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General Discussion => Throw Down the Gauntlet => Topic started by: sweetkerryline on January 03, 2018, 11:19:09 PM

Title: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: sweetkerryline on January 03, 2018, 11:19:09 PM
It's 2018 y'all and time to get cracking on getting rid of our student loans. 2017 was a promising year and I'd like to keep up my momentum.

Background: Lawyer, Graduated in 2013
Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Background: Full Scholarship for Law School (But Cost of Living; Interest) and Near Full Scholarship from Undergrad; Refinanced with SoFi in very late 2013 (3.31%; now 4.025%) and got serious about repaying Loans in 2016.
Total Current Debt: $11,405.63
Required Payment: $206.31
2017 Payments: From $39,919.00 to $11,405.63

2018 Goals: Pay off the remaining 11,405.63 student loans by my birthday (November)
, as they are variable rate loans, by:
(1) Paying a minimum of $1000/month;
(2) using performance bonus (if any) to pay down student loans;
(3) continuing to liquidate non-efficient investments and use proceeds to pay down student loans; I was previously restricted from selling certain assets due to my job.

What are your goals for 2018?
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Slow&Steady on January 04, 2018, 06:31:55 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.

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
       
         12/31/18 = $0 (Goal)

Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: CounselorBob on January 04, 2018, 07:17:56 AM
Good luck sweetkerryline!  I'm also a lawyer at the age of 32.  Between my wife and myself, we have 82k left in student loans at about an average of around 6.8 - 6.9 percent.  I've upped payments to $1,300 a month.  We were paying $1000.  Prior, before we really put any thought into finances, we were paying about 800.  Running an online calculator, the extra $300 will shorten the length of the payoff by close to three years (I used a few to make sure and they were consistent). 

I will also be putting parts of extra cash received in payments.  I'm also thinking of moving a portion of some less tax-efficient assets from my taxable account over to extra payments.  At our current rate, we're slotted to pay them off in a little under 7 years.  But I hope to cut that in half.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: birdman2003 on January 04, 2018, 07:50:54 AM
We should be able to kill the remainder of our student loans in the first quarter of 2018!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: sweetkerryline on January 04, 2018, 08:46:46 AM
Good luck sweetkerryline!  I'm also a lawyer at the age of 32.  Between my wife and myself, we have 82k left in student loans at about an average of around 6.8 - 6.9 percent.  I've upped payments to $1,300 a month.  We were paying $1000.  Prior, before we really put any thought into finances, we were paying about 800.  Running an online calculator, the extra $300 will shorten the length of the payoff by close to three years (I used a few to make sure and they were consistent). 

I will also be putting parts of extra cash received in payments.  I'm also thinking of moving a portion of some less tax-efficient assets from my taxable account over to extra payments.  At our current rate, we're slotted to pay them off in a little under 7 years.  But I hope to cut that in half.

Thanks for the good wishes fellow advocate! Here's to hoping I stay the course!

Also, may I ask why you haven't refinanced those student loans to a lower rate?
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: sweetkerryline on January 04, 2018, 08:47:39 AM
Congratulations! I look forward to seeing your "paid off" post.

We should be able to kill the remainder of our student loans in the first quarter of 2018!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Jim Fiction on January 04, 2018, 10:02:45 AM
A big thanks to sweetkerryline for starting the 2018 thread!

Background
Tax Accountant, graduated with an MSA in 2015. All told I had around $37,500 in student loans upon graduation. I finally got serious about paying down loans in early 2017, joining the 2017 challenge at the end of February. Here is what my loan situation looked like at that time:

Loan 1: $1,050 @ 0.40%
Loan 2: $3,900 @ 2.15%
Loan 3: $13,225 @ 4.50%
Loan 4: $15,050 @ 4.78%

Total: $33,225

The goal in 2017 was to pay off loan 4 in full, which I did in November.

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

The goal is to pay off all student loan debts by the end of 2018. My first focus is on loan 3, where I will be putting extra payments in each month. Loan 1 will be paid off this year simply by making the minimum month payments. If I only made the minimum payments on loan 2, I would pay it off during the summer of 2019. I may go this route, since the interest rate is so low. However, the emotional pull of being completely debt free is rather strong, so I will likely just try to pay it all off this year.

The potential wrinkle to this plan is that my wife and I are expecting our first child in June, but I think we should be in good shape and it shouldn't impact repayment plans much.

Good luck to everyone!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: appleseed on January 04, 2018, 10:37:47 AM
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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: recklesslysober on January 04, 2018, 02:31:48 PM
I'm back as well!

Started with $130,000 on two loans ($50,000 & $80,000) from undergraduate, grad school, and law school. I'm not a lawyer though so I don't have quite as high of an income. In 2016 I paid $10,000 off just paying the minimums and being frivolous; in 2017 I buckled down a bit and paid $30,000.

My goal this year is $40,000 which is fairly ambitious but that's why we're here right!

The first loan should be gone by the end of the year and it will be such a relief to close that account and focus on my last debt for 2019 - if I really kill it I should be debt free by the end of next year but possibly 2020.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on January 04, 2018, 05:43:54 PM
Good luck sweetkerryline!  I'm also a lawyer at the age of 32.  Between my wife and myself, we have 82k left in student loans at about an average of around 6.8 - 6.9 percent.  I've upped payments to $1,300 a month.  We were paying $1000.  Prior, before we really put any thought into finances, we were paying about 800.  Running an online calculator, the extra $300 will shorten the length of the payoff by close to three years (I used a few to make sure and they were consistent). 

I will also be putting parts of extra cash received in payments.  I'm also thinking of moving a portion of some less tax-efficient assets from my taxable account over to extra payments.  At our current rate, we're slotted to pay them off in a little under 7 years.  But I hope to cut that in half.

Thanks for the good wishes fellow advocate! Here's to hoping I stay the course!

Also, may I ask why you haven't refinanced those student loans to a lower rate?
yeah I was curious about that too. Refinancing my loans + increased payments allowed me to actually start making a dent in my student loans.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: CounselorBob on January 05, 2018, 07:27:55 AM
Good luck sweetkerryline!  I'm also a lawyer at the age of 32.  Between my wife and myself, we have 82k left in student loans at about an average of around 6.8 - 6.9 percent.  I've upped payments to $1,300 a month.  We were paying $1000.  Prior, before we really put any thought into finances, we were paying about 800.  Running an online calculator, the extra $300 will shorten the length of the payoff by close to three years (I used a few to make sure and they were consistent). 

I will also be putting parts of extra cash received in payments.  I'm also thinking of moving a portion of some less tax-efficient assets from my taxable account over to extra payments.  At our current rate, we're slotted to pay them off in a little under 7 years.  But I hope to cut that in half.

Thanks for the good wishes fellow advocate! Here's to hoping I stay the course!

Also, may I ask why you haven't refinanced those student loans to a lower rate?
yeah I was curious about that too. Refinancing my loans + increased payments allowed me to actually start making a dent in my student loans.

That's something I plan to look into soon.  We both started off on the government track.  So they're consolidated federal loans.  However that has changed.  I will also confess that while we've always followed the general word of advice of save 15% of your income, we didn't really put much thought into paying the loans off quickly.  Our original plan was loan forgiveness. 

I'm a recent convert to the mustachian train of thought.  So I'm slowly working towards incorporating some of those ideals.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: sweetkerryline on January 05, 2018, 06:12:35 PM
Good luck sweetkerryline!  I'm also a lawyer at the age of 32.  Between my wife and myself, we have 82k left in student loans at about an average of around 6.8 - 6.9 percent.  I've upped payments to $1,300 a month.  We were paying $1000.  Prior, before we really put any thought into finances, we were paying about 800.  Running an online calculator, the extra $300 will shorten the length of the payoff by close to three years (I used a few to make sure and they were consistent). 

I will also be putting parts of extra cash received in payments.  I'm also thinking of moving a portion of some less tax-efficient assets from my taxable account over to extra payments.  At our current rate, we're slotted to pay them off in a little under 7 years.  But I hope to cut that in half.

Thanks for the good wishes fellow advocate! Here's to hoping I stay the course!

Also, may I ask why you haven't refinanced those student loans to a lower rate?
yeah I was curious about that too. Refinancing my loans + increased payments allowed me to actually start making a dent in my student loans.

That's something I plan to look into soon.  We both started off on the government track.  So they're consolidated federal loans.  However that has changed.  I will also confess that while we've always followed the general word of advice of save 15% of your income, we didn't really put much thought into paying the loans off quickly.  Our original plan was loan forgiveness. 

I'm a recent convert to the mustachian train of thought.  So I'm slowly working towards incorporating some of those ideals.

Totally understand. I've always been a bit miserly, but am also a recent convert to the mustachian mindset. Good luck with the pay down plan!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on January 05, 2018, 07:41:37 PM
Good luck sweetkerryline!  I'm also a lawyer at the age of 32.  Between my wife and myself, we have 82k left in student loans at about an average of around 6.8 - 6.9 percent.  I've upped payments to $1,300 a month.  We were paying $1000.  Prior, before we really put any thought into finances, we were paying about 800.  Running an online calculator, the extra $300 will shorten the length of the payoff by close to three years (I used a few to make sure and they were consistent). 

I will also be putting parts of extra cash received in payments.  I'm also thinking of moving a portion of some less tax-efficient assets from my taxable account over to extra payments.  At our current rate, we're slotted to pay them off in a little under 7 years.  But I hope to cut that in half.

Thanks for the good wishes fellow advocate! Here's to hoping I stay the course!

Also, may I ask why you haven't refinanced those student loans to a lower rate?
yeah I was curious about that too. Refinancing my loans + increased payments allowed me to actually start making a dent in my student loans.

That's something I plan to look into soon.  We both started off on the government track.  So they're consolidated federal loans.  However that has changed.  I will also confess that while we've always followed the general word of advice of save 15% of your income, we didn't really put much thought into paying the loans off quickly.  Our original plan was loan forgiveness. 

I'm a recent convert to the mustachian train of thought.  So I'm slowly working towards incorporating some of those ideals.

Ah, I too fell into the income driven repayment trap. http://upwardlymobile.life/income-based-repayment-plans-are-the-death-of-upward-mobility-for-young-professionals/

I also reformed and have been shedding my student loan debt. http://upwardlymobile.life/student-loan-debt-servitude/

Started 2018 with just over $107,000 in student loan debt fixed at 4.64%.  I paid my fee sharing and bonuses and an extra several hundred dollars with my monthly payment.  Balance is currently $90,855.33.  I’m looking to pay it all down within 24 months. Roughly $55,500 per year for 2 years. I’m documenting the process to motivate me. http://upwardlymobile.life/the-first-big-milestone-in-the-war-on-student-loans/
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: tanzee on January 08, 2018, 05:58:42 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

Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: palebluedot on January 11, 2018, 06:52:06 PM

Another loan was killed off this month! I had to take a little bit from my buffer to get rid of the 3.61% loan. Just three left and can't wait to get started in the New Year.

(https://i.imgur.com/uA2TBL5.png)

Welcome back everyone! Happy to say this will be my last year participating in the student loan challenge. I will be done in the fall, just about 3 years after finishing school in 2015 @ total debt of ~22k.

Update for January payment total $750:

(https://i.imgur.com/pMieHxk.jpg)



Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: alphapi on January 12, 2018, 04:31:04 AM
Hi all - first post ever here (previous reader/lurker of course)!

I'm just getting started on this journey, but back in 2012 left grad school with $41,000. I had been planning on taking advantage of the PSLF, but recently I'm valuing professional AND financial flexibility sooner than my possible eligibility for that (5-6 years), so I'm taking charge. Down to $34,000 now, all from FAFSA at 6.55%. I've always been on the fence about the saving/paying argument, but with a lot of the strategies I've put in place I'm confident I'll be able to do both.

My goal this year is to have $15,000 in December 2018, and that will put me on track to kill off the rest by the end of 2019.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on January 12, 2018, 05:46:32 PM
Hi all - first post ever here (previous reader/lurker of course)!

I'm just getting started on this journey, but back in 2012 left grad school with $41,000. I had been planning on taking advantage of the PSLF, but recently I'm valuing professional AND financial flexibility sooner than my possible eligibility for that (5-6 years), so I'm taking charge. Down to $34,000 now, all from FAFSA at 6.55%. I've always been on the fence about the saving/paying argument, but with a lot of the strategies I've put in place I'm confident I'll be able to do both.

My goal this year is to have $15,000 in December 2018, and that will put me on track to kill off the rest by the end of 2019.
if you’re repaying, you should refinance those to a lower rate and save a couple thousand dollars you’d otherwise pay on interest.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on January 13, 2018, 09:10:43 AM
I'm back as well!

Started with $130,000 on two loans ($50,000 & $80,000) from undergraduate, grad school, and law school. I'm not a lawyer though so I don't have quite as high of an income. In 2016 I paid $10,000 off just paying the minimums and being frivolous; in 2017 I buckled down a bit and paid $30,000.

My goal this year is $40,000 which is fairly ambitious but that's why we're here right!

The first loan should be gone by the end of the year and it will be such a relief to close that account and focus on my last debt for 2019 - if I really kill it I should be debt free by the end of next year but possibly 2020.
. I’m aiming for 55,000 this year.  I’ve paid 17000 so far in 2018. 38000 more to go in 2018. Balance is ~91,000. 

What’s your income level? You may be able to do more.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Jim Fiction on January 13, 2018, 11:09:57 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

January payments are in the books:

Loan 1: $411 @ 0.40%
Loan 2: $2,768 @ 2.15%
Loan 3: $10,941 @ 4.50%

Total: $14,120
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone on January 13, 2018, 06:33:46 PM
Hello Everyone! Best wishes to all in paying down student loans.

Starting 2018 Balance: 27,416

Loan 1 -         $0.00 6.800%
Loan 2 -         $0.00 6.800%
Loan 3 -         $0.00 6.800%
Loan 4 - $16,913.65 5.160%
Loan 5 -         $0.00 6.210%
Loan 6 -         $0.00 5.590%
Loan 7 - $10,502.35 5.060%

2018 GOAL: Paid in full

These just entered repayment (graduated law school '14; LLM in '17). All told, I borrowed over 100k, but have been paying them down as I go, so the highest my balance ever got was $75,841 in 2014. So I just made (on 1/4) my first required monthly payment of $317.07. I plan to pay that plus an extra $1600 in the middle of each month. It will be tough, but if I can stay the course and find a little extra push from somewhere, I really think I can finish these in 2018!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on January 13, 2018, 07:13:56 PM
Hello Everyone! Best wishes to all in paying down student loans.

Starting 2018 Balance: 27,416

Loan 1 -         $0.00 6.800%
Loan 2 -         $0.00 6.800%
Loan 3 -         $0.00 6.800%
Loan 4 - $16,913.65 5.160%
Loan 5 -         $0.00 6.210%
Loan 6 -         $0.00 5.590%
Loan 7 - $10,502.35 5.060%

2018 GOAL: Paid in full

These just entered repayment (graduated law school '14; LLM in '17). All told, I borrowed over 100k, but have been paying them down as I go, so the highest my balance ever got was $75,841 in 2014. So I just made (on 1/4) my first required monthly payment of $317.07. I plan to pay that plus an extra $1600 in the middle of each month. It will be tough, but if I can stay the course and find a little extra push from somewhere, I really think I can finish these in 2018!

Depending on your job, that should be totally doable for a lawyer. Good luck!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on January 13, 2018, 07:16:26 PM
Good luck sweetkerryline!  I'm also a lawyer at the age of 32.  Between my wife and myself, we have 82k left in student loans at about an average of around 6.8 - 6.9 percent.  I've upped payments to $1,300 a month.  We were paying $1000.  Prior, before we really put any thought into finances, we were paying about 800.  Running an online calculator, the extra $300 will shorten the length of the payoff by close to three years (I used a few to make sure and they were consistent). 

I will also be putting parts of extra cash received in payments.  I'm also thinking of moving a portion of some less tax-efficient assets from my taxable account over to extra payments.  At our current rate, we're slotted to pay them off in a little under 7 years.  But I hope to cut that in half.

Thanks for the good wishes fellow advocate! Here's to hoping I stay the course!

Also, may I ask why you haven't refinanced those student loans to a lower rate?
yeah I was curious about that too. Refinancing my loans + increased payments allowed me to actually start making a dent in my student loans.

That's something I plan to look into soon.  We both started off on the government track.  So they're consolidated federal loans.  However that has changed.  I will also confess that while we've always followed the general word of advice of save 15% of your income, we didn't really put much thought into paying the loans off quickly.  Our original plan was loan forgiveness. 

I'm a recent convert to the mustachian train of thought.  So I'm slowly working towards incorporating some of those ideals.

Ah, I too fell into the income driven repayment trap. http://upwardlymobile.life/income-based-repayment-plans-are-the-death-of-upward-mobility-for-young-professionals/

I also reformed and have been shedding my student loan debt. http://upwardlymobile.life/student-loan-debt-servitude/

Started 2018 with just over $107,000 in student loan debt fixed at 4.64%.  I paid my fee sharing and bonuses and an extra several hundred dollars with my monthly payment.  Balance is currently $90,855.33.  I’m looking to pay it all down within 24 months. Roughly $55,500 per year for 2 years. I’m documenting the process to motivate me. http://upwardlymobile.life/the-first-big-milestone-in-the-war-on-student-loans/

I just made an unexpected extra payment.  http://upwardlymobile.life/using-a-windfall-wisely-kill-debt/  When the transaction clears on Monday, I’ll post the updated balance.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: BluePhoenix75 on January 13, 2018, 08:42:05 PM
Hullo!

I'll join this challenge!  We set the audacious goal to pay down my husband's student loans by $80K this year.  It is the last item on our snowball list before we get to scream "we're debt free (except for the house)!"

$142,000..........October 2017
$134,237..........December 2017
$130,604..........January 2018

Let's do this!!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone on January 13, 2018, 11:16:15 PM

Depending on your job, that should be totally doable for a lawyer. Good luck!

Thanks, Mr. Up! I look forward to seeing your posts as you demolish your loans! Best wishes.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on January 14, 2018, 10:02:39 AM
Hullo!

I'll join this challenge!  We set the audacious goal to pay down my husband's student loans by $80K this year.  It is the last item on our snowball list before we get to scream "we're debt free (except for the house)!"

$142,000..........October 2017
$134,237..........December 2017
$130,604..........January 2018

Let's do this!!
this challenge is awesome. Good luck.  Crush those loans.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Ms. Maggie on January 14, 2018, 10:08:24 AM
Hi Everyone!

I'm back in for this year! Really looking forward to finishing these off sometime this Spring (APRIL is my goal depending on the tax refund situation). Here we go!

Student Loan total Aug 2016: 41,000
June 2017: 24,005
August 2017: 18,561
October 2017: 15,222
December 2017: 11, 632
January 2018: 8,728

Goal for 2018: down to 0

Loan 1: 2,437 @ 6.55%
Loan 2: 0       @ 6.55%
Loan 3: 0       @ 6.55%
Loan 4: 6,290 @ 5.16%
Loan 5: 0        @6.55%
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: minimos on January 15, 2018, 03:33:51 AM
Was in the 2016 and 2017 challenge ---- and jumping in on the 2018 thread now!
Looking at probably 1.5 more years before final pay off.

Loan 1 - 24,370  (3.28 Variable)
Loan 2 - 28,217  (3.04 Variable)

Total:  52,587

We fell short of our goal last year -- mainly because I flip flop between paying them off vs investing.  Many suggest the math of investing while rates are so low makes sense, but they feel like such a heavy weight on our shoulders that I really just want them eliminated.  Also, decided to start taking advantage of some of those student loan refinance bonuses again - and in the process of refinancing Loan 2 for a slightly lower rate -- but with a $500 bonus.  Figure the bonus is almost equivalent to what we pay in interest during the year.....   

Good Luck everyone in 2018!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on January 15, 2018, 06:57:33 AM
Was in the 2016 and 2017 challenge ---- and jumping in on the 2018 thread now!
Looking at probably 1.5 more years before final pay off.

Loan 1 - 24,370  (3.28 Variable)
Loan 2 - 28,217  (3.04 Variable)

Total:  52,587

We fell short of our goal last year -- mainly because I flip flop between paying them off vs investing.  Many suggest the math of investing while rates are so low makes sense, but they feel like such a heavy weight on our shoulders that I really just want them eliminated.  Also, decided to start taking advantage of some of those student loan refinance bonuses again - and in the process of refinancing Loan 2 for a slightly lower rate -- but with a $500 bonus.  Figure the bonus is almost equivalent to what we pay in interest during the year.....   

Good Luck everyone in 2018!
the market goes up and down but paying off the student loans and removing the shackles of debt has a guaranteed return. Good luck and crush those loans.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: sweetkerryline on January 15, 2018, 11:08:47 AM
January 2018 Update

Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Total Current Debt: $11,405.63 $9,735.82
Monthly Payment [Monthly Payment Goal] (Required Payment): $1,700.50 [$1,000] ($218.50) (Monthly Payment Goal Met)
Total 2018 Payments: $1,700.50

It's 2018 y'all and time to get cracking on getting rid of our student loans. 2017 was a promising year and I'd like to keep up my momentum.

Background: Lawyer, Graduated in 2013
Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Background: Full Scholarship for Law School (But Cost of Living; Interest) and Near Full Scholarship from Undergrad; Refinanced with SoFi in very late 2013 (3.31%; now 4.025%) and got serious about repaying Loans in 2016.
Total Current Debt: $11,405.63
Required Payment: $206.31
2017 Payments: From $39,919.00 to $11,405.63

2018 Goals: Pay off the remaining 11,405.63 student loans by my birthday (November)
, as they are variable rate loans, by:
(1) Paying a minimum of $1000/month;
(2) using performance bonus (if any) to pay down student loans;
(3) continuing to liquidate non-efficient investments and use proceeds to pay down student loans; I was previously restricted from selling certain assets due to my job.

What are your goals for 2018?
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on January 15, 2018, 08:52:37 PM
Good luck sweetkerryline!  I'm also a lawyer at the age of 32.  Between my wife and myself, we have 82k left in student loans at about an average of around 6.8 - 6.9 percent.  I've upped payments to $1,300 a month.  We were paying $1000.  Prior, before we really put any thought into finances, we were paying about 800.  Running an online calculator, the extra $300 will shorten the length of the payoff by close to three years (I used a few to make sure and they were consistent). 

I will also be putting parts of extra cash received in payments.  I'm also thinking of moving a portion of some less tax-efficient assets from my taxable account over to extra payments.  At our current rate, we're slotted to pay them off in a little under 7 years.  But I hope to cut that in half.

Thanks for the good wishes fellow advocate! Here's to hoping I stay the course!

Also, may I ask why you haven't refinanced those student loans to a lower rate?
yeah I was curious about that too. Refinancing my loans + increased payments allowed me to actually start making a dent in my student loans.

That's something I plan to look into soon.  We both started off on the government track.  So they're consolidated federal loans.  However that has changed.  I will also confess that while we've always followed the general word of advice of save 15% of your income, we didn't really put much thought into paying the loans off quickly.  Our original plan was loan forgiveness. 

I'm a recent convert to the mustachian train of thought.  So I'm slowly working towards incorporating some of those ideals.

Ah, I too fell into the income driven repayment trap. http://upwardlymobile.life/income-based-repayment-plans-are-the-death-of-upward-mobility-for-young-professionals/

I also reformed and have been shedding my student loan debt. http://upwardlymobile.life/student-loan-debt-servitude/

Started 2018 with just over $107,000 in student loan debt fixed at 4.64%.  I paid my fee sharing and bonuses and an extra several hundred dollars with my monthly payment.  Balance is currently $90,855.33.  I’m looking to pay it all down within 24 months. Roughly $55,500 per year for 2 years. I’m documenting the process to motivate me. http://upwardlymobile.life/the-first-big-milestone-in-the-war-on-student-loans/

I just made an unexpected extra payment.  http://upwardlymobile.life/using-a-windfall-wisely-kill-debt/  When the transaction clears on Monday, I’ll post the updated balance.
$89,570.81!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: sweetkerryline on January 16, 2018, 09:08:16 AM
Good luck sweetkerryline!  I'm also a lawyer at the age of 32.  Between my wife and myself, we have 82k left in student loans at about an average of around 6.8 - 6.9 percent.  I've upped payments to $1,300 a month.  We were paying $1000.  Prior, before we really put any thought into finances, we were paying about 800.  Running an online calculator, the extra $300 will shorten the length of the payoff by close to three years (I used a few to make sure and they were consistent). 

I will also be putting parts of extra cash received in payments.  I'm also thinking of moving a portion of some less tax-efficient assets from my taxable account over to extra payments.  At our current rate, we're slotted to pay them off in a little under 7 years.  But I hope to cut that in half.

Thanks for the good wishes fellow advocate! Here's to hoping I stay the course!

Also, may I ask why you haven't refinanced those student loans to a lower rate?
yeah I was curious about that too. Refinancing my loans + increased payments allowed me to actually start making a dent in my student loans.

That's something I plan to look into soon.  We both started off on the government track.  So they're consolidated federal loans.  However that has changed.  I will also confess that while we've always followed the general word of advice of save 15% of your income, we didn't really put much thought into paying the loans off quickly.  Our original plan was loan forgiveness. 

I'm a recent convert to the mustachian train of thought.  So I'm slowly working towards incorporating some of those ideals.

Ah, I too fell into the income driven repayment trap. http://upwardlymobile.life/income-based-repayment-plans-are-the-death-of-upward-mobility-for-young-professionals/

I also reformed and have been shedding my student loan debt. http://upwardlymobile.life/student-loan-debt-servitude/

Started 2018 with just over $107,000 in student loan debt fixed at 4.64%.  I paid my fee sharing and bonuses and an extra several hundred dollars with my monthly payment.  Balance is currently $90,855.33.  I’m looking to pay it all down within 24 months. Roughly $55,500 per year for 2 years. I’m documenting the process to motivate me. http://upwardlymobile.life/the-first-big-milestone-in-the-war-on-student-loans/

I just made an unexpected extra payment.  http://upwardlymobile.life/using-a-windfall-wisely-kill-debt/  When the transaction clears on Monday, I’ll post the updated balance.
$89,570.81!

Outstanding! Keep up the great work!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: haypug16 on January 16, 2018, 02:00:01 PM
I'm back for 2018! I hope to make a much bigger dent this year as my Credit Cards are almost paid off and I can put that money towards the Student Loans. I also refinanced my loans with interest rates over 5.84% some where up as high as 6.8%!


January 1 2018 balances to start;
Loan 1to4 - 5.5%      33,513.13
Loan 5 - 5.375%         7,119.11
Loan 6 - 4.66%           2,551.94
Loan 7 - 4.5%             3,361.66
Loan 8 - 3.86%           5,408.83
Loan 9 - 3.4%             3,877.09
Loan 10 - 3.4%           5,378.41
Total 2018 beg. bal. 61,210.17

Between now and September I'll be putting about $850 towards paying these down. Then from October to December I'll be able to put in an additional ~$750 which I'll put towards the 5.5% loan. That'll be close to $10K in payments, I'm curious to see what kind of a dent that will actually make.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on January 16, 2018, 06:06:09 PM
Good luck sweetkerryline!  I'm also a lawyer at the age of 32.  Between my wife and myself, we have 82k left in student loans at about an average of around 6.8 - 6.9 percent.  I've upped payments to $1,300 a month.  We were paying $1000.  Prior, before we really put any thought into finances, we were paying about 800.  Running an online calculator, the extra $300 will shorten the length of the payoff by close to three years (I used a few to make sure and they were consistent). 

I will also be putting parts of extra cash received in payments.  I'm also thinking of moving a portion of some less tax-efficient assets from my taxable account over to extra payments.  At our current rate, we're slotted to pay them off in a little under 7 years.  But I hope to cut that in half.

Thanks for the good wishes fellow advocate! Here's to hoping I stay the course!

Also, may I ask why you haven't refinanced those student loans to a lower rate?
yeah I was curious about that too. Refinancing my loans + increased payments allowed me to actually start making a dent in my student loans.

That's something I plan to look into soon.  We both started off on the government track.  So they're consolidated federal loans.  However that has changed.  I will also confess that while we've always followed the general word of advice of save 15% of your income, we didn't really put much thought into paying the loans off quickly.  Our original plan was loan forgiveness. 

I'm a recent convert to the mustachian train of thought.  So I'm slowly working towards incorporating some of those ideals.

Ah, I too fell into the income driven repayment trap. http://upwardlymobile.life/income-based-repayment-plans-are-the-death-of-upward-mobility-for-young-professionals/

I also reformed and have been shedding my student loan debt. http://upwardlymobile.life/student-loan-debt-servitude/

Started 2018 with just over $107,000 in student loan debt fixed at 4.64%.  I paid my fee sharing and bonuses and an extra several hundred dollars with my monthly payment.  Balance is currently $90,855.33.  I’m looking to pay it all down within 24 months. Roughly $55,500 per year for 2 years. I’m documenting the process to motivate me. http://upwardlymobile.life/the-first-big-milestone-in-the-war-on-student-loans/

I just made an unexpected extra payment.  http://upwardlymobile.life/using-a-windfall-wisely-kill-debt/  When the transaction clears on Monday, I’ll post the updated balance.
$89,570.81!

Outstanding! Keep up the great work!
thanks.  I cannot wait until my tax return so I can make another extra payment.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MEJG on January 17, 2018, 05:44:28 AM
I think I'll join this year but modify my own race.  We currently have three debts, two low interest, one med interest.  I've been following the Investment Order mostly- which has me not accelerating payments on anything above 5.569% (3 points above the current treasury note yield).  But the payments are a drag, so DH and I recently decided to accelerate the highest interest rate, and also use some of our taxable investing money as an "offset" account.  I'll call my challenge done when the highest interest rate loan is paid off, and the two lower ones are offset by a separate taxable account.

12/31/17
Loan #1:  $24,241.81   @ 7.73%  required payment $200
Loan #2:  $17,133.55   @ 4%       required payment $105.57
Loan #3   $15501.47     @ 2.1%    required payment  $350

Plan will be minimums on loan #2&3, and $550 per month on loan #1 with taxable offset account accumulating to $3000 before opening a Vanguard taxable account and then offsetting remaining balances.  I'll update at the beginning of the months.

2018 Goal:  Taxable offset at >$5000 invested at vanguard, and Loan #1 down to < $18,000
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on January 17, 2018, 05:48:57 AM
I think I'll join this year but modify my own race.  We currently have three debts, two low interest, one med interest.  I've been following the Investment Order mostly- which has me not accelerating payments on anything above 5.569% (3 points above the current treasury note yield).  But the payments are a drag, so DH and I recently decided to accelerate the highest interest rate, and also use some of our taxable investing money as an "offset" account.  I'll call my challenge done when the highest interest rate loan is paid off, and the two lower ones are offset by a separate taxable account.

12/31/17
Loan #1:  $24,241.81   @ 7.73%  required payment $200
Loan #2:  $17,133.55   @ 4%       required payment $105.57
Loan #3   $15501.47     @ 2.1%    required payment  $350

Plan will be minimums on loan #2&3, and $550 per month on loan #1 with taxable offset account accumulating to $3000 before opening a Vanguard taxable account and then offsetting remaining balances.  I'll update at the beginning of the months.

2018 Goal:  Taxable offset at >$5000 invested at vanguard, and Loan #1 down to < $18,000

Can you refinance that 7.73% loan?  That’s actually pretty expensive. You could potentially save hundreds per year if you could get it down to ~5%. A lot of people recommend sofi.  I found they were tough to get below 6% interest. You might look at earnest or citizens bank, both were better than sofi for me.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MEJG on January 17, 2018, 06:50:36 AM
12/31/17
Loan #1:  $24,241.81   @ 7.73%  required payment $200
Loan #2:  $17,133.55   @ 4%       required payment $105.57
Loan #3   $15501.47     @ 2.1%    required payment  $350

Can you refinance that 7.73% loan?  That’s actually pretty expensive. You could potentially save hundreds per year if you could get it down to ~5%. A lot of people recommend sofi.  I found they were tough to get below 6% interest. You might look at earnest or citizens bank, both were better than sofi for me.

Well, see, it isn't exactly a student loan, and doesn't qualify for SL refinancing.  I see it as my student loan because money is fungible.  In mid-2017 I had two student loans that had been refinanced by personal family loans- loan #2 is a family loan, and I also had just over $100,000 @ 5% loan from a family member.   

Three things happened - #1 we found ourselves unexpectedly pregnant (shit happens) and could seriously have benefited from selling our current home and moving so we #2 planned some updates to get sale ready and hired contractors and #3 the family member with the $100,000 ish loan asked us to pay him back about $20,000 and he would forgive the rest.

We had cash in hand for the repairs and updates (well most of it) and decided to open and HELOC, pay our VERY GENEROUS family member back $20,000 and use the HELOC to pay for the updates and repairs, sell the house and pay off the HELOC.  We had more than enough equity for paying off the HELOC, a down payment on a new home, and helping cash cushion a maternity leave.  Citizen's bank did a bait and switch on the rate, ON THE DAY OF CLOSING, from 4.8 to 7.73 sitting that they could only approve us for $48,000 vs the $50,000 pre-qual letter they'd given us.  We were in the middle of work, thought the house would sell and figured since we were planning on closing the HELOC in the next 6 mo it wasn't worth the headache and hassle of trying with one of the lenders we had ruled out previously.

In the end the house didn't sell, the updates are great and all but two of the projects would really have needed to be done in the next year anyhow.  We're $75,000 less in debt.  We've decided NOT to move with an infant and wait it out another few years in this house.

So it's a SL in my head, but technically it is a HELOC.  I suppose I can look into a refi for that as well, I hadn't gone down that road in my head.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: recklesslysober on January 17, 2018, 06:30:08 PM
I'm back as well!

Started with $130,000 on two loans ($50,000 & $80,000) from undergraduate, grad school, and law school. I'm not a lawyer though so I don't have quite as high of an income. In 2016 I paid $10,000 off just paying the minimums and being frivolous; in 2017 I buckled down a bit and paid $30,000.

My goal this year is $40,000 which is fairly ambitious but that's why we're here right!

The first loan should be gone by the end of the year and it will be such a relief to close that account and focus on my last debt for 2019 - if I really kill it I should be debt free by the end of next year but possibly 2020.
. I’m aiming for 55,000 this year.  I’ve paid 17000 so far in 2018. 38000 more to go in 2018. Balance is ~91,000. 

What’s your income level? You may be able to do more.

My net income should be about $60K so this is ambitious enough, at least for me. I live in the most expensive city in Canada and just my rent/bills will be $14K.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: recklesslysober on January 17, 2018, 06:31:49 PM
$1,400 principal paid so far / $40,000 = 3.5%
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone on January 17, 2018, 10:14:52 PM

However, I’m not actually making any extra payments on my student debt. I’m saving it up until I have a lump sum large enough to pay the entire balance off. My monthly payments are ~3K/mo, so the lump sum will act as an emergency fund until I can zero out the entire thing. The interest is low, so it won’t cost me much, and it will give me great security in the event of illness or injury before the debt is gone.

Nice work paying so much off in the last 4 years! I have also been tempted by the idea of saving up for one final big payment. I know I would pay for it in interest, but the security would be nice. And it would be just plain old fun to make such a huge lump sum payment. I usually end up just making the regular monthly payments because I can't resist it. :)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone on January 17, 2018, 10:16:52 PM
Starting Balance: 27,416
January Balance: 25,831
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on January 18, 2018, 06:31:50 AM
Starting Balance: 27,416
January Balance: 25,831
Looks like you’re in the homestretch! When do you estimate that you’ll get it done?
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on January 18, 2018, 06:34:58 AM

However, I’m not actually making any extra payments on my student debt. I’m saving it up until I have a lump sum large enough to pay the entire balance off. My monthly payments are ~3K/mo, so the lump sum will act as an emergency fund until I can zero out the entire thing. The interest is low, so it won’t cost me much, and it will give me great security in the event of illness or injury before the debt is gone.

Nice work paying so much off in the last 4 years! I have also been tempted by the idea of saving up for one final big payment. I know I would pay for it in interest, but the security would be nice. And it would be just plain old fun to make such a huge lump sum payment. I usually end up just making the regular monthly payments because I can't resist it. :)

Thanks!
I actually had no idea what the number was because it was so many different sources of debt between the two of us and we just kept hacking away at it. I sat down recently and looked at the balances and was pleasantly surprised to see that we were closer to 300k paid off than 200K. (DH is hopeless with remembering numbers and many of the debts were his accounts. I knew how much we had paid, but I drastically mentally over estimated how much we had paid in interest over 4 years)

For me, waiting to pay it all with a lump sum is all about security.
I’m a dentist, and if I’m not working, I’m not paid, and because I have some serious pre-existing conditions, disability insurance is insane and not worth it. So I’m one sprained ankle away from bankruptcy unless I have a solid cushion to float my 3K/mo minimum debt payments. I have disability, but it only pays 2K/mo and only after 3 months.

That stresses me out, so the bigger an emergency fund I have, the less pressure there is on me. Once I use that sum to zero out the debt, the pressure is gone forever. We don’t actually need my income.

I got the idea from one of the many many threads about paying off mortgages. People kept explaining that there is absolutely no added security to making extra mortgage payments because unless the mortgage is elimintated, then you are actually increasing your risk by having fewer liquid assets and still having a big monthly payment. If you lose your job just months before finishing paying off your house, you still lose your house AND all of the extra payments, but if you had those extra payments collected and liquid, you could cover a period of job loss.

For some people, the additional motivation of watching that balance drop is worth it. They’re likely to put more money towards it if they can see a tangible and immediate change to their balance. Personally, I’m not like that. Feedback doesn’t have much impact on my motivation, hence why I didn’t even know how much debt we had paid off over 4 years.

It won’t cost me much in interest, at least not this year, because my principal payments are already huge, and I’m paying off other debt this year as well. Just the car, the loan, and my principal payments add up to nearly 50K. If there’s extra, I’ll clear the LOC as well.
professional degree debt can be crushing, but it something nds like you’re kicking butt.  Have you and your husband considered refinancing into one or two loans? It’s a hell of a lot easier to manage if it’s all at one or two lower rates and in one place.  I feel like refinancing a year or so ago was really what turned the tide for me.  One huge horrifying balance was easier to wrap my head around than lots of 20k balances.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: birdman2003 on January 18, 2018, 10:53:11 AM
We just sent our payoff check for $3k, once it clears next week we will be free from our student loans (over $150k)!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: alphapi on January 18, 2018, 06:03:47 PM
Hi all - first post ever here (previous reader/lurker of course)!

I'm just getting started on this journey, but back in 2012 left grad school with $41,000. I had been planning on taking advantage of the PSLF, but recently I'm valuing professional AND financial flexibility sooner than my possible eligibility for that (5-6 years), so I'm taking charge. Down to $34,000 now, all from FAFSA at 6.55%. I've always been on the fence about the saving/paying argument, but with a lot of the strategies I've put in place I'm confident I'll be able to do both.

My goal this year is to have $15,000 in December 2018, and that will put me on track to kill off the rest by the end of 2019.
if you’re repaying, you should refinance those to a lower rate and save a couple thousand dollars you’d otherwise pay on interest.

After a payment to kick start the repayment I'm down to: $26,797.51

Holy smokes, I'm already feeling so much better (and exploring refinancing options)!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on January 18, 2018, 06:19:21 PM
We just sent our payoff check for $3k, once it clears next week we will be free from our student loans (over $150k)!

Congrats!  I totally envy you!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: appleseed on January 19, 2018, 07:04:08 AM
We just sent our payoff check for $3k, once it clears next week we will be free from our student loans (over $150k)!
Congratulations! What a feeling of relief and accomplishment you must have. 
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: birdman2003 on January 19, 2018, 07:57:02 AM
Congrats!  I totally envy you!
Congratulations! What a feeling of relief and accomplishment you must have.

Thanks you guys!  This community has been a great source of fuel for me as my wife and I focus on these goals.  Now we are going to focus on our mortgage, but after that, the next challenge will be "what should our next challenge be?"  Don't get me wrong, I don't like being in debt, but the one good thing is that you are clearly united in what your goal should be.  After the debt is gone, it's easy to ease off the full-steam-ahead mentality.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone on January 19, 2018, 08:02:15 PM

However, I’m not actually making any extra payments on my student debt. I’m saving it up until I have a lump sum large enough to pay the entire balance off. My monthly payments are ~3K/mo, so the lump sum will act as an emergency fund until I can zero out the entire thing. The interest is low, so it won’t cost me much, and it will give me great security in the event of illness or injury before the debt is gone.

Nice work paying so much off in the last 4 years! I have also been tempted by the idea of saving up for one final big payment. I know I would pay for it in interest, but the security would be nice. And it would be just plain old fun to make such a huge lump sum payment. I usually end up just making the regular monthly payments because I can't resist it. :)

Thanks!
I actually had no idea what the number was because it was so many different sources of debt between the two of us and we just kept hacking away at it. I sat down recently and looked at the balances and was pleasantly surprised to see that we were closer to 300k paid off than 200K. (DH is hopeless with remembering numbers and many of the debts were his accounts. I knew how much we had paid, but I drastically mentally over estimated how much we had paid in interest over 4 years)

For me, waiting to pay it all with a lump sum is all about security.
I’m a dentist, and if I’m not working, I’m not paid, and because I have some serious pre-existing conditions, disability insurance is insane and not worth it. So I’m one sprained ankle away from bankruptcy unless I have a solid cushion to float my 3K/mo minimum debt payments. I have disability, but it only pays 2K/mo and only after 3 months.

That stresses me out, so the bigger an emergency fund I have, the less pressure there is on me. Once I use that sum to zero out the debt, the pressure is gone forever. We don’t actually need my income.

I got the idea from one of the many many threads about paying off mortgages. People kept explaining that there is absolutely no added security to making extra mortgage payments because unless the mortgage is elimintated, then you are actually increasing your risk by having fewer liquid assets and still having a big monthly payment. If you lose your job just months before finishing paying off your house, you still lose your house AND all of the extra payments, but if you had those extra payments collected and liquid, you could cover a period of job loss.

For some people, the additional motivation of watching that balance drop is worth it. They’re likely to put more money towards it if they can see a tangible and immediate change to their balance. Personally, I’m not like that. Feedback doesn’t have much impact on my motivation, hence why I didn’t even know how much debt we had paid off over 4 years.

It won’t cost me much in interest, at least not this year, because my principal payments are already huge, and I’m paying off other debt this year as well. Just the car, the loan, and my principal payments add up to nearly 50K. If there’s extra, I’ll clear the LOC as well.

That makes a lot of sense about keeping your liquidity top of mind, especially in the mortgage world. One interesting thing I have noticed now that my loans are in repayment. When I make extra payments, it goes toward principal and all, but my service provider also records me as being "paid ahead" by so many months. (I missed the re-fi train and still have mine with Great Lakes) So for example I've made two larger, extra payments since my loans went into repayment, and now I am "paid ahead" until December 2018. I haven't looked into it very hard as I expect I can keep up the pace, but I think I could stop paying for 10 months if an emergency comes up, which is basically the same benefit as saving up for a big payment, with an added bonus of eliminating interest if you can stay the course. Certainly this is one benefit of NOT refinancing (though if you can knock 3% off your interest rate....that's a better deal) :)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone on January 19, 2018, 08:06:41 PM
Starting Balance: 27,416
January Balance: 25,831
Looks like you’re in the homestretch! When do you estimate that you’ll get it done?

I have a new job so my bonus will be a bit of a wildcard. If that goes the way I expect, I think November of this year I will have them paid off. Cant wait!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone on January 19, 2018, 08:09:20 PM
We just sent our payoff check for $3k, once it clears next week we will be free from our student loans (over $150k)!
Congratulations! What a feeling of relief and accomplishment you must have.
Congrats Birdman2003, thats awesome!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: jeffeverhart383 on January 19, 2018, 08:43:37 PM
I'm glad someone started this thread. I've been reading the blog for a few years now, but have only stayed on the sidelines of the forums. This seems like an appropriate goal for us to tackle, so I'm jumping in to get some motivation.

I graduated in 2013 with an MA in English from a small state school. Most of grad school was paid through assistantship work, but all of undergrad was through some form of loan. In total around 59K. Luckily my wife's undergrad was paid for by her parents, and we paid out of pocket for her grad degree after some tuition benefits (7K).

For a year or two we payed only the minimums, then we stepped it up for a little while until we had kids (2 y.o. and 1 week old), but it's about time these loans were destroyed. The total I just pulled from Personal Capital lists $18,026 between a mix of federal and private, with rates varying between 3%-6%.

The monthly minimum payments are around $300, and the fed loans have another 6 years, while the private loan (5K) has 16 years left.

We're in a strong income position this year, so there is no reason why with proper planning we can't make 2018 the last year with student loan debt. I'll post back here monthly to update my running total. Here's looking at a big 0 coming soon : )

 
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Jim Fiction on January 21, 2018, 02:15:28 PM
Welcome to the forum and to the challenge!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone on January 26, 2018, 07:44:28 PM

I literally don’t understand half of your paragraph, but I think I get the general sense of it.


Despite my rambling, yes, I think you got it! Best wishes as you build your debt bomb. :)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: BluePhoenix75 on January 27, 2018, 08:24:54 AM
Update!

$142,000..........October 2017
$134,237..........December 2017
$128,797..........January 2018 - updated after this month's snowball payment
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MEJG on January 28, 2018, 07:02:16 AM
12/31/17
Loan #1:  $24,241.81   @ 7.73%  required payment $200
Loan #2:  $17,133.55   @ 4%       required payment $105.57
Loan #3   $15501.47     @ 2.1%    required payment  $350

2018 Goal: 
Taxable offset at >$5000 invested at vanguard
#1 down to < $18,000

1/28/17 update
Loan #1:  $24,151.20   @ 7.73% 
Loan #2:  $17,085.10   @ 4%       
Loan #3   $14,830.05   @ 2.1%   

Total: $56,066.35  down $810.45

2018 Goal: 
Taxable offset at >$5000:  $200 set aside
#1 down to < $18,000:      $6,151.20 to go
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: appleseed on January 30, 2018, 08:39:24 AM
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!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: BluePhoenix75 on January 30, 2018, 06:00:12 PM
Car is paid off as of today!
It’s nice to have an entire debt item crossed off the ledger and an additional $300 per month in cash flow.

Congrats! Bet is rides nice and smooth now!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: minimos on February 01, 2018, 04:09:33 PM
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

Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Slow&Steady on February 02, 2018, 07:25:54 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.

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
       
         12/31/18 = $0 (Goal)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: sweetkerryline on February 02, 2018, 09:16:52 AM
February 2018 Update

Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Total Current Debt: $11,405.63 $9,735.82 $8,546.87
Monthly Payment [Monthly Payment Goal] (Required Payment): $1,153.86 [$1,000] ($218.50, $153.86) (Monthly Payment Goal Met)
Total 2018 Payments: $2,854.36

January 2018 Update

Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Total Current Debt: $11,405.63 $9,735.82
Monthly Payment [Monthly Payment Goal] (Required Payment): $1,700.50 [$1,000] ($218.50) (Monthly Payment Goal Met)
Total 2018 Payments: $1,700.50

It's 2018 y'all and time to get cracking on getting rid of our student loans. 2017 was a promising year and I'd like to keep up my momentum.

Background: Lawyer, Graduated in 2013
Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Background: Full Scholarship for Law School (But Cost of Living; Interest) and Near Full Scholarship from Undergrad; Refinanced with SoFi in very late 2013 (3.31%; now 4.025%) and got serious about repaying Loans in 2016.
Total Current Debt: $11,405.63
Required Payment: $206.31
2017 Payments: From $39,919.00 to $11,405.63

2018 Goals: Pay off the remaining 11,405.63 student loans by my birthday (November)
, as they are variable rate loans, by:
(1) Paying a minimum of $1000/month;
(2) using performance bonus (if any) to pay down student loans;
(3) continuing to liquidate non-efficient investments and use proceeds to pay down student loans; I was previously restricted from selling certain assets due to my job.

What are your goals for 2018?
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Clara Smith on February 03, 2018, 01:25:37 AM
these are some company. IT companies that give loans to students but after graduation, they have to work for their company. In short, they invest in intelligent students. :)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: JustGettingStarted1980 on February 03, 2018, 07:21:54 AM
Reposted from 2017 Edition of Student Loan Challenge

Originally in 2008 >$270,000 in student debt between my wife and I
After 9.5 Years -->    PAID OFF on 2/1/18 

Dug into the E-Fund to pay off the last $15,807 this week. Very very very satisfying. Went to a nice dinner with the wife (and no kids!) to properly celebrate. It's great to be able to move on from this stage!

JGS
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on February 03, 2018, 08:12:07 AM
Reposted from 2017 Edition of Student Loan Challenge

Originally in 2008 >$270,000 in student debt between my wife and I
After 9.5 Years -->    PAID OFF on 2/1/18 

Dug into the E-Fund to pay off the last $15,807 this week. Very very very satisfying. Went to a nice dinner with the wife (and no kids!) to properly celebrate. It's great to be able to move on from this stage!

JGS
congratulations for getting the student loan debt monster slain
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: appleseed on February 03, 2018, 08:48:47 AM
Reposted from 2017 Edition of Student Loan Challenge

Originally in 2008 &gt;$270,000 in student debt between my wife and I
After 9.5 Years --&gt;    PAID OFF on 2/1/18 

Dug into the E-Fund to pay off the last $15,807 this week. Very very very satisfying. Went to a nice dinner with the wife (and no kids!) to properly celebrate. It's great to be able to move on from this stage!

JGS
You are an inspiration!! Congratulations!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: EndInSight on February 03, 2018, 09:51:42 AM
Hello, this is my first post! I found MMM in 2013/14 when I joined the work force and the reality of my student loan situation finally hit me.  When I came out of my veterinary residency program the summer of 2013 I had about $300k in student loan debt.  The debt continued to rise even as I made my monthly payments.  With the help of info I found on MMM, I refinanced, sold stuff, made changes to live as frugally as possible, quit my job and left the area for a higher paying one (I now make 3 times what I made previously)...and the loans are now at about $129k.

I recently decided that I would love to have the loans paid off as a 40th birthday present to myself.  That gives me 16 months.  I think this will be a huge stretch (I am also starting a side business), but a worthy goal.  It probably makes more financial sense to place more funds into investments instead of student loans...but I figure, it's only 16 months, and this will make me feel SO much better, and really feel like a huge accomplishment, so I'm going to try to do it.

One piece of the puzzle is to refinance further with First Republic Bank - I wanted to share this with all of you because I think it could be very helpful.  They are offering a fixed rate refi for student loans: 5-15 years, 1.95 to 2.95%.  You need (I believe) a 750 credit score, have to live near a First Republic branch, need to open a checking account, have $3k in it at all times and have your work set up a direct deposit into the account (not sure what the situation is for self-employed folk), and have 15% liquidity (401k doesn't count)...yeah, lots of requirements, but the rates are excellent.

Hope some of you (and me) can take advantage of this. 

Good luck to all of us!!!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on February 06, 2018, 08:38:43 PM
2/1/18 - $87,728 .74 @2.57% variable rate
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Slow&Steady on February 07, 2018, 07:11:35 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.

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
       
         12/31/18 = $0 (Goal)

So I did some forward looking budgets the other day.  Assuming everything goes as planned with baby and maternity leave, I should be able to make a $4k payment in July and just around a $3k payment in Aug. and several other smaller extra payments in the 2nd half of the year!  I am really excited to see this debt disappear, now if I could just stop wishing away half the year just to get to this point.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: BluePhoenix75 on February 10, 2018, 12:38:07 PM
Update!

$142,000..........October 2017
$134,237..........December 2017
$128,797..........January 2018 - updated after this month's snowball payment


Update!

$142,000..........October 2017
$134,237..........December 2017
$128,797..........January 2018
$126,976..........February 2018  - 1/2 of February snowball thrown!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: palebluedot on February 11, 2018, 09:46:51 PM

Welcome back everyone! Happy to say this will be my last year participating in the student loan challenge. I will be done in the fall, just about 3 years after finishing school in 2015 @ total debt of ~22k.

Update for January payment total $750:

(https://i.imgur.com/pMieHxk.jpg)

My February payments are posted.

(https://i.imgur.com/FZLvUgW.png)

I'll be receiving a tax refund (Meh I need to adjust my withholdings/allowances) check in a few weeks. I'll be putting another dent on my loans from that.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: sweetkerryline on February 13, 2018, 12:08:06 PM
You are all killing it during Q1! Let's keep up the momentum and throw our refunds, bonuses and miscellaneous dollars at these loans. Good luck!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: tanzee on February 15, 2018, 05:25:44 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. 
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: tanzee on February 15, 2018, 05:27:18 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!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Jeff K on February 15, 2018, 07:20:37 AM
As of today here's what I've got:

$39,661 @ 3.99% (fixed)
$4663 @ 3.75% (variable)

Started with around 107k at the beginning of last year and hoping to finally kill them off this year!  Strategy has been to eliminate the variable loans first and then tackle the large fixed rate one.  The fixed rate one is a consolidated refi of 6 different federal loans that originally had 6.55-6.8% rates.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: recklesslysober on February 15, 2018, 03:31:53 PM
$1,400 principal paid so far / $40,000 = 3.5%

$3,900/$40,000 = 9.75%
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Jim Fiction on February 18, 2018, 02:55:56 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?
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on February 18, 2018, 03:15:12 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?
I did my taxes thinking about how awesome it would be to get the returns and make extra student loan payments. Mustachian problems including waiting for the state and federal returns so I can make extra student loan payments.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Jim Fiction on February 18, 2018, 03:39:24 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?
I did my taxes thinking about how awesome it would be to get the returns and make extra student loan payments. Mustachian problems including waiting for the state and federal returns so I can make extra student loan payments.

I know the feeling, though this year my wife and I owe around $1,000 between Fed and State. They're prepared and ready to go, I just I have actually filed them yet - been too busy preparing other people's taxes to bother! (I'm a tax accountant).
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on February 18, 2018, 03:52:30 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?
I did my taxes thinking about how awesome it would be to get the returns and make extra student loan payments. Mustachian problems including waiting for the state and federal returns so I can make extra student loan payments.

I know the feeling, though this year my wife and I owe around $1,000 between Fed and State. They're prepared and ready to go, I just I have actually filed them yet - been too busy preparing other people's taxes to bother! (I'm a tax accountant).

Ah.  Fun.  Because of the way my pay was last year (big quarterly payments compared to the regular paychecks), my quarterly payments were withheld at rates that assumed every pay check was that size.  As a result, my return is a few thousand dollars (much larger than its ever been).
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Jim Fiction on February 18, 2018, 04:05:17 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?
I did my taxes thinking about how awesome it would be to get the returns and make extra student loan payments. Mustachian problems including waiting for the state and federal returns so I can make extra student loan payments.

I know the feeling, though this year my wife and I owe around $1,000 between Fed and State. They're prepared and ready to go, I just I have actually filed them yet - been too busy preparing other people's taxes to bother! (I'm a tax accountant).

Ah.  Fun.  Because of the way my pay was last year (big quarterly payments compared to the regular paychecks), my quarterly payments were withheld at rates that assumed every pay check was that size.  As a result, my return is a few thousand dollars (much larger than its ever been).

Interesting, you would think whomever did your payroll would have adjusted that.

As for my tax bill, I don't mind too much as its not that big a number. Plus, I mocked out our taxes back in late October and things wound up almost spot on so there was no shock. A refund would be nice, so that I could put that money towards paying off the loans, but I've had the money the whole time and that's what I've been using it for, so no complaints here!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on February 18, 2018, 05:10:46 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?
I did my taxes thinking about how awesome it would be to get the returns and make extra student loan payments. Mustachian problems including waiting for the state and federal returns so I can make extra student loan payments.

I know the feeling, though this year my wife and I owe around $1,000 between Fed and State. They're prepared and ready to go, I just I have actually filed them yet - been too busy preparing other people's taxes to bother! (I'm a tax accountant).

Ah.  Fun.  Because of the way my pay was last year (big quarterly payments compared to the regular paychecks), my quarterly payments were withheld at rates that assumed every pay check was that size.  As a result, my return is a few thousand dollars (much larger than its ever been).

Interesting, you would think whomever did your payroll would have adjusted that.

As for my tax bill, I don't mind too much as its not that big a number. Plus, I mocked out our taxes back in late October and things wound up almost spot on so there was no shock. A refund would be nice, so that I could put that money towards paying off the loans, but I've had the money the whole time and that's what I've been using it for, so no complaints here!
. It’s basically the way ADP does their default payroll services plan for small business.  Plus, it’s really a no harm, no foul situation since it’s easier to spend a windfall properly versus spending smaller amounts spread over time.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: sweetkerryline on February 19, 2018, 01:42:53 PM
February 2018 Update (Part 2)

Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Total Current Debt: $11,405.63 $9,735.82 $8,546.87 $5,567.08
Monthly Payment [Monthly Payment Goal] (Required Payment): $4,053.86 [$1,000] ($218.50, $153.86) (Monthly Payment Goal Met)

Total 2018 Payments: $6,854.36

Details: This month I got an unexpected tax refund due to overpaying into Medicare (mid-year job change) and I put about $3,000 of that into my loans in addition to my usual payments. It's now looking like I might finish closer to July than November, which is nice.

The only weird thing about my loan is that it is a SoFi loan and SoFi provides me with a no-cost access to a roboadvisor as long as I have the loan outstanding. I am trying to decide at what point to stop paying the loans down more than is necessary. Or if, given that its a variable rate loan, I should just pay it all the way off and then shift my money back into a Vanguard account. We'll see.

February 2018 Update

Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Total Current Debt: $11,405.63 $9,735.82 $8,546.87
Monthly Payment [Monthly Payment Goal] (Required Payment): $1,153.86 [$1,000] ($218.50, $153.86) (Monthly Payment Goal Met)
Total 2018 Payments: $2,854.36

January 2018 Update

Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Total Current Debt: $11,405.63 $9,735.82
Monthly Payment [Monthly Payment Goal] (Required Payment): $1,700.50 [$1,000] ($218.50) (Monthly Payment Goal Met)
Total 2018 Payments: $1,700.50

It's 2018 y'all and time to get cracking on getting rid of our student loans. 2017 was a promising year and I'd like to keep up my momentum.

Background: Lawyer, Graduated in 2013
Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Background: Full Scholarship for Law School (But Cost of Living; Interest) and Near Full Scholarship from Undergrad; Refinanced with SoFi in very late 2013 (3.31%; now 4.025%) and got serious about repaying Loans in 2016.
Total Current Debt: $11,405.63
Required Payment: $206.31
2017 Payments: From $39,919.00 to $11,405.63

2018 Goals: Pay off the remaining 11,405.63 student loans by my birthday (November)
, as they are variable rate loans, by:
(1) Paying a minimum of $1000/month;
(2) using performance bonus (if any) to pay down student loans;
(3) continuing to liquidate non-efficient investments and use proceeds to pay down student loans; I was previously restricted from selling certain assets due to my job.

What are your goals for 2018?
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on February 19, 2018, 02:52:15 PM
February 2018 Update (Part 2)

Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Total Current Debt: $11,405.63 $9,735.82 $8,546.87 $5,567.08
Monthly Payment [Monthly Payment Goal] (Required Payment): $4,053.86 [$1,000] ($218.50, $153.86) (Monthly Payment Goal Met)

Total 2018 Payments: $6,854.36

Details: This month I got an unexpected tax refund due to overpaying into Medicare (mid-year job change) and I put about $3,000 of that into my loans in addition to my usual payments. It's now looking like I might finish closer to July than November, which is nice.

The only weird thing about my loan is that it is a SoFi loan and SoFi provides me with a no-cost access to a roboadvisor as long as I have the loan outstanding. I am trying to decide at what point to stop paying the loans down more than is necessary. Or if, given that its a variable rate loan, I should just pay it all the way off and then shift my money back into a Vanguard account. We'll see.

February 2018 Update

Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Total Current Debt: $11,405.63 $9,735.82 $8,546.87
Monthly Payment [Monthly Payment Goal] (Required Payment): $1,153.86 [$1,000] ($218.50, $153.86) (Monthly Payment Goal Met)
Total 2018 Payments: $2,854.36

January 2018 Update

Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Total Current Debt: $11,405.63 $9,735.82
Monthly Payment [Monthly Payment Goal] (Required Payment): $1,700.50 [$1,000] ($218.50) (Monthly Payment Goal Met)
Total 2018 Payments: $1,700.50

It's 2018 y'all and time to get cracking on getting rid of our student loans. 2017 was a promising year and I'd like to keep up my momentum.

Background: Lawyer, Graduated in 2013
Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Background: Full Scholarship for Law School (But Cost of Living; Interest) and Near Full Scholarship from Undergrad; Refinanced with SoFi in very late 2013 (3.31%; now 4.025%) and got serious about repaying Loans in 2016.
Total Current Debt: $11,405.63
Required Payment: $206.31
2017 Payments: From $39,919.00 to $11,405.63

2018 Goals: Pay off the remaining 11,405.63 student loans by my birthday (November)
, as they are variable rate loans, by:
(1) Paying a minimum of $1000/month;
(2) using performance bonus (if any) to pay down student loans;
(3) continuing to liquidate non-efficient investments and use proceeds to pay down student loans; I was previously restricted from selling certain assets due to my job.

What are your goals for 2018?

You know, I have similar qualms about those last few payments when I get to where you are.  The big student loan paid at rapid speed has made my credit score into the race for perfect credit due to credit utilization ratios.  No joke, it increases every 2-3 months and is well above 800 now.  When I pay off that loan, my credit score will likely drop hard because I will have very little on credit at all.   A small 0% interest car loan from a modest car, and two relatively low limit credit cards.  I'm not planning on buying a house before I pay off the student loans so there will be no big additions in the meantime. 

I question whether to pay the last 15k rapidly or whether I should pay at the normal rate so that I ultimately qualify for the best possible rate on a mortgage when I buy a house.  Ultimately, I think I'm going to just pay it off though.  Like yours, my student loan has a variable rate.  I'm willing to bet the rates will continue to climb for a while so paying sooner has the added benefits.  I'd rather pay this off and then start pumping the freed up cash flow into a taxable investment account and my savings account for a house.  Once my student loans are paid off, I want to increase my cash position to $120,000.00 before I buy a house. 
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Jim Fiction on February 21, 2018, 08:29:17 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

February payments are in the books:

Loan 1: $411 $362 @ 0.40%
Loan 2: $2,768 $2,681 @ 2.15%
Loan 3: $10,941 $9,417 @ 4.50%

Total: $14,120 $12,460

Hit sub-10k on loan 3!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: comicguy on February 22, 2018, 05:27:16 AM
Worked out tails off to try and pay off the last of my student loans in 2017 but just fell short by 900. So in Jan made a 600 payment and last week paid off the balance!! woohoo!! Feels good to have that gone! Just waiting for the payoff letter to make it official.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: sweetkerryline on February 22, 2018, 08:19:39 AM
Worked out tails off to try and pay off the last of my student loans in 2017 but just fell short by 900. So in Jan made a 600 payment and last week paid off the balance!! woohoo!! Feels good to have that gone! Just waiting for the payoff letter to make it official.

Congratulations!!! We are so excited for you! I look forward to hearing what you turn your focus toward.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on February 22, 2018, 12:07:28 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).
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone on February 23, 2018, 08:27:11 PM
Starting Balance  : 27,416
January Balance  : 25,831

February Balance : 24,047

I got my tax return and should get my bonus next week. I was all excited to make a big extra payment at the end of February. And then some bonus sewage backed up into our basement! I must have some serious gravitas this month. :) So Im in a holding pattern until we figure out how extensive the repairs need to be. Crossing my fingers most of this money can still go to student loans! Also very glad for frugal habits that make unexpected expenses much less stressful!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone on February 23, 2018, 08:29:38 PM
February 2018 Update (Part 2)

Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Total Current Debt: $11,405.63 $9,735.82 $8,546.87 $5,567.08


Congrats Sweetkerryline! You're so close!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone on February 23, 2018, 08:31:40 PM
Worked out tails off to try and pay off the last of my student loans in 2017 but just fell short by 900. So in Jan made a 600 payment and last week paid off the balance!! woohoo!! Feels good to have that gone! Just waiting for the payoff letter to make it official.

Congratulations!!! We are so excited for you! I look forward to hearing what you turn your focus toward.

Way to go, Comicguy!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: sweetkerryline on February 25, 2018, 12:11:57 AM
February 2018 Update (Part 2)

Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Total Current Debt: $11,405.63 $9,735.82 $8,546.87 $5,567.08


Congrats Sweetkerryline! You're so close!

Thank you! You are getting close as well I see. Great use of the tax refund!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: palebluedot on February 26, 2018, 07:35:23 PM

My February payments are posted.

(https://i.imgur.com/FZLvUgW.png)

I'll be receiving a tax refund (Meh I need to adjust my withholdings/allowances) check in a few weeks. I'll be putting another dent on my loans from that.

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.

(https://i.imgur.com/uSHYGXl.png)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on February 27, 2018, 06:49:34 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: sweetkerryline on February 28, 2018, 06:36:46 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.

:)


February 2018 Update (Part 2)

Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Total Current Debt: $11,405.63 $9,735.82 $8,546.87 $5,567.08
Monthly Payment [Monthly Payment Goal] (Required Payment): $4,053.86 [$1,000] ($218.50, $153.86) (Monthly Payment Goal Met)

Total 2018 Payments: $6,854.36

Details: This month I got an unexpected tax refund due to overpaying into Medicare (mid-year job change) and I put about $3,000 of that into my loans in addition to my usual payments. It's now looking like I might finish closer to July than November, which is nice.

The only weird thing about my loan is that it is a SoFi loan and SoFi provides me with a no-cost access to a roboadvisor as long as I have the loan outstanding. I am trying to decide at what point to stop paying the loans down more than is necessary. Or if, given that its a variable rate loan, I should just pay it all the way off and then shift my money back into a Vanguard account. We'll see.

January 2018 Update

Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Total Current Debt: $11,405.63 $9,735.82
Monthly Payment [Monthly Payment Goal] (Required Payment): $1,700.50 [$1,000] ($218.50) (Monthly Payment Goal Met)
Total 2018 Payments: $1,700.50

It's 2018 y'all and time to get cracking on getting rid of our student loans. 2017 was a promising year and I'd like to keep up my momentum.

Background: Lawyer, Graduated in 2013
Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Background: Full Scholarship for Law School (But Cost of Living; Interest) and Near Full Scholarship from Undergrad; Refinanced with SoFi in very late 2013 (3.31%; now 4.025%) and got serious about repaying Loans in 2016.
Total Current Debt: $11,405.63
Required Payment: $206.31
2017 Payments: From $39,919.00 to $11,405.63

2018 Goals: Pay off the remaining 11,405.63 student loans by my birthday (November)
, as they are variable rate loans, by:
(1) Paying a minimum of $1000/month;
(2) using performance bonus (if any) to pay down student loans;
(3) continuing to liquidate non-efficient investments and use proceeds to pay down student loans; I was previously restricted from selling certain assets due to my job.

What are your goals for 2018?
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on February 28, 2018, 07:43:56 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.

:)


February 2018 Update (Part 2)

Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Total Current Debt: $11,405.63 $9,735.82 $8,546.87 $5,567.08
Monthly Payment [Monthly Payment Goal] (Required Payment): $4,053.86 [$1,000] ($218.50, $153.86) (Monthly Payment Goal Met)

Total 2018 Payments: $6,854.36

Details: This month I got an unexpected tax refund due to overpaying into Medicare (mid-year job change) and I put about $3,000 of that into my loans in addition to my usual payments. It's now looking like I might finish closer to July than November, which is nice.

The only weird thing about my loan is that it is a SoFi loan and SoFi provides me with a no-cost access to a roboadvisor as long as I have the loan outstanding. I am trying to decide at what point to stop paying the loans down more than is necessary. Or if, given that its a variable rate loan, I should just pay it all the way off and then shift my money back into a Vanguard account. We'll see.

January 2018 Update

Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Total Current Debt: $11,405.63 $9,735.82
Monthly Payment [Monthly Payment Goal] (Required Payment): $1,700.50 [$1,000] ($218.50) (Monthly Payment Goal Met)
Total 2018 Payments: $1,700.50

It's 2018 y'all and time to get cracking on getting rid of our student loans. 2017 was a promising year and I'd like to keep up my momentum.

Background: Lawyer, Graduated in 2013
Debt at Graduation: Law School (Around $90,000); Undergraduate (Around $15,000)
Background: Full Scholarship for Law School (But Cost of Living; Interest) and Near Full Scholarship from Undergrad; Refinanced with SoFi in very late 2013 (3.31%; now 4.025%) and got serious about repaying Loans in 2016.
Total Current Debt: $11,405.63
Required Payment: $206.31
2017 Payments: From $39,919.00 to $11,405.63

2018 Goals: Pay off the remaining 11,405.63 student loans by my birthday (November)
, as they are variable rate loans, by:
(1) Paying a minimum of $1000/month;
(2) using performance bonus (if any) to pay down student loans;
(3) continuing to liquidate non-efficient investments and use proceeds to pay down student loans; I was previously restricted from selling certain assets due to my job.

What are your goals for 2018?
[/quote]
[/quote]

Congrats Sweetkerryline!  That’s awesome news.  Will we be seeing you in one of the “race to x net worth” threads?
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: sweetkerryline on February 28, 2018, 07:48:56 PM
Probably. I think I'm at ~$123,000 but I'm also thinking of buying a house. I'll jump into the under $250,000 here shortly.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: imadandylion on February 28, 2018, 08:47:36 PM
Congratulations Sweetkerryline! That's amazing and very inspiring!  I am not a lawyer, but my significant other is and his student loan debt totals 209k currently. :/ Seeing these stories give me hope for him!

For me, I started off with around 32k four years ago when I graduated.  The main hindrance was that I didn't find a great full time job with benefits until 2 years ago (but worked several low-paying entry level or part-time jobs, once employed at 3 part time jobs at the same time :/ not a good time for me!), so for a while I was just trying to get by and pay rent while keeping up with the minimum payments.

I just drained my savings account to a little over 1k to pay some small loans that were at 5% and 5.7 %, so now I have just $21,800 (a bundle of loans around 3%) to go!

My plan is to pay this down aggressively. Best case scenario is 14 months, which is late April 2019), but that may get delayed into May or even June if I need to budget for something else.  It would go a lot faster if I didn't contribute to my 401k, but it is important to me that I do that.  I've been trying to figure out a feasible way to generate additional income on the side for a while now but not having any "luck" so far. :(  I thought I might do Amazon FBA but have been having issues signing up with them. Should contact them again soon about this.

The best additional source of income is for me to get licensed in my profession and thus get a new title and a raise.  Hopefully that will happen in the next couple months, after I take (and pass!) my exams. Mid-year and holiday bonuses this year should help make a dent, too.  Trying to stay positive!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Slow&Steady on March 01, 2018, 07:38:04 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.

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         

         12/31/18 = $0 (Goal)

I am very jealous of those that are putting good chunks of money towards SLs.  I really really want to but am trying to leave that money in savings for "just in case" until baby gets here and maternity leave is over.

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!!!

Now a MMM people problem, who is going to start the challenge next year?  I don't plan to be around next year either but somebody will have to start it!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: sweetkerryline on March 01, 2018, 07:42:17 AM
Lol. I just took it over last year, so I'm sure someone new will step in to start the thread and encourage others. Alternatively, we can also just make this the "Pay off my Student Loan Challenge."
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: ontheroaderic on March 01, 2018, 09:13:25 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)

Back for 2018, will be the last time! So close. It’s annual recertification time for my wife’s student loans so we cut the payment back to the minimum to show a higher balance but as soon as her payment is recalculated we’ll finish mine - in a hurry! My wife’s loans are another story, she’s on the PSLF plan so our strategy there is to show as little income as possible and maximize the forgiveness (5 years to go). We filed MFS this year and that’s going to really help (payment should drop from $826 to $100).
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: palebluedot on March 01, 2018, 07:22:29 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: sweetkerryline 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Jim Fiction 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!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: JustGettingStarted1980 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!!!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: leverage 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: tanzee 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)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: tanzee 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. 
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: tanzee 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!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Ms. Maggie on March 08, 2018, 10:09:01 AM
A huge congratulations to Sweetkerryline!! What an amazing success. Hope you're enjoying the freedom!

Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: sweetkerryline 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!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: sweetkerryline 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: ontheroaderic 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: haypug16 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: imadandylion 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile 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?
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile 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?
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: palebluedot 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.

(https://i.imgur.com/uSHYGXl.png)

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

(https://i.imgur.com/PAsG8Ue.png)

And congrats to ontheroaderic, astounding job!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile 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.

(https://i.imgur.com/uSHYGXl.png)

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

(https://i.imgur.com/PAsG8Ue.png)

And congrats to ontheroaderic, astounding job!


You’re crushing it. 
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: appleseed 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&amp;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!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone 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!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Jim Fiction 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...
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Jim Fiction 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!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone on March 15, 2018, 10:30:36 PM
Starting Balance  : 27,416
January Balance  : 25,831
February Balance : 24,047

March Balance     : 22,198
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: tanzee 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!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: BluePhoenix75 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
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: recklesslysober 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
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: zeli2033 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: zeli2033 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: tanzee 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. 
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: tanzee 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
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: BluePhoenix75 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: zeli2033 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)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile 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?
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: haypug16 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

Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: minimos 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 :)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: appleseed 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Ms. Maggie 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%
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Slow&Steady 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!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: appleseed on April 13, 2018, 07:59:01 AM
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%
Congratulations!!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Jim Fiction on April 14, 2018, 12:48:28 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: $312 $262 @ 0.40%
Loan 2: $2,592 $2,504 @ 2.15%
Loan 3: $7,859 $7,808 @ 4.50%

Total: $10,763 $10,574


Life comes at you fast... My wife gave birth to a baby girl on Wednesday, a full two months ahead of schedule. She is going to be in the the hospital for a few months and I have no idea what the medical bills are going to look like, so I am pausing my extra payments in order to build up my cash reserves. Need to examine my insurance plan to get a better idea.

The money is a small concern of course, the main priority is making sure our daughter is healthy and continues to develop and grow so that we can take her home.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on April 14, 2018, 06:12:57 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on April 14, 2018, 08:05:17 PM
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.

Marathon, not a sprint.

Don’t burn yourself out obsessing about it, it will drive you nuts.
I know easier said than done.

After this extra payment, I’ll have paid $40,000 this year so far
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on April 17, 2018, 05:36:45 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
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: zeli2033 on April 18, 2018, 07:22:58 AM
For the next 5 months, my payments won’t be as high as anticipated since my expenses will be a little higher until this fall. But shouldn’t impact my payoff goal by more than 1 month when it’s all set and done (payoff goal June 2019)

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)
4/18/18: $58,372 (-1,027)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on April 18, 2018, 10:25:30 AM
Quote from: MrUpwardlyMobile link=topic=85746.msg1974748#msg1974748 date=
$67,825.20 @2.88%.  I’m raising my monthly payment to $3,500.00
[/quote

$3500/mo is a good number ;)

Lol I’m going to try and be okay with it. 
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: recklesslysober on April 18, 2018, 01:10:28 PM
$86,700 January
$85,300 February
$81,800 March
$79,200 April

$10,000/$40,000 = 25% for 2018


Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: angelgirlgo on April 19, 2018, 06:03:11 AM
32000 in STL 4.35% auto pay with Earnest

Milestones
May 23000
August 15000
November 6000
Jan 2019 $0!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: birdman2003 on April 19, 2018, 09:02:46 AM
It feels amazing to not have a student loan payment since February of this year.  Keep on going everyone!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: tanzee on April 20, 2018, 04:59:21 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
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: AK on April 20, 2018, 08:03:04 PM
About 40K in grad loans remain @ 6.55%. The scheduled payoff is Jan 2022 but am planning to pay it off next month thanks to a good, healthy biz.

I have recently used some credit cards to buy gift of college gift cards to pay student loans and was able to get some awesome points. Besides credit card points / rewards, are there any other ways to gain from paying these off?
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: BluePhoenix75 on April 22, 2018, 06:08:04 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%

Only minimum payments this month ~115.5K remaining

-~102 student debt ~3%, ~3K monthly payment
-~9K DH’s loan at 4%, $500 monthly payment
-car is paid off
-3.5K on LOC, 4.99%, interest only min payment

Not a lot of progress this month, next month won’t be great either since my time off will affect paychecks for both months. I need the time off though. I’m only starting to learn to actually take time off and that I need to do it, even though it costs me a fortune.

Way to go!  Good progress so far this year!  You'll be recharged and ready to get back at it after your break!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: haypug16 on April 24, 2018, 10:37:05 AM
Every time I have a month where I can’t pay extra, I remind myself that even just paying the minimum $3500 is more than we typically spend in a month on everything else.

So true. A typically month I've been putting $1K towards SL but this past month I've been able to pay $3,800. I'm looking into May thinking OK what else can I throw at these loans and I'm sure it's not going be anywhere close to this month's number. I can say that each month the number continues to go down and even though I have $56K left I can see the finish line in the distance and it's getting closer every month.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: appleseed on April 25, 2018, 10:20:41 AM
How's everyone doing? Just saw your post and didn't see any follow up. Hoping everyone is doing as well as can be.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: vertkurt on April 27, 2018, 01:41:31 PM
New addition to this thread and am hesitant to even track any progress at all because of how daunting this will be...

270k loan at 7%

Salary=70k

This will be interesting if not impossible to pay off, but I'll give it a shot.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on April 27, 2018, 02:57:28 PM
New addition to this thread and am hesitant to even track any progress at all because of how daunting this will be...

270k loan at 7%

Salary=70k

This will be interesting if not impossible to pay off, but I'll give it a shot.

Welcome friend!  Based upon the debt load and income, I’m assuming you’re a young attorney or medical resident.  Am I right?
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: vertkurt on April 27, 2018, 08:29:16 PM
Veterinarian
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on April 28, 2018, 04:54:22 AM
Veterinarian

Ah I’m afraid I don’t know much about what specialty options you might have but you’re going to be paying between 15-20k per year in interest alone at your 7% interest rate.  Is there anyway you can boost your income or any prospect of refinancing those loans to a lower rate? Even getting the rate down to 5% would allow you to pay close to $5000 more toward principal.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: BluePhoenix75 on April 28, 2018, 10:32:58 AM
April is in the books!

$142,000..........October 2017
$134,237..........December 2017
$128,797..........January 2018
$125,966..........February 2018 
$110,751..........March 2018
$105,838..........April 2018

Gunning to be under 6 figures by the end of June!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: BluePhoenix75 on April 28, 2018, 10:35:52 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%

Only minimum payments this month ~115.5K remaining

-~102 student debt ~3%, ~3K monthly payment
-~9K DH’s loan at 4%, $500 monthly payment
-car is paid off
-3.5K on LOC, 4.99%, interest only min payment

Not a lot of progress this month, next month won’t be great either since my time off will affect paychecks for both months. I need the time off though. I’m only starting to learn to actually take time off and that I need to do it, even though it costs me a fortune.

Way to go!  Good progress so far this year!  You'll be recharged and ready to get back at it after your break!

Ugh.
Sadly no.

I’ve just had a nasty medical emergency, so I’m missing even more work :(

Shoot!!!!!!  As was said before, this a marathon not a sprint.  The toughest part is always the last few miles.  You can do it!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: vertkurt on April 30, 2018, 12:56:33 PM
Veterinarian

Ah I’m afraid I don’t know much about what specialty options you might have but you’re going to be paying between 15-20k per year in interest alone at your 7% interest rate.  Is there anyway you can boost your income or any prospect of refinancing those loans to a lower rate? Even getting the rate down to 5% would allow you to pay close to $5000 more toward principal.

Not much I can do. 70k is a pretty standard wage for Vets sadly. We carry the student loan burden of MD's without the pay. Similar to other professions like PHarmD and optometrists. Specializing would be another 3 years at even lower pay with, depending on the residency, around 150k salary once boarded and working. Refinance is an option when the loan is around 180k, but until then I have to pay the interest. Like I said it's basically impossible to pay it off.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on May 01, 2018, 05:51:40 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: appleseed on May 04, 2018, 07:18:46 AM
We are now under $20,000! I am so excited! Still my goal to get it under $10k by the end of the year, which means either an extra $700/month (we'll, $200-300 in addition to what I send extra) or I pay one of the 4 loans off at the end of the year ($2,000 ish). I am leaning towards the latter.

Too tired to update balances, but I'll try to come back later and edit to add them. I did realize with the interest increases lately that I was paying more on the 2 loans with the lower rates, and I need to switch my overpayment to the other service provider next month. Not sure how many months since I looked at the rates, but it's good to keep an eye on them.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: haypug16 on May 04, 2018, 07:40:20 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 ($3,814.33 paid off)

I threw all my extra money at this, bonus and tax refund. Plus now that Credit cards are paid off I'm throwing all the money that was going to that into SL. Not all months will be this good, more like a steady ~$1k.

$5,135.79/$10,000 paid off in 2018 (should exceed this number by a couple grand)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone on May 04, 2018, 09:59:05 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


Also - nice work, Haypug16!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone on May 04, 2018, 10:07:20 PM
We are now under $20,000! I am so excited! Still my goal to get it under $10k by the end of the year, which means either an extra $700/month (we'll, $200-300 in addition to what I send extra) or I pay one of the 4 loans off at the end of the year ($2,000 ish). I am leaning towards the latter.

Too tired to update balances, but I'll try to come back later and edit to add them. I did realize with the interest increases lately that I was paying more on the 2 loans with the lower rates, and I need to switch my overpayment to the other service provider next month. Not sure how many months since I looked at the rates, but it's good to keep an eye on them.

Congrats Appleseed! I've been waiting for this post. :) Nice work!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: appleseed on May 05, 2018, 07:39:50 AM
We are now under $20,000! I am so excited! Still my goal to get it under $10k by the end of the year, which means either an extra $700/month (we'll, $200-300 in addition to what I send extra) or I pay one of the 4 loans off at the end of the year ($2,000 ish). I am leaning towards the latter.

Too tired to update balances, but I'll try to come back later and edit to add them. I did realize with the interest increases lately that I was paying more on the 2 loans with the lower rates, and I need to switch my overpayment to the other service provider next month. Not sure how many months since I looked at the rates, but it's good to keep an eye on them.

Congrats Appleseed! I've been waiting for this post. :) Nice work!
Thanks! It's a great thing to see when I open up personal capital. It's funny because I've become focused on the first digit of each loan. Two are $4k and two are $5k. So let's get the $5ks down to $4ks and $4ks to 3s, etc. It's silly but motivates me.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Jim Fiction on May 14, 2018, 05:51:42 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

May payments are in the books:

Loan 1: $262 $212 @ 0.40%
Loan 2: $2,504 $2,415 @ 2.15%
Loan 3: $7,808 $7,254 @ 4.50%

Total: $10,574 $9,881


Life comes at you fast... My wife gave birth to a baby girl on Wednesday, a full two months ahead of schedule. She is going to be in the the hospital for a few months and I have no idea what the medical bills are going to look like, so I am pausing my extra payments in order to build up my cash reserves. Need to examine my insurance plan to get a better idea.

The money is a small concern of course, the main priority is making sure our daughter is healthy and continues to develop and grow so that we can take her home.

Really happy to see all of the progress everyone is making!

All of my May payments have been made, including an extra $500 payment towards loan three, which I made in spite of the looming medical bills mentioned in my previous post above. The extra payment brings me under $10,000 remaining! It is a pretty incredible feeling to hit that milestone, albeit a month later than previously hoped. I may continue making smaller payments ($500 vs $1,500), but we'll see how the next month unfolds. As for the rest of the year, loan one is still on pace to be eradicated in September simply by making the minimum payments (it is so tempting to knock out that last $212!) and I'd like to get the other two paid off by the end of the year, but those medical bills are such a massive unknown variable. Fortunately the hospital offers 4 year interest free payment plans, but without knowing what a final number is going to look like I can't commit to firm payday plan for the student loans and will simply take each month as it comes.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: anemisar on May 20, 2018, 08:49:44 PM

Not much I can do. 70k is a pretty standard wage for Vets sadly. We carry the student loan burden of MD's without the pay. Similar to other professions like PHarmD and optometrists. Specializing would be another 3 years at even lower pay with, depending on the residency, around 150k salary once boarded and working. Refinance is an option when the loan is around 180k, but until then I have to pay the interest. Like I said it's basically impossible to pay it off.

Hey vertkurt- I am a 2017 vet graduate making just about the same as you.  I am so happy to see a fellow vet on here thinking about how to pay it off...because so many of us feel hopeless about it, but we don't have to.   You can do it, especially if you live on 20K MMM style!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: shinn497 on May 21, 2018, 10:03:35 PM
I'm close to done with a balance of $5,453.82 @ 6.8%

I started the year at like 20k? And the loans were 25k when I started to rehab them. Almost done!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on May 22, 2018, 05:10:41 AM
I'm close to done with a balance of $5,453.82 @ 6.8%

I started the year at like 20k? And the loans were 25k when I started to rehab them. Almost done!

Why did you never refinance? 6.8% is high
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: shinn497 on May 22, 2018, 07:52:38 AM
Well, during my years after uni I was an idiot, stuck my head in the sand and didn't even pay attention. When I looked at them again, I started rehabilitation. During rehabilitation, I saved up 12k and paid it once they were in good standing. They rehabilitated in april at ~20k is. I fired the 12k missile to bring them down to 8k. And then I've payed off like ~3k to get them to their current levels.

From discovering them to now was a year. I am paying them off so quickly that rehabilitation isn't an issue. I mean I could save what, a couple hundred. Not really worth the hassle in my opinion. It was split into 4 loans and I paid off all but one after rehabilitation. So consolidation didn't make sense either.

As for why I rehabilitated, I had 5k worth of fees waived. So that was nice. My only regret was not saving more. I make enough that, in 10 months, I could have completely paid them off by now. Oh well. 
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: BluePhoenix75 on May 23, 2018, 07:25:42 AM
Woot!Woot! Passed a major milestone one month earlier than expected!

$142,000..........October 2017
$134,237..........December 2017
$128,797..........January 2018
$125,966..........February 2018 
$110,751..........March 2018
$105,838..........April 2018
$98,107............May 2018  UNDER $100K!!!!

Next milestone, $50K in reductions of the total,  is up next.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on May 23, 2018, 05:12:21 PM
Woot!Woot! Passed a major milestone one month earlier than expected!

$142,000..........October 2017
$134,237..........December 2017
$128,797..........January 2018
$125,966..........February 2018 
$110,751..........March 2018
$105,838..........April 2018
$98,107............May 2018  UNDER $100K!!!!

Next milestone, $50K in reductions of the total,  is up next.

Congrats. I broke 100k this year too. It feels amazing.  Although I celebrate every 10k as a bench mark now.  Being below 100k feels easy.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: BluePhoenix75 on May 25, 2018, 10:17:01 AM
Woot!Woot! Passed a major milestone one month earlier than expected!

$142,000..........October 2017
$134,237..........December 2017
$128,797..........January 2018
$125,966..........February 2018 
$110,751..........March 2018
$105,838..........April 2018
$98,107............May 2018  UNDER $100K!!!!

Next milestone, $50K in reductions of the total,  is up next.

Congrats. I broke 100k this year too. It feels amazing.  Although I celebrate every 10k as a bench mark now.  Being below 100k feels easy.

Thanks to both of you!  Glad to hear that being below $100k feels easy now. I'm hoping to feel the same thing!!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Finntastic on May 28, 2018, 07:12:38 AM
Will be paid of in June 2018

I think my total loan was somewhere around 40k and down to last 2 payments. Started paying back 10 years ago and about 400$ left. Last payment will be last day of June
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: shinn497 on May 31, 2018, 05:14:40 AM
$5,453.82 ............ May 15 2018
$4388.82 ............ May 31 2018
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: tanzee on May 31, 2018, 05:35:34 AM
LOL!  I just logged in to my account and it told me I don't have to make a payment until 2034!

It's a combination of being in school (ie having tiny mandatory payments) and being paid way ahead.  But it's still funny to see. 
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on June 01, 2018, 05:35:24 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.
$60,858.43 @2.97% interest rates continue to rise, but still under 3.25% that it would have been if it were fixed.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Finntastic on June 01, 2018, 06:57:48 PM
30th April 2018: 415$
30th May 2018: 182$
30th June 2018: 0$
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: tanzee on June 03, 2018, 05:19:21 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Slow&Steady on June 06, 2018, 12:20:13 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

         12/31/18 = $0 (Goal)

I am back at work!! We plan to make the min payment again in July and then splitting up the balance between Aug, Sept, and Oct.  Hoping to not have a student loan payment in NOV and forever going forward.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: haypug16 on June 06, 2018, 01:08:51 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
May 1st 2018 $56,074.38
June 1st 2018 $54,942.04 (paid off $1,132.34)

$6,268.13/$10,000 paid off in 2018 should have no trouble reaching my goal and there's a good chance I'll surpass it.

*ETA: Goal = Paid off in 40 more months. That doesn't sounds so bad right?
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Rustychase on June 09, 2018, 06:35:54 PM
Wow! It's so great to see other people wanting to actually annihilate their loans!

I have almost 30k from my undergraduate. Not sure where I will be financially yet, as I'm still out of the US and haven't found a new job yet, but my goal is to pay off about 5k this year, and not accrue more! AKA if I continue with my MA pay for it with assistantships or scholarships.

Good luck everyone! And can't wait to see the paid off posts from some of you guys (:
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Slow&Steady on June 11, 2018, 09:45:04 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

May payments are in the books:

Loan 1: $262 $212 @ 0.40%
Loan 2: $2,504 $2,415 @ 2.15%
Loan 3: $7,808 $7,254 @ 4.50%

Total: $10,574 $9,881


Life comes at you fast... My wife gave birth to a baby girl on Wednesday, a full two months ahead of schedule. She is going to be in the the hospital for a few months and I have no idea what the medical bills are going to look like, so I am pausing my extra payments in order to build up my cash reserves. Need to examine my insurance plan to get a better idea.

The money is a small concern of course, the main priority is making sure our daughter is healthy and continues to develop and grow so that we can take her home.

Really happy to see all of the progress everyone is making!

All of my May payments have been made, including an extra $500 payment towards loan three, which I made in spite of the looming medical bills mentioned in my previous post above. The extra payment brings me under $10,000 remaining! It is a pretty incredible feeling to hit that milestone, albeit a month later than previously hoped. I may continue making smaller payments ($500 vs $1,500), but we'll see how the next month unfolds. As for the rest of the year, loan one is still on pace to be eradicated in September simply by making the minimum payments (it is so tempting to knock out that last $212!) and I'd like to get the other two paid off by the end of the year, but those medical bills are such a massive unknown variable. Fortunately the hospital offers 4 year interest free payment plans, but without knowing what a final number is going to look like I can't commit to firm payday plan for the student loans and will simply take each month as it comes.

How is the baby doing?  My daughter was born March 23 (at term), I can't imagine how stressful it is to have a baby born a couple months early.  Hopefully her and your wife are getting healthy fast.  Congrats on the baby!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Jim Fiction on June 11, 2018, 04:41:54 PM


How is the baby doing?  My daughter was born March 23 (at term), I can't imagine how stressful it is to have a baby born a couple months early.  Hopefully her and your wife are getting healthy fast.  Congrats on the baby!

Congrats to you as well! Everyone is doing just fantastic. Baby has been home for a week now and overall the transition has gone rather smoothly. I can't wait to take off of work for a month so I can spend time at home with her.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone on June 11, 2018, 08:49:22 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
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: alphapi on June 12, 2018, 11:30:15 AM
Hi all - first post ever here (previous reader/lurker of course)!

I'm just getting started on this journey, but back in 2012 left grad school with $41,000. I had been planning on taking advantage of the PSLF, but recently I'm valuing professional AND financial flexibility sooner than my possible eligibility for that (5-6 years), so I'm taking charge. Down to $34,000 now, all from FAFSA at 6.55%. I've always been on the fence about the saving/paying argument, but with a lot of the strategies I've put in place I'm confident I'll be able to do both.

My goal this year is to have $15,000 in December 2018, and that will put me on track to kill off the rest by the end of 2019.
if you’re repaying, you should refinance those to a lower rate and save a couple thousand dollars you’d otherwise pay on interest.

Midyear update here: down to $22,400
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone on June 12, 2018, 08:48:13 PM
30th April 2018: 415$
30th May 2018: 182$
30th June 2018: 0$

Congrats, Finntastic!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: shinn497 on June 15, 2018, 06:28:42 AM
$5,453.82 ............ May 15 2018
$4388.82 ............ May 31 2018
$2900.00 ............ June  15 2018
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Jim Fiction on June 15, 2018, 10:19:22 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

June payments are in the books:

Loan 1: $212 $163 @ 0.40%
Loan 2: $2,415 $2,327 @ 2.15%
Loan 3: $7,254 $6,201 @ 4.50%

Total: $9,881 $8,691

Edging closer to the finish line. I'll be taking a month's paid leave in another week to be with my wife and the baby. During that time I intend to sell some stuff to generate some extra cash to throw at these. Really want to be done with them by the end of the year.

Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on June 15, 2018, 05:44:10 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

June payments are in the books:

Loan 1: $212 $163 @ 0.40%
Loan 2: $2,415 $2,327 @ 2.15%
Loan 3: $7,254 $6,201 @ 4.50%

Total: $9,881 $8,691

Edging closer to the finish line. I'll be taking a month's paid leave in another week to be with my wife and the baby. During that time I intend to sell some stuff to generate some extra cash to throw at these. Really want to be done with them by the end of the year.

I would probably just pay off loan one at this point for the mental boost if I was you.  It looks like you have maybe 2 payments. Probably easier to kill it in the next payment.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: shinn497 on June 15, 2018, 06:02:55 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

June payments are in the books:

Loan 1: $212 $163 @ 0.40%
Loan 2: $2,415 $2,327 @ 2.15%
Loan 3: $7,254 $6,201 @ 4.50%

Total: $9,881 $8,691

Edging closer to the finish line. I'll be taking a month's paid leave in another week to be with my wife and the baby. During that time I intend to sell some stuff to generate some extra cash to throw at these. Really want to be done with them by the end of the year.

I would probably just pay off loan one at this point for the mental boost if I was you.  It looks like you have maybe 2 payments. Probably easier to kill it in the next payment.
Yes put it out of its misery.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on June 15, 2018, 07:17:50 PM
$5,453.82 ............ May 15 2018
$4388.82 ............ May 31 2018
$2900.00 ............ June  15 2018

Killing it in the next payment?!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: shinn497 on June 15, 2018, 07:58:05 PM
$5,453.82 ............ May 15 2018
$4388.82 ............ May 31 2018
$2900.00 ............ June  15 2018

Killing it in the next payment?!

It will be done in august! Plan on doing 1000, 1500, 400!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: tanzee on June 16, 2018, 12:55:24 PM
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. 
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Jim Fiction on June 19, 2018, 06:35:42 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

June payments are in the books:

Loan 1: $212 $163 @ 0.40%
Loan 2: $2,415 $2,327 @ 2.15%
Loan 3: $7,254 $6,201 @ 4.50%

Total: $9,881 $8,691

Edging closer to the finish line. I'll be taking a month's paid leave in another week to be with my wife and the baby. During that time I intend to sell some stuff to generate some extra cash to throw at these. Really want to be done with them by the end of the year.

I would probably just pay off loan one at this point for the mental boost if I was you.  It looks like you have maybe 2 payments. Probably easier to kill it in the next payment.

The two of you are right, its small enough where putting the payment towards a higher interest loan will provide a negligible benefit in saved interest. When I am off from work next week I'll call my servicer and pay it off.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: DealingWithDreams on June 19, 2018, 06:46:50 AM
Hi there!

I currently have 2 large federal student loans. One is unsubsidized and on is subsidized. Each is at 4.5%
Does anyone have a calculator they use to see how I should allocate payments? (or does it even matter which type of loan...?)

Subsdized loan- $47,560.25
Unsubsidized- $62,602.35

Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Slow&Steady on June 19, 2018, 08:03:09 AM
Hi there!

I currently have 2 large federal student loans. One is unsubsidized and on is subsidized. Each is at 4.5%
Does anyone have a calculator they use to see how I should allocate payments? (or does it even matter which type of loan...?)

Subsdized loan- $47,560.25
Unsubsidized- $62,602.35

It mattered when you were in school or are still in school and if you plan to go back to school.  If you are don't I don't think it really matters anymore.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: DealingWithDreams on June 19, 2018, 07:52:10 PM
thank you!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: shinn497 on June 20, 2018, 01:09:56 PM
How you should do it matters based on your preferences. Personally I just like snowball.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone on June 20, 2018, 07:03:58 PM


How is the baby doing?  My daughter was born March 23 (at term), I can't imagine how stressful it is to have a baby born a couple months early.  Hopefully her and your wife are getting healthy fast.  Congrats on the baby!

Congrats to you as well! Everyone is doing just fantastic. Baby has been home for a week now and overall the transition has gone rather smoothly. I can't wait to take off of work for a month so I can spend time at home with her.

Glad to hear baby is home and everyone is well!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Jim Fiction on June 25, 2018, 05:55:17 PM


How is the baby doing?  My daughter was born March 23 (at term), I can't imagine how stressful it is to have a baby born a couple months early.  Hopefully her and your wife are getting healthy fast.  Congrats on the baby!

Congrats to you as well! Everyone is doing just fantastic. Baby has been home for a week now and overall the transition has gone rather smoothly. I can't wait to take off of work for a month so I can spend time at home with her.

Glad to hear baby is home and everyone is well!

Thank you!

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

June payments are in the books:

Loan 1: $212 $163  $0 @ 0.40%
Loan 2: $2,415 $2,327 @ 2.15%
Loan 3: $7,254 $6,201 @ 4.50%

Total: $9,881 $8,691 $8,528

Edging closer to the finish line. I'll be taking a month's paid leave in another week to be with my wife and the baby. During that time I intend to sell some stuff to generate some extra cash to throw at these. Really want to be done with them by the end of the year.

I would probably just pay off loan one at this point for the mental boost if I was you.  It looks like you have maybe 2 payments. Probably easier to kill it in the next payment.

The two of you are right, its small enough where putting the payment towards a higher interest loan will provide a negligible benefit in saved interest. When I am off from work next week I'll call my servicer and pay it off.

Loan one is officially dead!

Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Slow&Steady on June 26, 2018, 07:08:32 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.

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

         12/31/18 = $0 (Goal)

I am back at work!! We plan to make the min payment again in July and then splitting up the balance between Aug, Sept, and Oct.  Hoping to not have a student loan payment in NOV and forever going forward.

Small update:  We will be making the min payment in July as I predicted but I am now not sure if we will get to pay these off this year.  We had an unexpected expense on our rental (in another state and property manager has not had very good communication lately) that is just about equal to the balance on these loans.  I am happy we have the space in our finances to take care of the rental but kind of pissed off that we will need to replenish that fund before I can eliminate these loans.  I am still debate paying these off before replenishment of funds because I want these gone so bad.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: shinn497 on June 29, 2018, 01:47:51 AM
$5,453.82 ............ May 15 2018
$4388.82 ............ May 31 2018
$2900.00 ............ June  15 2018
$1900.00 ............ June  28 2018

ALMOST THERE
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: tanzee on June 29, 2018, 05:28:59 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
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: tanzee on June 29, 2018, 05:36:05 AM
$5,453.82 ............ May 15 2018
$4388.82 ............ May 31 2018
$2900.00 ............ June  15 2018
$1900.00 ............ June  28 2018

ALMOST THERE

Exciting!  I'm looking forward to that feeling. 
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: shinn497 on June 29, 2018, 03:16:34 PM
YEAH I BELEIVE IN YOU GET IR DUN
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: minimos on June 30, 2018, 02:44:18 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!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Civex on June 30, 2018, 07:22:11 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on June 30, 2018, 08:12:05 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Finntastic on June 30, 2018, 09:18:04 PM
10 years after finished my studies I just paid the last student loan installment yesterday and the same day I applied for new Masters programme at local university. Will find out next week if I get in. If I do I might not need loand this time, we will see.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Slow&Steady on July 02, 2018, 08:41:04 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.

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 - Hmm, I might NEED to find $90 to put towards this so that it is under $7k.  That might make me feel better about the update that is below.

         12/31/18 = $0 (Goal)

Small update:  We made the min payment in July as I predicted but I am now not sure if we will get to pay these off this year.  We had an unexpected expense on our rental (in another state and property manager has not had very good communication lately) that is just about equal to the balance on these loans.  I am happy we have the space in our finances to take care of the rental but kind of pissed off that we will need to replenish that fund before I can eliminate these loans.  I am still debate paying these off before replenishment of funds because I want these gone so bad.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Jim Fiction on July 02, 2018, 12:39:25 PM
Paid off my loans last night! $140,000 in 39 months! Such an accomplishment that this message board made me realize wasn't too crazy. All while investing a similar amount with an income of $160,000.

Wow, that is tremendous! Congrats and Kudos on the hardwork!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Slow&Steady on July 03, 2018, 10:28:30 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.

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.

Small update:  We made the min payment in July as I predicted but I am now not sure if we will get to pay these off this year.  We had an unexpected expense on our rental (in another state and property manager has not had very good communication lately) that is just about equal to the balance on these loans.  I am happy we have the space in our finances to take care of the rental but kind of pissed off that we will need to replenish that fund before I can eliminate these loans.  I am still debate paying these off before replenishment of funds because I want these gone so bad.

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 - Hmm, I might NEED to find $90 to put towards this so that it is under $7k.  That might make me feel better about the update.
         07/03/18 = $6,991.53 - Could not resist getting it under $7K

         12/31/18 = $0 (Goal)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone on July 03, 2018, 07:57:57 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

         12/31/18 = $0 (Goal)

I am back at work!! We plan to make the min payment again in July and then splitting up the balance between Aug, Sept, and Oct.  Hoping to not have a student loan payment in NOV and forever going forward.

Small update:  We will be making the min payment in July as I predicted but I am now not sure if we will get to pay these off this year.  We had an unexpected expense on our rental (in another state and property manager has not had very good communication lately) that is just about equal to the balance on these loans.  I am happy we have the space in our finances to take care of the rental but kind of pissed off that we will need to replenish that fund before I can eliminate these loans.  I am still debate paying these off before replenishment of funds because I want these gone so bad.

I feel your pain. We have an out of state rental that enjoyed a sewage backup in February. If that hadn't happened I probably could have finished my loans by now. What can you do! Definitely easier to deal with unplanned expenses when the savings rate is high!

My strategy sounds pretty similar to yours. Pay the rental expense in cash. Continue making regular student loan payments while building back cash reserves. If it's not too scary, kill the student loans in one big payment once you've got the cash. Or if that's too scary, wait until you have an additional amount saved for rental expenses. I'm debating these last two options myself right now.

Best of luck! 
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone on July 03, 2018, 08:00:18 PM
10 years after finished my studies I just paid the last student loan installment yesterday and the same day I applied for new Masters programme at local university. Will find out next week if I get in. If I do I might not need loand this time, we will see.

Congrats!!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: appleseed on July 04, 2018, 06:58:56 AM
July update (looks like I missed June!)

DB1 - 4,465.27
DB2 - 4,743.16
N1 - 4,486.42
N2 - 3,919.61

Total - 17,614.46

The interest rate on DB loans went up to 3%, so I've switched my extra payment to those loans (2.625% on others). (Although I totally sent extra to navient to get that loan under 4k!) The rising interest rates are motivation to get them paid off ASAP. My goal is to get the total under 10k by the end of the year, which is doable. These are my husband's loans from 2004 and 2005, so it's really frustrating we're still paying on them.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: UnexpectedExpenseExpector on July 04, 2018, 11:35:37 PM
You guys all rock!  Crush these things and get them out of your lives!

A little back story.  My wife and I started married life in January 2014 with $131k of combined student loan debt and we have been aggressively paying these down.  Fast forward 4.5 years and 2(almost 3) children later we have just north of $34k remaining.  The end is in sight.  Going to start posting monthly with you all until these are gone!

Jul: 34,235.29
...
2018 Dec:   23,000 (GOAL)
2019 Jul: 0.00 (GOAL)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Slow&Steady on July 05, 2018, 07:32:51 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.

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

         12/31/18 = $0 (Goal)

I am back at work!! We plan to make the min payment again in July and then splitting up the balance between Aug, Sept, and Oct.  Hoping to not have a student loan payment in NOV and forever going forward.

Small update:  We will be making the min payment in July as I predicted but I am now not sure if we will get to pay these off this year.  We had an unexpected expense on our rental (in another state and property manager has not had very good communication lately) that is just about equal to the balance on these loans.  I am happy we have the space in our finances to take care of the rental but kind of pissed off that we will need to replenish that fund before I can eliminate these loans.  I am still debate paying these off before replenishment of funds because I want these gone so bad.

I feel your pain. We have an out of state rental that enjoyed a sewage backup in February. If that hadn't happened I probably could have finished my loans by now. What can you do! Definitely easier to deal with unplanned expenses when the savings rate is high!

My strategy sounds pretty similar to yours. Pay the rental expense in cash. Continue making regular student loan payments while building back cash reserves. If it's not too scary, kill the student loans in one big payment once you've got the cash. Or if that's too scary, wait until you have an additional amount saved for rental expenses. I'm debating these last two options myself right now.

Best of luck!

Ha, ours is a sewage problem too! We contacted a real estate agent to see what the market looks like for that house, the only reason we haven't sold it in the past is because we would have to come to the table with extra cash.  My guess is that we will hold onto the house for another year or two, we will see what price the realtor comes back with.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: haypug16 on July 10, 2018, 12:41:23 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 ($710.38 decrease)

6,978.51/10,000 paid off this year.

Chugging along. About $3K left to hit my goal this year. I think I'll actually come in around $12K for the year. I just can't wait to be done. My interest last month was like $240!!! 38 months to go.

Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on July 11, 2018, 07:44:01 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on July 12, 2018, 05:38:34 AM
$37,560.72 @3.10% I’ve paid about $70,000 toward this balance since January....insane.

That’s amazing.
Man, and you thought I was impressive, lol.

Thanks!  If I do Nothing more than make my normal triple monthly payments, I’ll be paid off in 10 months.  Alas,I wanna be done by the end of January...
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: zeli2033 on July 13, 2018, 08:34:32 AM
Happy to finally be posting in this thread again! Had a couple of spendy months this spring that had us just paying minimums for May and June (so basically nothing due to interest). Here's where we're at as of an extra payment just made:

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 (-2,246)

Hoping things can keep picking up due to a raise I just received and (fingerscrossed) another raise taking effect in a couple months for DH. Onward and upward!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone on July 13, 2018, 06:43:03 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

Threw just about all we had at it this month!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone on July 13, 2018, 08:23:08 PM

$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.

Amazing! You are killing it.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on July 14, 2018, 08:50:07 AM

$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.

Amazing! You are killing it.

Even still, my balance increases by $3.19 per day.  A little more than $.13 per hour. Just shy of $100 per month even now.  That’s tough to accept.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Jim Fiction on July 15, 2018, 08:49:43 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

July payments are in the books:

Loan 1: $0 @ 0.40% PAID OFF JUNE 2017
Loan 2: $2,327 $2,000 @ 2.15%
Loan 3: $6,201 $5,000 @ 4.50%

Total: $8,528 $7,000


I beefed up the payment on Loan 3 to get it to a rather appealing $5,000 and threw a little extra onto Loan 2 as well to get it to an even $2,000! Only $7,000 left!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Civex on July 18, 2018, 07:02:03 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)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: AK on July 18, 2018, 07:11:10 AM
Final payment made last week! Feel relieved to have them gone but rather meh / anti-climactic too.

Congrats on everyone else making steady progress! They'll be gone eventually.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Slow&Steady on July 18, 2018, 08:08:14 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.

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.

Small update:  We made the min payment in July as I predicted but I am now not sure if we will get to pay these off this year.  We had an unexpected expense on our rental (in another state and property manager has not had very good communication lately) that is just about equal to the balance on these loans.  I am happy we have the space in our finances to take care of the rental but kind of pissed off that we will need to replenish that fund before I can eliminate these loans.  I am still debating paying these off before replenishment of funds because I want these gone so bad.

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 - Hmm, I might NEED to find $90 to put towards this so that it is under $7k.  That might make me feel better about the update.
         07/03/18 = $6,991.53 - Could not resist getting it under $7K

         12/31/18 = $0 (Goal)


CONGRATS @AK!  I can not wait for my anti-climactic feeling.  I am sure it will be anti-climactic too, paying off all the other ones were at least.

I don't have a real update, next payment will not be until Aug.  However, we now have a plan to get be done with these in Dec of this year, even with the rental hiccup, that should be very easy to accomplish but hopefully our hiccups are all done for the year (there was another big one with the rental since my last update)!  The plan is to make $1600 payments the next 2 months and then splitting the remaining balance over the last 3 months of the year.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on July 18, 2018, 02:27:01 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%

~101.5K remaining

-~94K student debt ~3%, ~3K monthly payment
-loan is consolidated onto LOC
-car is paid off
-~7.2K on LOC 1, 4.99%, interest only min payment

The student debt is down, but the LOC is up a bit, so it's down only a net of 1K so far this month considering all of the added expenses, which are at least tax deductible. I'll be taking another unpaid 2 weeks off in September, so that will be a big hit to my progress as well.

You’re just plowing through this debt.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: OliveFI on July 19, 2018, 07:38:39 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!




Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: AK on July 21, 2018, 06:58:44 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.

Small update:  We made the min payment in July as I predicted but I am now not sure if we will get to pay these off this year.  We had an unexpected expense on our rental (in another state and property manager has not had very good communication lately) that is just about equal to the balance on these loans.  I am happy we have the space in our finances to take care of the rental but kind of pissed off that we will need to replenish that fund before I can eliminate these loans.  I am still debating paying these off before replenishment of funds because I want these gone so bad.

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 - Hmm, I might NEED to find $90 to put towards this so that it is under $7k.  That might make me feel better about the update.
         07/03/18 = $6,991.53 - Could not resist getting it under $7K

         12/31/18 = $0 (Goal)


CONGRATS @AK!  I can not wait for my anti-climactic feeling.  I am sure it will be anti-climactic too, paying off all the other ones were at least.

I don't have a real update, next payment will not be until Aug.  However, we now have a plan to get be done with these in Dec of this year, even with the rental hiccup, that should be very easy to accomplish but hopefully our hiccups are all done for the year (there was another big one with the rental since my last update)!  The plan is to make $1600 payments the next 2 months and then splitting the remaining balance over the last 3 months of the year.

Thanks
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: tanzee on July 24, 2018, 05:01:44 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

Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: tanzee on July 24, 2018, 04:13:39 PM
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?
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: tanzee on July 24, 2018, 08:16:38 PM
Take the money.

I literally can’t even...

Yeah...

Take the money.

:)  It's a philosophical exercise.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Plina on July 25, 2018, 12:20:24 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: tanzee on July 25, 2018, 04:27:43 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. 
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Sibley 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Slow&Steady 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: tanzee 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: tanzee 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$
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: JanetJackson 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!!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: zeli2033 on July 31, 2018, 07:23:06 AM
Yes, big congratulations @tanzee!! Enjoy breathing that fresh, student loan debt-free air :)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: haypug16 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. :)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Slow&Steady 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: haypug16 on July 31, 2018, 12:47:52 PM

Balance= 0$

!!!CONGRATS!!!!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: JanetJackson on July 31, 2018, 12:49:44 PM
I'm getting HECKIN AMPED on all of the successes here!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile 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)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Jim Fiction 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: minimos 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!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone 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!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: zeli2033 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile 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?
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: palebluedot 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.

(https://i.imgur.com/PAsG8Ue.png)

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!

(https://i.imgur.com/GVjHJsP.png)

And because graphs are awesome:
(https://i.imgur.com/1T1zmsP.png)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile 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.

(https://i.imgur.com/PAsG8Ue.png)

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!

(https://i.imgur.com/GVjHJsP.png)

And because graphs are awesome:
(https://i.imgur.com/1T1zmsP.png)
congratulations!  That must be awesome to feel the freedom from student loan debt.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: JanetJackson 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)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: zeli2033 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.

Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: zeli2033 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.

(https://i.imgur.com/PAsG8Ue.png)

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!

(https://i.imgur.com/GVjHJsP.png)

And because graphs are awesome:
(https://i.imgur.com/1T1zmsP.png)

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!! Well done, it's so motivating to see fellow loan slayers fighting their way out! Well done, enjoy the student-loan-debt FREEDOM.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile 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. 
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: UnexpectedExpenseExpector 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile 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,
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: UnexpectedExpenseExpector 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%.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Jim Fiction 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.

Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Jim Fiction 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: JanetJackson 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: OliveFI 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!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: zeli2033 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)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: DS 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
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone 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?
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Slow&Steady 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. 
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: JanetJackson 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: OliveFI 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!!!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Civex 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)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Slow&Steady 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!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Civex 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: JanetJackson 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.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Sibley on August 26, 2018, 06:34:48 PM
I scheduled the LAST payment on my student loan yesterday. Only 8 years early :)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: DS on August 27, 2018, 08:30:31 AM
I scheduled the LAST payment on my student loan yesterday. Only 8 years early :)

Woohoo congrats!!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: minimos 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!!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: haypug16 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
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile 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%
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile 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...
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: zeli2033 on September 05, 2018, 09:14:52 AM
End of August update:

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
9/5/18: $52,622 (-1199)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Jim Fiction on September 08, 2018, 10:59:20 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 2018
Loan 2: $1,911 $0 @ 2.15% PAID OFF SEPTEMBER 2018
Loan 3: $3,435 $0 @ 4.50% PAID OFF SEPTEMBER 2018


Total: $5,346 $0


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.

UPDATE: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Got paid from the new job earlier than expected, so done and done. Once I wipe my monthly credit cards expenses out I will be completely debt free. If you'll excuse me, I am going to go stare at the zero balances for awhile. :)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: zeli2033 on September 10, 2018, 07:55:28 AM
Congratulations, @Jim Fiction !! Enjoy staring at the zero balances and basking in your accomplishment!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: AK on September 10, 2018, 08:10:56 AM
Congrats Jim! How does it feel?
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: UnexpectedExpenseExpector on September 11, 2018, 12:29:08 AM
Jul: 34,235.29
Aug: 31,126.76
Sep: 30,670.30
...
2018 Dec:   23,000 (GOAL)
2019 Jul: 0.00 (GOAL)


Paying all the medical bills for Baby #3's arrival this month so just a small dent to these.  We're really looking forward to seeing that 3 in front go away.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Money Beets on September 16, 2018, 10:39:46 AM
I am new to the forums and happy to have some extra motivation to get rid of my student loan debt.  My original balance was around $135,000 when I graduated law school in 2014 and I have $45,275.29 remaining that I want to pay off by June 2020.  Currently, I am focusing all extra payments on a 6.55% interest loan with a $14,097.92 principal balance.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Sibley on September 16, 2018, 11:01:16 AM
Ugh. My "final" payment went through, but apparently I miscalculated and underpaid. By $0.04. SoFi won't let me do a payment online. Anyone know what their policy is when the balance is that small?
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Jim Fiction on September 16, 2018, 04:29:05 PM
Congratulations, @Jim Fiction !! Enjoy staring at the zero balances and basking in your accomplishment!

Thank you!

Congrats Jim! How does it feel?

Thanks! Still fairly surreal at this point, I assume it will really sink in next month when I don't have to make any payments.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: zeli2033 on September 18, 2018, 09:17:01 AM
Mid-September Update:

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
9/5/18: $52,622
9/18/18: $50,941 (-1681)

In other news, I knocked off 3 of the existing loans! Sure, they were the smallest ones at the highest interest rate BUT THEY ARE GONE. No more interest on those ever. Awesome.

The rest of the loans have larger balances so it will take a bit longer to see each one paid in full, but I'll be able to chase them down one by one.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Civex on September 19, 2018, 06:35:11 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.

Sept. 2018-$50,381 ($1250 monthly payment)
-Have some "extra" money coming in the form of a FSA withdrawal, so I think I'll get it under $50k this month!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: sweetkerryline on September 25, 2018, 03:02:17 PM
Ugh. My "final" payment went through, but apparently I miscalculated and underpaid. By $0.04. SoFi won't let me do a payment online. Anyone know what their policy is when the balance is that small?

They waive it! You can reach out to the customer service to confirm.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: appleseed on September 26, 2018, 12:52:55 PM
I've been neglecting to update on our progress. We're trying to get under $10k by the end of the year. Currently:

$3,579 - 3%
$3,402 - 3%
$4,036 -  2.625%
$3, 526 - 2.625%

All 4 will be under 4k after this month's payment. I've been adding between $500-700 extra each month. I'll need to do an additional $800 or so to meet the 2018 goal.

I'm still shooting for a June 2019 payoff.

Congratulations to all the finishers and everyone making progress. You are motivation to keep going!

Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Money Beets on September 29, 2018, 08:01:49 AM
Total Payments made in September = $2,130.70
End September targeted loan balance = $12,420.99
End September total balance = $43,635.49
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on September 30, 2018, 09:25:56 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)
$30,713.78 @3.08%
$27,291.54 @3.22% (interest rates jumping back up)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: haypug16 on October 01, 2018, 02:41:35 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
September 30th 2018 $51,851.38 (-851.45 decrease)

$9,358.79/$10,000 Goal

I'm able to put an additional $1,200 towards this debt this month so I should get under $50K which will be great. Only 35 more months to go :/
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: zeli2033 on October 02, 2018, 09:05:02 AM
End of September update:

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
9/5/18: $52,622
9/18/18: $50,941
10/2/18: $46,212 (-4,729)

DH got a bonus so we were able to put a significant payment toward the loan. We also killed off another loan, so we're down from 14 separate loans to 10. We're doing the avalanche method and paying the loans off that have the highest interest rates, from lowest to highest balance. And with a small bonus hopefully coming my way this month plus DH's raise which takes affect, I'm hoping we can accelerate the pay down even more. Excited to keep making more progress!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: haypug16 on October 02, 2018, 09:30:05 AM
End of September update:

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
9/5/18: $52,622
9/18/18: $50,941
10/2/18: $46,212 (-4,729)

DH got a bonus so we were able to put a significant payment toward the loan. We also killed off another loan, so we're down from 14 separate loans to 10. We're doing the avalanche method and paying the loans off that have the highest interest rates, from lowest to highest balance. And with a small bonus hopefully coming my way this month plus DH's raise which takes affect, I'm hoping we can accelerate the pay down even more. Excited to keep making more progress!

Nice month! I love being able to throw "Extra" money at my debt. It makes me feel so responsible :)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: zeli2033 on October 02, 2018, 09:43:42 AM
Thank you! And doesn't it though?!

It's wild to think that before MMM, I would have spent that money on who-knows-what and simply paid the minimum balance on my Student Loans. All with a plan of the government forgiving them eventually...

Who knew #adulting responsibly could be so fulfilling?
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Slow&Steady on October 08, 2018, 12:16:32 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.

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
         10/08/18 = $2542.75

         12/31/18 = $0 (Goal)

Sept was a really crazy month for work.  I had planned to make that payment at the end of the month to save a couple days of interest but this morning was the 1st free time I had to log in.  Hopefully 2 more payments and they I will be complete done with student loans!!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: UnexpectedExpenseExpector on October 10, 2018, 12:07:19 AM
Jul: 34,235.29
Aug: 31,126.76
Sep: 30,670.30
Oct: 29,554.17
...
2018 Dec:   23,000 (GOAL)
2019 Jul: 0.00 (GOAL)


Medical bills all paid off now.  Knocked out that silly 3 in front! Looking forward to turning the firehouse back at these for the rest of the year and into next year!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: imadandylion on October 12, 2018, 01:21:09 PM
I think back in February this year I posted I had $21,800 to go. Today I have $9,650 (2 student loans at 3%) remaining. Wish it could have been at $7k, but I had a couple licensing exams I didn't pass, so I had to pay to retake those (grr) and I had to pay for some professional affiliation membership fees, too. >:(  No one in the office ended up getting a mid-year bonus this year, so the hope is we all still get the end-of-the-year bonus, which would really help me out here. Kind of bummed about various things, I could have been much further along, but I'm still paying it down as much as I can, regardless.  I have not been able to do "side gigs" because of needing to spend time on studying. I don't have any other debt so at least I'm almost at the finish line, but it's frustrating nonetheless.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: ItsALongStory on October 13, 2018, 10:34:41 AM
I think back in February this year I posted I had $21,800 to go. Today I have $9,650 (2 student loans at 3%) remaining. Wish it could have been at $7k, but I had a couple licensing exams I didn't pass, so I had to pay to retake those (grr) and I had to pay for some professional affiliation membership fees, too. >:(  No one in the office ended up getting a mid-year bonus this year, so the hope is we all still get the end-of-the-year bonus, which would really help me out here. Kind of bummed about various things, I could have been much further along, but I'm still paying it down as much as I can, regardless.  I have not been able to do "side gigs" because of needing to spend time on studying. I don't have any other debt so at least I'm almost at the finish line, but it's frustrating nonetheless.

Try to celebrate what you HAVE accomplished, everyone of us can look back and point out things we should have done better or differently but we can't change the past. Just make sure that our next decision is the best possible one we can make with the information we have.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: OliveFI on October 15, 2018, 08:57:06 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!

August and September Progress ...


Balance as of 8/15: $33,144.57

Payments:
8/23: $300
9/10: $1,000
10/1: $600
10/15: $1,000

Balance once the 10/15 payment hits: $30,491

I am going to get it into the 20s this month ... with an extra payment next week. I'm excited for that milestone!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: lexde on October 16, 2018, 01:26:21 PM
My efund is larger than my (previously 6-figure) student loan balance. I really, really want to pay it off. But I don't want to be without an efund at a job I've only had for two weeks.

I want to have them paid off by 12/31/18 and it looks like I'm on track to do it!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: zeli2033 on October 17, 2018, 07:25:42 AM
That’s awesome, lexde! Even though you’re choosing not to eradicate it right now (seems like a smart move to me given all the life stuff you’ve been handling), it’s great that you have the option to do it.

A small taste of the freedom to come :)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: zeli2033 on October 17, 2018, 07:30:55 AM
Mid-October Update

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
9/5/18: $52,622
9/18/18: $50,941
10/2/18: $46,212
10/17/18: $42,804 (-3,408)

Wiped out two more loans - now I’m down to 8. My goal is to be under the 35k mark by end of year, with 6 loans to finish off. Currently tracking toward the goal, which means being free of these loans by June 2019.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: lexde on October 17, 2018, 07:40:25 AM
Mid-October Update

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
9/5/18: $52,622
9/18/18: $50,941
10/2/18: $46,212
10/17/18: $42,804 (-3,408)

Wiped out two more loans - now I’m down to 8. My goal is to be under the 35k mark by end of year, with 6 loans to finish off. Currently tracking toward the goal, which means being free of these loans by June 2019.
I'm seriously impressed by your pacing over the course of only 8 months. Major kudos to you, zeli!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: OliveFI on October 19, 2018, 12:57:54 PM
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!

August and September Progress ...


Balance as of 8/15: $33,144.57

Payments:
8/23: $300
9/10: $1,000
10/1: $600
10/15: $1,000

Balance once the 10/15 payment hits: $30,491

I am going to get it into the 20s this month ... with an extra payment next week. I'm excited for that milestone!

I couldn't resist ...  had to get it into the 20s! I knew I was getting paid today so put as much as I could from my checking into another payment!

10/17: $600

Balance as of 10/19: $29,978.55

I paid $2,200 this month!!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: OliveFI on October 19, 2018, 12:59:31 PM
My efund is larger than my (previously 6-figure) student loan balance. I really, really want to pay it off. But I don't want to be without an efund at a job I've only had for two weeks.

I want to have them paid off by 12/31/18 and it looks like I'm on track to do it!

Lexde, how big is your e-fund? Also IMPRESSIVE that you've made so much progress on 6-figures worth of debt! I think we graduated law school around the same time (based on what I've read in your journal.) I feel like we are both so far ahead of our peers. Feels good.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: imadandylion on October 19, 2018, 06:01:50 PM
I think back in February this year I posted I had $21,800 to go. Today I have $9,650 (2 student loans at 3%) remaining. Wish it could have been at $7k, but I had a couple licensing exams I didn't pass, so I had to pay to retake those (grr) and I had to pay for some professional affiliation membership fees, too. >:(  No one in the office ended up getting a mid-year bonus this year, so the hope is we all still get the end-of-the-year bonus, which would really help me out here. Kind of bummed about various things, I could have been much further along, but I'm still paying it down as much as I can, regardless.  I have not been able to do "side gigs" because of needing to spend time on studying. I don't have any other debt so at least I'm almost at the finish line, but it's frustrating nonetheless.

Try to celebrate what you HAVE accomplished, everyone of us can look back and point out things we should have done better or differently but we can't change the past. Just make sure that our next decision is the best possible one we can make with the information we have.

Thank you for this message.  I really needed to read that.  I could definitely work on being more positive on this. Funnily, for me, working on paying down debt goes hand-in-hand with working on positivism.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: lexde on October 19, 2018, 07:48:44 PM
My efund is larger than my (previously 6-figure) student loan balance. I really, really want to pay it off. But I don't want to be without an efund at a job I've only had for two weeks.

I want to have them paid off by 12/31/18 and it looks like I'm on track to do it!

Lexde, how big is your e-fund? Also IMPRESSIVE that you've made so much progress on 6-figures worth of debt! I think we graduated law school around the same time (based on what I've read in your journal.) I feel like we are both so far ahead of our peers. Feels good.
For sure! My current efund is at about 10k and my loans are down to 7.2k. Almost there! Super tempting to just pay it off, but I need to keep a level head and pay it from my salary. If 2018 has taught me anything, it's that I always need an efund. :-)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Civex on October 20, 2018, 07:46:54 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.

Sept. 2018-$50,381 ($1250 monthly payment)
-Have some "extra" money coming in the form of a FSA withdrawal, so I think I'll get it under $50k this month!

October 2018-$49,342 ($1250 monthly payment)
-Had two appliances fail at the same time we are paying for planned house maintenance and vacation, so no extra for a month or two to add towards the balance :(
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: haypug16 on October 31, 2018, 08:50:42 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
August 31st 2018 $52,702.83
September 30th 2018 $51,851.38
October 31st 2018 $50,277.21 ($1,574.17) decrease

$10,932.96/$10,000 Goal

I reached my 2018 goal of paying off $10K, I was hoping to get under $50K this month but alas it'll be next month. I decided to put some of my "extra" money into an EF account since that was pretty much nothing. I think I'll finish the year off around $47K.



2018 goal = $47,000
2019 goal = $30,000
2020 goal = $13,000
2021 goal = $0
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: bbates728 on November 01, 2018, 03:35:54 PM
Hi everyone! Finally a thread that makes sense for me to contribute to :). Let's get these suckers paid off!

A little background: I am a 25yo CPA that moved to a HCOL last year and found MMM in July. Since then I have read the blog and made WAY too many spreadsheets. I am just now starting to make a foray into the forums. My wife and I have been frugal by nature throughout our marriage and have thrown money at these loans which started at $110-$120k but we didn't keep as good of track of them as we are now. These loans are entirely mine but my wife has no issue with working together to take them out. Her schooling was thankfully paid for by her parents. I have been out of school for a little over 2.5 years. Together we bring home roughly 97k after tax and 401k. We budget to put $4k to loans each month and put any surplus from our budgeting towards them as well (this month an extra $500!).

July '18: $70,870.81
Aug '18: $67,102.62
Sep '18: $63,319.24
Oct '18: $59,834.55

Goals:
Dec '18: $51,674
Dec '19: $4,712
Jan '20: $0

TLDR: Loans are stupid and we will get rid of them.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on November 06, 2018, 05:01:17 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%
$27,291.54 @3.22% (interest rates jumping back up)
$23,877.60 @3.30%
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: zeli2033 on November 06, 2018, 08:44:10 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
8/15/18: $53,821
9/5/18: $52,622
9/18/18: $50,941
10/2/18: $46,212
10/17/18: $42,804
11/6/18: $40,746 (-2,058)

Back to making steady progress likely throughout the rest of the year (unless one of us gets a year end bonus which has happened the last few years but won't count on it). Goal is to get it under $35k by the end of this year and we are on track for that.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Anygivenlindsay on November 06, 2018, 10:32:16 AM
My husband and I have both decided to get more focused on our student loans. It’s so inspiring to see everyone tracking their progress on here so I’ve decided to join in the fun! We’re both in the medical field and  started out with about $320,000 in loans between the two of us. As of today our loan amount is $150,298.14.
I’m owed some back pay from work so within the next few months we’re hoping to get that down by a good amount and then we’ll throw every extra penny at it.
Here’s to being student debt free!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: appleseed on November 06, 2018, 09:28:15 PM
Welcome! This group is great for motivation. I really got serious about my husband's loans about a year ago, and posting/following everyone's progress is encouraging. I love the final posts when student loans are paid off, too! Positive peer pressure.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: appleseed on November 06, 2018, 09:39:30 PM
I've been neglecting to update on our progress. We're trying to get under $10k by the end of the year. Currently:

$3,579 - 3%
$3,402 - 3%
$4,036 -  2.625%
$3, 526 - 2.625%

All 4 will be under 4k after this month's payment. I've been adding between $500-700 extra each month. I'll need to do an additional $800 or so to meet the 2018 goal.

I'm still shooting for a June 2019 payoff.

Congratulations to all the finishers and everyone making progress. You are motivation to keep going!
Latest update!

DB1 - $2840
DB2 - $2898 (sent an extra $150 just to see this one go under $3k!!)
N1 - $3866
N2 - $3377

Total - $12,981

My goal is under $10,000 by December 31, which is in reach! I want them all to be gone by June next year, but we've also got some aggressive savings goals next year, so I might shift it a few months but definitely by the end of the year.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Slow&Steady on November 07, 2018, 07:04:03 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
         10/08/18 = $2542.75
         11/07/18 = $1306.66

         12/31/18 = $0 (Goal)

I really really want to pay these off before the end of the year but I have a dilemma.  I planned to pay these off with 1 final payment in Dec but there is only $X extra in the budget, it is enough to pay these off but not to do that and take care of a few other things that are coming up.  I need new tires on the car and have a couple other bills that are due Nov/Dec some of these thing were planned for but my estimates were to low.  Do I sacrifice my arbitrary goal of paying these off before the end of the year to pay for these other bills/tires or do I take the late fee/interest associated with pushing these things off until Jan and pay off my student loans by my goal date?  It isn't like my interest rate on the student loans are low but that cost would be lower than pushing these other things off until Jan.  I know what makes more sense mathematically but I am really struggling with the emotional win of being done with student loans and the fact that they have been pushed back for several years because (it seems like) there is ALWAYS something more pressing to pay for.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Money Beets on November 11, 2018, 08:01:43 AM
Total Payments made in September = $2,130.70
End September targeted loan balance = $12,420.99
End September total balance = $43,635.49

Total Paid in October = $2,510.70
End October targeted loan balance = $10,243.51
End October total balance = $41,231.73
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Anygivenlindsay on November 11, 2018, 11:26:03 AM
How much in interest/late fees are we talking about? Psychological wins are huge but if it’s going to put you way behind in late fees, I think it makes more sense to say pay them off next month.
What are you leaning towards?
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: UnexpectedExpenseExpector on November 12, 2018, 10:52:14 AM
Jul: 34,235.29
Aug: 31,126.76
Sep: 30,670.30
Oct: 29,554.17
Nov: 26,987.46
...
2018 Dec:   23,000 (GOAL)
2019 Jul: 0.00 (GOAL)


We may not quite make the December goal but Jul 2019 should still be doable.  Onward!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: AK on November 12, 2018, 11:04:28 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
         10/08/18 = $2542.75
         11/07/18 = $1306.66

         12/31/18 = $0 (Goal)

I really really want to pay these off before the end of the year but I have a dilemma.  I planned to pay these off with 1 final payment in Dec but there is only $X extra in the budget, it is enough to pay these off but not to do that and take care of a few other things that are coming up.  I need new tires on the car and have a couple other bills that are due Nov/Dec some of these thing were planned for but my estimates were to low.  Do I sacrifice my arbitrary goal of paying these off before the end of the year to pay for these other bills/tires or do I take the late fee/interest associated with pushing these things off until Jan and pay off my student loans by my goal date?  It isn't like my interest rate on the student loans are low but that cost would be lower than pushing these other things off until Jan.  I know what makes more sense mathematically but I am really struggling with the emotional win of being done with student loans and the fact that they have been pushed back for several years because (it seems like) there is ALWAYS something more pressing to pay for.


Make the minimum payment and get the snow tires and whatever for safer driving. Paying off your student loans a little later is not that big of a deal and paying them off is rather anti-climactic too, at least it was for me. Also, congrats on being so close!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Slow&Steady on November 13, 2018, 07:34:45 AM
How much in interest/late fees are we talking about? Psychological wins are huge but if it’s going to put you way behind in late fees, I think it makes more sense to say pay them off next month.
What are you leaning towards?

Not much in late fees/interest I think it would actually end up being taken care of by a little bit of CC float until we could direct the extra toward these things in Jan but I am leaning towards pushing the SL payment back.  Not loving the idea of purposely putting us into a float situation.

Make the minimum payment and get the snow tires and whatever for safer driving. Paying off your student loans a little later is not that big of a deal and paying them off is rather anti-climactic too, at least it was for me. Also, congrats on being so close!

The minimum payment is low so I am sure that it will be very anti-climatic (it was for the other SLs too) and that is probably what I am going to do but it really annoys me.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: ItsALongStory on November 18, 2018, 07:53:08 AM
Can you purge some things you've been meaning to get rid off anyway? Take on a short term side gig like Uber for the added money? Reduce holiday spend and instead buy a debt payoff celebration gift?
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Slow&Steady on November 19, 2018, 10:45:43 AM
Can you purge some things you've been meaning to get rid off anyway? Take on a short term side gig like Uber for the added money? Reduce holiday spend and instead buy a debt payoff celebration gift?

Yeah, we just sold 5 sheep that were supposed to turn into groceries but none of us could do it.  There are other items on the usually places looking for a buyer.  I will NOT do a side gig (face punch or kick me out of the MMM club but it is not happening) I value my time with my family much higher than what any of those things could pay me.  BUT thank you for the suggestions.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on November 29, 2018, 08:57:16 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)
$30,713.78 @3.08%
$27,291.54 @3.22% (interest rates jumping back up)
$23,877.60 @3.30%
$20,419.06 @3.30% - Apparently my student loan company debited my account a second time this month for no apparent reason....
Title: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: lexde on November 30, 2018, 04:56:09 AM
My efund is larger than my (previously 6-figure) student loan balance. I really, really want to pay it off. But I don't want to be without an efund at a job I've only had for two weeks.

I want to have them paid off by 12/31/18 and it looks like I'm on track to do it!
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20181130/cad2c5665b3695af7e52665d73a050ff.jpg)
Bit the bullet last week and my payment cleared a few days ago. See you guys on the other side!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: DS on November 30, 2018, 07:38:16 AM
Congratulations @lexde !!

For me, the remaining loans are all 3-4% so will not be in a hurry. Completed what I set out to do in this arena!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: haypug16 on November 30, 2018, 09:12:44 AM
Nice job lexde!!!

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
September 30th 2018 $51,851.38
October 31st 2018 $50,277.21
November 30th 2018 $49,031.78 ($1,245.43) decrease

$12,178.39/$10,000 Goal

Made it under $50K :) 33 months or less to go!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Money Beets on December 01, 2018, 09:19:15 AM
Total Payments made in September = $2,130.70
End September targeted loan balance = $12,420.99
End September total balance = $43,635.49

Total Paid in October = $2,510.70
End October targeted loan balance = $10,243.51
End October total balance = $41,231.73

Total Paid in November = $4,611.70
End November targeted loan balance = $6,265.07
End November total balance = $36,908.10
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: zeli2033 on December 04, 2018, 06:00:13 PM
End-of-November update time!

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
9/5/18: $52,622
9/18/18: $50,941
10/2/18: $46,212
10/17/18: $42,804
11/6/18: $40,746
12/4/18: $38,695 (-2051)

My goal was to be under $35k by 12/31/18 and it looks like it may be a close one! Fingers crossed we're able to get there :)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on December 05, 2018, 04:48:25 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)
$30,713.78 @3.08%
$27,291.54 @3.22% (interest rates jumping back up)
$23,877.60 @3.30%
$20,419.06 @3.30% - Apparently my student loan company debited my account a second time this month for no apparent reason....
$19,830.09 @3.30% - I’m below $20,000 in student loan debt.  The last time my numbers were that low, I was an undergrad. I’ve officially paid off the cost of law school.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: imadandylion on December 08, 2018, 11:52:37 AM
Today I'm at $5391.06 remaining out of over $32k original debt balance (really rough estimate). That's 2.5 years of thankfully being able to pay more than the minimum. So excited it's almost over!

Ended up getting that bonus which helped a lot. Trying to be as thrifty as possible but had a few setbacks from wanting warm clothes that are professional looking that I couldn't find at the thrift store (or online used clothes stores like Thredup), and shoes (really hard to thrift shoes in my experience). I've applied to a part time job so I hope I get that to expedite this.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: OliveFI on December 11, 2018, 11:14:58 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!

August and September Progress ...


Balance as of 8/15: $33,144.57

Payments:
8/23: $300
9/10: $1,000
10/1: $600
10/15: $1,000

Balance once the 10/15 payment hits: $30,491

I am going to get it into the 20s this month ... with an extra payment next week. I'm excited for that milestone!

I couldn't resist ...  had to get it into the 20s! I knew I was getting paid today so put as much as I could from my checking into another payment!

10/17: $600

Balance as of 10/19: $29,978.55

I paid $2,200 this month!!

November update!!!!

Payments -
11/05/2018: $1,000
11/30/2018: $1,000

Remaining Balance: $28,217.49

We'll see what I can throw at them this month. Hopefully $2k at least. I've been bumping up my cash savings as well. BUT if I keep my spending under control, I can get over $2k into the loans I think.

Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: UnexpectedExpenseExpector on December 11, 2018, 10:58:27 PM
Congrats @lexde !  Strong work knocking those loans out!

Can't wait to join you on the other side.

Jul: 34,235.29
Aug: 31,126.76
Sep: 30,670.30
Oct: 29,554.17
Nov: 26,987.46
Dec: 26,538.80
...

2019 Jul: 0.00 (GOAL)


As expected, we didn't hit the original goal of $23k by December, but we are planning a pretty aggressive pay down of these first half of 2019 as we're ready to get on to other financial goals.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: UnexpectedExpenseExpector on December 13, 2018, 08:12:31 PM
Sent another payment in. 

Jul: 34,235.29
Aug: 31,126.76
Sep: 30,670.30
Oct: 29,554.17
Nov: 26,987.46
Dec6: 26,538.80
Dec12: 26,018.56
...

2019 Jul: 0.00 (GOAL)


Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: TyGuy on December 16, 2018, 11:25:41 AM
Hello,

I am new to the forum and I will begin paying back my student loans in January 2019. I was wondering if a separate forum has been started for 2019 yet, or if one will be made in the coming weeks? I am excited to begin this journey!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: sweetkerryline on December 16, 2018, 02:02:52 PM
Hello,

I am new to the forum and I will begin paying back my student loans in January 2019. I was wondering if a separate forum has been started for 2019 yet, or if one will be made in the coming weeks? I am excited to begin this journey!

I sure haven't seen one, but you should feel free to start one!

My student loans are PAID OFF (praise be), so I'd love for someone else to take the reins.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on December 22, 2018, 11:49:55 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%
$27,291.54 @3.22% (interest rates jumping back up)
$23,877.60 @3.30%
$20,419.06 @3.30% - Apparently my student loan company debited my account a second time this month for no apparent reason....
$19,830.09 @3.30% - I’m below $20,000 in student loan debt.  The last time my numbers were that low, I was an undergrad. I’ve officially paid off the cost of law school.

$0.00.  I’m paid off.  Holy crap, the long night is over. 

I don’t usually link to my blog, but it’s such a benchmark that I’m compelled to share.
http://upwardlymobile.life/paid-off-i-paid-my-six-figure-student-loan-debt-in-5-5-years/

I shall not be joining anyone in the 2019 edition of this thread because I’m done! Hurray!

Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: eightyeighttoone on December 22, 2018, 08:16:45 PM
WHAT?!?! That's amazing! Major congrats Mr. UP! Just logged in for first time in a while and was not expecting to see this. Way to go!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on December 22, 2018, 08:53:13 PM
WHAT?!?! That's amazing! Major congrats Mr. UP! Just logged in for first time in a while and was not expecting to see this. Way to go!

 Thanks! It’s been a long five and a half years.  I’m so glad to be done with this and to have the chance to really focus on the asset side of net worth.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: lexde on December 24, 2018, 09:01:55 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%
$27,291.54 @3.22% (interest rates jumping back up)
$23,877.60 @3.30%
$20,419.06 @3.30% - Apparently my student loan company debited my account a second time this month for no apparent reason....
$19,830.09 @3.30% - I’m below $20,000 in student loan debt.  The last time my numbers were that low, I was an undergrad. I’ve officially paid off the cost of law school.

$0.00.  I’m paid off.  Holy crap, the long night is over. 

I don’t usually link to my blog, but it’s such a benchmark that I’m compelled to share.
http://upwardlymobile.life/paid-off-i-paid-my-six-figure-student-loan-debt-in-5-5-years/

I shall not be joining anyone in the 2019 edition of this thread because I’m done! Hurray!
Congrats!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Money Beets on December 28, 2018, 06:56:01 PM
Total Payments made in September = $2,130.70
End September targeted loan balance = $12,420.99
End September total balance = $43,635.49

Total Paid in October = $2,510.70
End October targeted loan balance = $10,243.51
End October total balance = $41,231.73

Total Paid in November = $4,611.70
End November targeted loan balance = $6,265.07
End November total balance = $36,908.10

Total Paid in December= $7,150.00
End December targeted loan balance = $0.00!!!
End December total balance = $29,920.41

I switched jobs back in December 2017, but remained on good terms with my prior employer and helped them out with a big project periodically throughout the year.  They gave me a nice bonus for my efforts and I put all of it toward my targeted loan.  I am super excited to be under $30k and am optimistic that I will be able to pay off my loans by the end of 2019.  I have one more loan at 6.55% that I will be targeting next (current balance on it is $6,309.55).
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on December 28, 2018, 07:10:07 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)
$30,713.78 @3.08%
$27,291.54 @3.22% (interest rates jumping back up)
$23,877.60 @3.30%
$20,419.06 @3.30% - Apparently my student loan company debited my account a second time this month for no apparent reason....
$19,830.09 @3.30% - I’m below $20,000 in student loan debt.  The last time my numbers were that low, I was an undergrad. I’ve officially paid off the cost of law school.

$0.00.  I’m paid off.  Holy crap, the long night is over. 

I don’t usually link to my blog, but it’s such a benchmark that I’m compelled to share.
http://upwardlymobile.life/paid-off-i-paid-my-six-figure-student-loan-debt-in-5-5-years/

I shall not be joining anyone in the 2019 edition of this thread because I’m done! Hurray!
Congrats!

Thank you! I’m thrilled to be done with it.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Civex on December 28, 2018, 08:40:36 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.

Sept. 2018-$50,381 ($1250 monthly payment)
-Have some "extra" money coming in the form of a FSA withdrawal, so I think I'll get it under $50k this month!

Looks like I missed a few months....been crazy. Pay down has definitely slowed-combo of spending more than normal and when it rains it pours.

Oct. 2018-($1250 payment)
Nov. 2018-($1250 payment)
Dec. 2018-$47,258 ($1250 payment)
-Decided to snowball my auto loan to improve cash flow a bit; hopefully will pay that off in the first 3-4 months of 2019, and increase my SL payment to ~$1700/month minimum
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Metalcat on December 30, 2018, 05:32:50 AM
$0.00.  I’m paid off.  Holy crap, the long night is over. 

I don’t usually link to my blog, but it’s such a benchmark that I’m compelled to share.
http://upwardlymobile.life/paid-off-i-paid-my-six-figure-student-loan-debt-in-5-5-years/

I shall not be joining anyone in the 2019 edition of this thread because I’m done! Hurray!

This is amazing!!!
Is it weird to say that I'm proud of you??

Thanks for linking the blog, I'll definitely check it out.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: appleseed on December 30, 2018, 07:29:02 AM
Last update in November:

DB1 - $2840
DB2 - $2898 (sent an extra $150 just to see this one go under $3k!!)
N1 - $3866
N2 - $3377

Total - $12,981

New update!

WE DID IT! Ok, so they are not paid off, but they are under $10k. We squeaked under at the end of the year.

DB1 - $1,467
DB2 - $1,569
N1 - $3698
N2 - $3231

Total as of 12/30/2018 - $9,965!! Goal is to have them paid off by July, which is doable at the rate I paid them this year.

Happy New Year, everyone. Let's kill these loans in 2019.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: appleseed on December 30, 2018, 07:31:12 AM
Sent another payment in. 

Jul: 34,235.29
Aug: 31,126.76
Sep: 30,670.30
Oct: 29,554.17
Nov: 26,987.46
Dec6: 26,538.80
Dec12: 26,018.56
...

2019 Jul: 0.00 (GOAL)


Congratulations!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on December 30, 2018, 08:42:36 AM
$0.00.  I’m paid off.  Holy crap, the long night is over. 

I don’t usually link to my blog, but it’s such a benchmark that I’m compelled to share.
http://upwardlymobile.life/paid-off-i-paid-my-six-figure-student-loan-debt-in-5-5-years/

I shall not be joining anyone in the 2019 edition of this thread because I’m done! Hurray!

This is amazing!!!
Is it weird to say that I'm proud of you??

Thanks for linking the blog, I'll definitely check it out.

Thank you! I’m psyched about this.  It feels like we can actually start accumulating wealth now, instead of just sending it to student loan companies.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Anygivenlindsay on December 31, 2018, 07:45:55 AM
Congratulations @lexde! Loved seeing that $0
Final updated for the year - this time split into the 2 separate loans
1) $62,404.53 @5.25
2) $70,463.35 @ 4.5

Should be getting my dispersement for the year here soon as well. This first part of that will go to IRA but the rest will be thrown at our higher interest loan. Can’t wait to be done with that
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: haypug16 on December 31, 2018, 10:05:11 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
August 31st 2018 $52,702.83
September 30th 2018 $51,851.38
October 31st 2018 $50,277.21
November 30th 2018 $49,031.78
December 31st 2018 $46,919.36 ($2,112.42) decrease

$14,290.81/$10,000 Goal

Had a very good year. I was even able to throw an extra $800 towards this debt today. :) Next years goal is to pay down $17K!!!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: zeli2033 on December 31, 2018, 02:10:10 PM
Congrats everyone on the progress in 2018! And @MrUpwardlyMobile extra congrats to you for paying those monsters off! Nicely done.

As for me, I missed my goal just slightly for 2018 (wanted to be under $35k). But I'm still happy with where we wound up! Looking forward to paying these off June 2019.

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
9/5/18: $52,622
9/18/18: $50,941
10/2/18: $46,212
10/17/18: $42,804
11/6/18: $40,746
12/4/18: $38,695
12/31/18: $36,419 (-2,276)
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on December 31, 2018, 04:52:47 PM
Congrats everyone on the progress in 2018! And @MrUpwardlyMobile extra congrats to you for paying those monsters off! Nicely done.

As for me, I missed my goal just slightly for 2018 (wanted to be under $35k). But I'm still happy with where we wound up! Looking forward to paying these off June 2019.

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
9/5/18: $52,622
9/18/18: $50,941
10/2/18: $46,212
10/17/18: $42,804
11/6/18: $40,746
12/4/18: $38,695
12/31/18: $36,419 (-2,276)

Thank you! It looks like you’re killing it and will be done sooner rather than later.
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: Rustychase on February 11, 2019, 11:14:54 AM
Has anyone started a 2019 one yet?
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: AK on February 11, 2019, 11:23:34 AM
Congrats everyone on their progress!
Title: Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
Post by: TyGuy on February 15, 2019, 08:05:52 PM
Has anyone started a 2019 one yet?


Yes, there is one for 2019 started!