Having to Work for What You Get.  I realize it is idealistic.  And, honestly, I'll probably take the money.  But do any of you have any thoughts on this?

Would it just be a generous gift or would it come with expectations of some sort.. If it a generous gift that the giver can afford without problems I would take it and then set up myself to save the amount of the loans in the timespan you planned the pay off. If the gift would lead to some expectations on me from the person I would not take it.

A really good question.  And the answer is a bit difficult to describe in this format.  It would take me a really long time to write up an inconclusive response.  But I'll try to sum it up.  She can definitely afford it.  There are no official strings attached, but she has been a bit isolated in recent years and sometimes I wonder if she wants to ensure I don't forget about her.  Not that I would have, though.  She's kinda kooky but she's a good person at heart.

Welp, it's all taken care of.  I just submitted my final payment, following the generous help of a close family friend.  This thread has been a great help at keeping me on target.  Despite the outside help, I paid off about 23k in 3 years on pretty meager salaries before lucking into this help.  Thank you all. 

Balance= 0$


CONGRATS!!

zeli2033

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #257 on: July 31, 2018, 07:23:06 AM »
Yes, big congratulations @tanzee!! Enjoy breathing that fresh, student loan debt-free air :)

haypug16

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #258 on: July 31, 2018, 10:13:14 AM »
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
May 1st 2018 $56,074.38
June 1st 2018 $54,942.04
July 1st 2018 $54,231.66
July 31st 2018 $53,541.07 -$690.59 paid off this month

$7,669.10/$10,000 Goal. Getting very close to my 2018 goal. :)

Slow&Steady

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #259 on: July 31, 2018, 12:30:12 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       
         06/06/18 = $7,231.53
         07/02/18 = $7,081.53
         07/03/18 = $6,991.53 - Could not resist getting it under $7K
         08/01/18 = $5,391.53

         12/31/18 = $0 (Goal)


Payment scheduled for tomorrow so I am going to go ahead and make the update!  I am currently sticking my head in the sand about the rental repairs that are being made because I want to focus on this instead.  Hopefully I can get this paid off before the rental can bite me in the ass.

haypug16

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #260 on: July 31, 2018, 12:47:52 PM »

JanetJackson

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #261 on: July 31, 2018, 12:49:44 PM »
I'm getting HECKIN AMPED on all of the successes here!

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #262 on: August 01, 2018, 05:55:43 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.

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.

Ugh.  The existence of this loan balance gnaws at me in a way I can’t describe.  I’m paying an extra $1000 this upcoming week because I desperately need to see the balance keep decreasing.

$67,825.20 @2.88%.  I’m raising my monthly payment to $3,500.00
$64,400.12 @2.90%.  Interest rates continue to rise, but still lower than if I had chosen a fixed rate.
$60,858.43 @2.97% interest rates continue to rise, but still under 3.25% that it would have been if it were fixed.
$57,506.99 @ 3.10% seems like every post involves an interest rate increase.
$37,560.72 @3.10% I’ve paid about $70,000 toward this balance since January....insane.
$34,127.40  @3.08% (the only interest rate decrease that I’ve experienced)
« Last Edit: August 01, 2018, 06:16:16 PM by MrUpwardlyMobile »

Jim Fiction

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #263 on: August 03, 2018, 06:41:15 AM »
I'm getting HECKIN AMPED on all of the successes here!

Seriously!! So happy for all of the recent graduates. They are keeping me inspired to keep my foot on the gas and crush these loans by the end of the year.

minimos

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #264 on: August 05, 2018, 06:33:13 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 :)

Haven't posted an update in awhile.  June payments are in, and made fantastic progress this last month.  The original goal was to have them paid off by middle of next year -- but if we can continue this increased progress, we could have them done by the end of the year.  The rising interest rates have kicked my butt to step it up.


Loan 1 - 12,835 (2.8 Variable)
Loan 2 - 18,846  (3.4 Variable)

Total: 31,681

Good luck everyone the latter half of this year!

Extremely motivated and have just been pummeling these lately.. Update:
Loan 1 - 8,643
Loan 2 - 18,333

Total: 26,976

Almost there!

eightyeighttoone

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #265 on: August 05, 2018, 04:52:20 PM »

Welp, it's all taken care of.  I just submitted my final payment, following the generous help of a close family friend.  This thread has been a great help at keeping me on target.  Despite the outside help, I paid off about 23k in 3 years on pretty meager salaries before lucking into this help.  Thank you all. 

Balance= 0$

CONGRATS!

zeli2033

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #266 on: August 12, 2018, 03:22:59 PM »
2/28/18: $63,221 [Starting Balance]
3/8/18: $62,846
3/20/18: $60,722
4/2/18: $59,399
4/18/18: $58,372
6/30/18: $ 58,175
7/13/18: $ 55,929
8/12/18: $54,868 (-1,061)

This is the first month a payment actually went toward principal as well as interest. I think heading into September I may start tracking specific loans that I kill off.

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #267 on: August 12, 2018, 03:59:40 PM »
2/28/18: $63,221 [Starting Balance]
3/8/18: $62,846
3/20/18: $60,722
4/2/18: $59,399
4/18/18: $58,372
6/30/18: $ 58,175
7/13/18: $ 55,929
8/12/18: $54,868 (-1,061)

This is the first month a payment actually went toward principal as well as interest. I think heading into September I may start tracking specific loans that I kill off.

Looks like you’re making moves,  what are your individual loans and what are the interest rates?

palebluedot

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #268 on: August 12, 2018, 08:42:21 PM »

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!

Well it's finally over. Finished three months ahead of my projected November payoff. Thanks everyone for keeping us moving towards the goal!



And because graphs are awesome:

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #269 on: August 13, 2018, 06:19:43 AM »

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!

Well it's finally over. Finished three months ahead of my projected November payoff. Thanks everyone for keeping us moving towards the goal!



And because graphs are awesome:

congratulations!  That must be awesome to feel the freedom from student loan debt.

JanetJackson

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #270 on: August 13, 2018, 07:39:41 AM »
Everyone is doing such great work!
I was hoping to get mine paid off in 2018, but I'm not quite sure now.  I've gotten them from ~15-16k to 6k (on a 30k income, ::pats self on back and exhales deeply::) and I'm chugging along, but I need a dental surgery and tires on my car a little earlier than expected.
I'm still going to try, but it's going to be ROUGH. 
Has anyone else needed to push back goal dates? 
I'm wondering if I should shoot for spring 2019, you know... rebirth completely debt free along with all of the rest of the spring flowers, etc.?  Could be.... Cathartic? (or frustrating, ha)

zeli2033

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #271 on: August 13, 2018, 08:23:07 AM »
2/28/18: $63,221 [Starting Balance]
3/8/18: $62,846
3/20/18: $60,722
4/2/18: $59,399
4/18/18: $58,372
6/30/18: $ 58,175
7/13/18: $ 55,929
8/12/18: $54,868 (-1,061)

This is the first month a payment actually went toward principal as well as interest. I think heading into September I may start tracking specific loans that I kill off.

Looks like you’re making moves,  what are your individual loans and what are the interest rates?

Interest rates are high but we are foregoing refinancing to keep our ridiculously low minimum payment, especially since we are on track for our goal of having them paid off next summer.


zeli2033

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #272 on: August 13, 2018, 08:25:54 AM »

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!

Well it's finally over. Finished three months ahead of my projected November payoff. Thanks everyone for keeping us moving towards the goal!



And because graphs are awesome:


CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!! Well done, it's so motivating to see fellow loan slayers fighting their way out! Well done, enjoy the student-loan-debt FREEDOM.

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #273 on: August 13, 2018, 07:44:41 PM »
2/28/18: $63,221 [Starting Balance]
3/8/18: $62,846
3/20/18: $60,722
4/2/18: $59,399
4/18/18: $58,372
6/30/18: $ 58,175
7/13/18: $ 55,929
8/12/18: $54,868 (-1,061)

This is the first month a payment actually went toward principal as well as interest. I think heading into September I may start tracking specific loans that I kill off.

Looks like you’re making moves,  what are your individual loans and what are the interest rates?

Interest rates are high but we are foregoing refinancing to keep our ridiculously low minimum payment, especially since we are on track for our goal of having them paid off next summer.

Wow that’s high.  You’re basically paying tons more per year to cover interest that you could probably refinance away. 

UnexpectedExpenseExpector

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #274 on: August 13, 2018, 11:17:00 PM »
Jul: 34,235.29
Aug: 31,126.76
...
2018 Dec:   23,000 (GOAL)
2019 Jul: 0.00 (GOAL)


We received a surprise windfall in July that allowed us to throw an extra $1,300 at getting these things slain.  Looking forward to seeing that 3 in front turn into a 2.

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #275 on: August 13, 2018, 11:21:04 PM »
Jul: 34,235.29
Aug: 31,126.76
...
2018 Dec:   23,000 (GOAL)
2019 Jul: 0.00 (GOAL)


We received a surprise windfall in July that allowed us to throw an extra $1,300 at getting these things slain.  Looking forward to seeing that 3 in front turn into a 2.

Very cool. Keep plugging away. 1 year is really good for killing a $31,000 balance,

UnexpectedExpenseExpector

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #276 on: August 13, 2018, 11:36:28 PM »
Perhaps slightly aggressive, but with Baby #3 now home and healthy and the van purchase, move, and hospital stay out of the way we can now resume pointing the fire hose at the debt.  We also have a good amount of money sitting in taxable brokerage that we could pull out at any time to knock out a huge chunk of the debt.  Right now we could knock out 36% of the remaining debt if we did that, but we are holding off until we could pull it and knock out 100%.

Jim Fiction

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #277 on: August 14, 2018, 06:51:40 AM »
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

August payments are in the books:

Loan 1: $0 @ 0.40% PAID OFF JUNE 2017
Loan 2: $2,000 $1,911 @ 2.15%
Loan 3: $5,000 $3,435 @ 4.50%

Total: $7,000 $5,346


I start a new job in a few weeks which comes with a 25% bump in pay, so I am going to try and get these paid off by the end of October. Can't wait to be debt free.


Jim Fiction

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #278 on: August 14, 2018, 06:54:14 AM »
Everyone is doing such great work!
I was hoping to get mine paid off in 2018, but I'm not quite sure now.  I've gotten them from ~15-16k to 6k (on a 30k income, ::pats self on back and exhales deeply::) and I'm chugging along, but I need a dental surgery and tires on my car a little earlier than expected.
I'm still going to try, but it's going to be ROUGH. 
Has anyone else needed to push back goal dates? 
I'm wondering if I should shoot for spring 2019, you know... rebirth completely debt free along with all of the rest of the spring flowers, etc.?  Could be.... Cathartic? (or frustrating, ha)

Your progress has been amazing, so do not get discouraged. Just keep doing what you can and you will get there before you know it.

JanetJackson

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #279 on: August 14, 2018, 07:27:43 AM »
Congrats on the new job!

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

August payments are in the books:

Loan 1: $0 @ 0.40% PAID OFF JUNE 2017
Loan 2: $2,000 $1,911 @ 2.15%
Loan 3: $5,000 $3,435 @ 4.50%

Total: $7,000 $5,346


I start a new job in a few weeks which comes with a 25% bump in pay, so I am going to try and get these paid off by the end of October. Can't wait to be debt free.

eightyeighttoone

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #280 on: August 14, 2018, 10:20:49 PM »

Has anyone else needed to push back goal dates? 
I'm wondering if I should shoot for spring 2019, you know... rebirth completely debt free along with all of the rest of the spring flowers, etc.?  Could be.... Cathartic? (or frustrating, ha)

OH yeah! I've had my loans for 4 years. When I got serious, I originally thought I would be done by summer 2017. Then I switched jobs. THEN I thought we'd be done by early 2018, but our basement flooded. A few other minor setbacks happened too.

I agree with the others. You have made great progress already! Just do what you can and don't sweat a few months delay.

OliveFI

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #281 on: August 15, 2018, 07:22:29 AM »
I finally got out of some tax / consumer debt in Nov. 2017 so I decided to get serious about repaying my student loans quickly. I should have been posting in this thread all along... I don't know why I wasn't hitting these harder earlier ... but I'm doing it now.

Here is my situation:

Graduated law school in 2016 with $39,000. Mostly from Undergraduate as I had a full ride to law school - I took one loan during law school for stupid reasons and I've already face punched my self.

Balance as of Jan 1. 2018 - $37,793.97


Current Balances -

Loan #1: $9,533.56 @ 5.5% (fixed)
Loan #2: $17,299.21 @ 5.5% (fixed)
Loan #3: $7,792.44 @ 6.21% (fixed)

Total as of July 19, 2018: $34,625.21

June payment: $805.69

I am going to make a $650 payment now to bring my balance down into $33k!

Total July payment: $1,150

I think I am able to keep my payments in the $1k to $1.4k range for the foreseeable future!

My goal is to pay these loans off by the time I am 30. I turned 28 two weeks ago. It is totally doable on my salary, I just need to bite the bullet and throw the money at the loans. I figure posting here will help. Also, I am slated to get a bonus in March 2019 that will hopefully cover the balance of the loans. So I could hit this goal before I am 29 which would feel awesome. I know nothing is guaranteed, so that is why I plan on throwing money at them now. Plus why would I want to accrue more interest??? If I get the bonus and it is higher than my loan balance I can throw that into an investment account!

Seeing the posts about ZERO BALANCES is so inspiring! I love this.

Alright ...

July 2018 total payment: $1,150
July 2018 balance: $34,012.78

August 2018 payment (so far): $1,000
August 2018 balance (as of 8/15): $33,144.57

July was NOT a frugal month by any stretch of the imagination. I am doing frugal month challenge this month, so hopefully I can make another $1k payment. It is a little addicting seeing the balance go down!

zeli2033

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #282 on: August 15, 2018, 08:32:12 AM »
Nice work everyone - keep it up!!

Just made another August payment. Hoping to make another payment by end of this month as well.

2/28/18: $63,221 [Starting Balance]
3/8/18: $62,846
3/20/18: $60,722
4/2/18: $59,399
4/18/18: $58,372
6/30/18: $ 58,175
7/13/18: $ 55,929
8/12/18: $54,868
8/15/18: $53,821 (-1,047)

DS

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #283 on: August 15, 2018, 09:28:17 AM »
Was paying minimum payments until I discovered MMM around this time last year. Have paid all 6.55% since then and now working on 5.35%.

Rate             Starting            Current        Change
         
6.55%      2,000.00                 -      
6.55%      2,093.24                 -      
6.55%      2,353.04                 -      
6.55%      2,628.38                 -      
5.35%      3,500.00       1,108.54    
4.25%      4,992.38       2,870.11    
3.61%      3,962.02       2,499.13    
3.15%      4,500.00       2,815.11    
3.15%      1,000.00          622.20    
3.15%      5,720.31       3,500.29    
              32,749.37     13,415.38     -19,333.99
« Last Edit: August 15, 2018, 09:31:04 AM by DS »

eightyeighttoone

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #284 on: August 15, 2018, 09:52:01 PM »
Starting Balance  : 27,416
January Balance  : 25,831
February Balance : 24,047
March Balance     : 22,198
April Balance       : 19,920
May Balance        : 17,920
June Balance       : 15,932
July Balance        :   5,973

August Balance    :   2,516

The Stafford loans are all paid off, so mentally I feel like I'm done (no more logging in to Great Lakes!). The remaining balance is a Perkins loan at a slightly lower rate.

So I have a question. I think I need to pause and get rid of the PMI on our mortgage. I did the math (finally), and I'd save way more money by attacking the PMI first. Basically, all we need is $7,412 more principal paid down on the loan and the PMI premiums ($71/month) can go away. By my math, that's kind of like having student loan at 11%. Yikes! Why did I never think about this before? So what do you all think? Should I stop and work on the PMI? Or just go ahead and finish the SL?

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #285 on: August 15, 2018, 10:22:16 PM »
Starting Balance  : 27,416
January Balance  : 25,831
February Balance : 24,047
March Balance     : 22,198
April Balance       : 19,920
May Balance        : 17,920
June Balance       : 15,932
July Balance        :   5,973

August Balance    :   2,516

The Stafford loans are all paid off, so mentally I feel like I'm done (no more logging in to Great Lakes!). The remaining balance is a Perkins loan at a slightly lower rate.

So I have a question. I think I need to pause and get rid of the PMI on our mortgage. I did the math (finally), and I'd save way more money by attacking the PMI first. Basically, all we need is $7,412 more principal paid down on the loan and the PMI premiums ($71/month) can go away. By my math, that's kind of like having student loan at 11%. Yikes! Why did I never think about this before? So what do you all think? Should I stop and work on the PMI? Or just go ahead and finish the SL?

Pay extra to whatever yields the greatest results if your goal is paying down debt.

Slow&Steady

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #286 on: August 16, 2018, 08:17:05 AM »
Starting Balance  : 27,416
January Balance  : 25,831
February Balance : 24,047
March Balance     : 22,198
April Balance       : 19,920
May Balance        : 17,920
June Balance       : 15,932
July Balance        :   5,973

August Balance    :   2,516

The Stafford loans are all paid off, so mentally I feel like I'm done (no more logging in to Great Lakes!). The remaining balance is a Perkins loan at a slightly lower rate.

So I have a question. I think I need to pause and get rid of the PMI on our mortgage. I did the math (finally), and I'd save way more money by attacking the PMI first. Basically, all we need is $7,412 more principal paid down on the loan and the PMI premiums ($71/month) can go away. By my math, that's kind of like having student loan at 11%. Yikes! Why did I never think about this before? So what do you all think? Should I stop and work on the PMI? Or just go ahead and finish the SL?

The reason I have had my SL for 12 years is because at first I didn't pay attention to the interest rate (7.5%) and just focused on freeing up cash flow, then for a while I started to pay attention to interest rate but the SL was not the highest (stupid 20s), then there was debt that would just be faster to pay off or would free up more cash flow than the SL.  Now I don't really care about any of those reasons, and the SL is the leader in several of them, I just don't want to be caring this around any longer so I plan to kill it this year.

Basically, if your plan changes, who cares it is your plan!  If you have decided that it suites you better to kill PMI than do that!  One tidbit of advise though, look at your loan documents very closely.  Some loans carry PMI for a set period before it drops off, some just depend on the LTV for it to drop off, some have it for the life of the loan and require you to refinance to remove it. 

JanetJackson

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #287 on: August 16, 2018, 09:03:09 AM »
Little baby win for me today. 
In addition to the lump payments I have been making to try to slay these remaining $6500.00 (so close, soooooo close...), I bumped my regular monthly payment up. 
I literally JUST found the option to do that on the website... it was pretty hidden. 
I rounded up to the nearest hundred and then threw an extra $25 on top of that.  I got it to a number that will inch me closer, but even in the worst months (I'm low-ish income and my income is also quite variable) it's still a number I can do.
Yay me.

OliveFI

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #288 on: August 16, 2018, 09:46:45 AM »
WOOO! That is awesome! It'll add up quickly. Then all of a sudden those payments will be cash flow!!!

eightyeighttoone

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #289 on: August 16, 2018, 09:26:35 PM »

So I have a question. I think I need to pause and get rid of the PMI on our mortgage. I did the math (finally), and I'd save way more money by attacking the PMI first. Basically, all we need is $7,412 more principal paid down on the loan and the PMI premiums ($71/month) can go away. By my math, that's kind of like having student loan at 11%. Yikes! Why did I never think about this before? So what do you all think? Should I stop and work on the PMI? Or just go ahead and finish the SL?

The reason I have had my SL for 12 years is because at first I didn't pay attention to the interest rate (7.5%) and just focused on freeing up cash flow, then for a while I started to pay attention to interest rate but the SL was not the highest (stupid 20s), then there was debt that would just be faster to pay off or would free up more cash flow than the SL.  Now I don't really care about any of those reasons, and the SL is the leader in several of them, I just don't want to be caring this around any longer so I plan to kill it this year.

Basically, if your plan changes, who cares it is your plan!  If you have decided that it suites you better to kill PMI than do that!  One tidbit of advise though, look at your loan documents very closely.  Some loans carry PMI for a set period before it drops off, some just depend on the LTV for it to drop off, some have it for the life of the loan and require you to refinance to remove it.

Thanks Slow&Steady, that's a good point. I think I am reading the docs correctly, but won't hurt to ask the mortgage company first and see if they agree before I proceed.

Civex

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #290 on: August 19, 2018, 09:37:06 AM »
Thought I posted in this thread....it looks like it may have been the 2017 edition.

Original balance-$90,400 @ 5.01 7/2014
End of January '18 balance-$64,481
End of June '18 balance-$55,411

We threw our tax return at it, which helped and I bumped the auto payment to $1250. Goal is pay off by ~ Spring 2020. Pretty happy with the progress over the last few months-wife was on maternity leave, so our income was reduced, but things are still chugging along.

July 2018-$52,993 ($1250/regular monthly payment + $1400 unexpected work reimbursement)

August 2018-$51,709 ($1250/regular monthly payment + $263.54 extra in checking)

Slow&Steady

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #291 on: August 24, 2018, 10:31:08 AM »
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.

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       
         06/06/18 = $7,231.53
         07/02/18 = $7,081.53
         07/03/18 = $6,991.53 - Could not resist getting it under $7K
         08/01/18 = $5,391.53
         08/24/18 = $3,791.53

         12/31/18 = $0 (Goal)


Since I finished another grad class, my interest charges turned back on 8/14 so I decided to make Sept payment early to avoid a few $s of interest fees.  Basically by moving my payment up 10 days I will be be saving something like $12 over the rest of the year.  Not much but it makes me feel good!
« Last Edit: September 04, 2018, 08:06:47 AM by Slow&Steady »

Civex

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #292 on: August 24, 2018, 07:48:28 PM »
Thought I posted in this thread....it looks like it may have been the 2017 edition.

Original balance-$90,400 @ 5.01 7/2014
End of January '18 balance-$64,481
End of June '18 balance-$55,411

We threw our tax return at it, which helped and I bumped the auto payment to $1250. Goal is pay off by ~ Spring 2020. Pretty happy with the progress over the last few months-wife was on maternity leave, so our income was reduced, but things are still chugging along.

July 2018-$52,993 ($1250/regular monthly payment + $1400 unexpected work reimbursement)

August 2018-$51,709 ($1250/regular monthly payment + $263.54 extra in checking)
August 2018-$51,409-paid the "extra" in my checking account toward balance $300

I have a tendency to obsess over things and lately this has been, "the thing." I either need to kill it quickly or find something else to neurotically work on.

JanetJackson

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #293 on: August 25, 2018, 08:36:42 AM »
Thought I posted in this thread....it looks like it may have been the 2017 edition.

Original balance-$90,400 @ 5.01 7/2014
End of January '18 balance-$64,481
End of June '18 balance-$55,411

We threw our tax return at it, which helped and I bumped the auto payment to $1250. Goal is pay off by ~ Spring 2020. Pretty happy with the progress over the last few months-wife was on maternity leave, so our income was reduced, but things are still chugging along.

July 2018-$52,993 ($1250/regular monthly payment + $1400 unexpected work reimbursement)

August 2018-$51,709 ($1250/regular monthly payment + $263.54 extra in checking)
August 2018-$51,409-paid the "extra" in my checking account toward balance $300

I have a tendency to obsess over things and lately this has been, "the thing." I either need to kill it quickly or find something else to neurotically work on.

^SAME.  Since this has been my focus it's taken over my brain a little bit too much.  I don't think about it "nonstop," but I'd be willing to say 20+ times per day.... I have two goal-setting modes.  0 or 11.  HA.

Sibley

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #294 on: August 26, 2018, 06:34:48 PM »
I scheduled the LAST payment on my student loan yesterday. Only 8 years early :)

DS

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #295 on: August 27, 2018, 08:30:31 AM »
I scheduled the LAST payment on my student loan yesterday. Only 8 years early :)

Woohoo congrats!!

minimos

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #296 on: August 28, 2018, 04:11:46 AM »
Congrats Sibley!!!!

Following in your footsteps, we killed the remainder of our student loans this month as well.  Used mix of bonus and savings and decided that it was time.
Was such a long journey, but glad to be at the end. 

Good luck everyone with your progress.  Posting here was really good motivation!!

haypug16

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #297 on: August 31, 2018, 01:53:21 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
May 1st 2018 $56,074.38
June 1st 2018 $54,942.04
July 1st 2018 $54,231.66
July 31st 2018 $53,541.07
August 31st 2018 $52,702.83 -$838.24 decrease

$8,507.34/$10,000 Goal. I'm hoping to crush the goal of $10K and actually make it out of the neg 50s

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #298 on: September 01, 2018, 05:00:08 AM »
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.

Ugh.  The existence of this loan balance gnaws at me in a way I can’t describe.  I’m paying an extra $1000 this upcoming week because I desperately need to see the balance keep decreasing.

$67,825.20 @2.88%.  I’m raising my monthly payment to $3,500.00
$64,400.12 @2.90%.  Interest rates continue to rise, but still lower than if I had chosen a fixed rate.
$60,858.43 @2.97% interest rates continue to rise, but still under 3.25% that it would have been if it were fixed.
$57,506.99 @ 3.10% seems like every post involves an interest rate increase.
$37,560.72 @3.10% I’ve paid about $70,000 toward this balance since January....insane.
$34,127.40  @3.08% (the only interest rate decrease that I’ve experienced)
$30,713.78 @3.08%

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #299 on: September 02, 2018, 07:56:24 AM »
Quote
2/1/18 - $87,728 .74 @2.57%
2/22/18 - $81,748.39 @2.57%
2/27/18 - 74,821.93 @ 2.64%
3/1/18 - $72,332.43 @2.64%
4/1/18- $68,738.42 @2.88%
$67,825.20 @2.88%
$64,400.12 @2.90%
$60,858.43 @2.97%
$57,506.99 @ 3.10%
7/1/18- $37,560.72 @3.10%
8/1/18 - $34,127.40  @3.08%
9/1/18 - $30,713.78 @3.08%

To pay an extra $900 or not... that’s the question...

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!