Author Topic: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)  (Read 68453 times)

jeffeverhart383

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #50 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 : )

 

Jim Fiction

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #51 on: January 21, 2018, 02:15:28 PM »
Welcome to the forum and to the challenge!

eightyeighttoone

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #52 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. :)

BluePhoenix75

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #53 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

MEJG

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #54 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

appleseed

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #55 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!
« Last Edit: January 30, 2018, 08:41:51 AM by appleseed »

BluePhoenix75

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #56 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!

minimos

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #57 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


Slow&Steady

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #58 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)

sweetkerryline

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #59 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?

Clara Smith

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #60 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. :)

JustGettingStarted1980

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #61 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

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #62 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

appleseed

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #63 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!

EndInSight

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #64 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!!!

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #65 on: February 06, 2018, 08:38:43 PM »
2/1/18 - $87,728 .74 @2.57% variable rate
« Last Edit: February 22, 2018, 12:07:13 PM by MrUpwardlyMobile »

Slow&Steady

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #66 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.

BluePhoenix75

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #67 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!

palebluedot

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #68 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:



My February payments are posted.



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.

sweetkerryline

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #69 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!

tanzee

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #70 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. 

tanzee

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #71 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!

Jeff K

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #72 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.

recklesslysober

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #73 on: February 15, 2018, 03:31:53 PM »
$1,400 principal paid so far / $40,000 = 3.5%

$3,900/$40,000 = 9.75%

Jim Fiction

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #74 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?

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #75 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.

Jim Fiction

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #76 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).

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #77 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).

Jim Fiction

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #78 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!

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #79 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.

sweetkerryline

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #80 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?
« Last Edit: February 19, 2018, 01:46:00 PM by sweetkerryline »

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #81 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. 

Jim Fiction

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #82 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!

comicguy

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #83 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.

sweetkerryline

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #84 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.

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #85 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).

eightyeighttoone

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #86 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!

eightyeighttoone

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #87 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!
« Last Edit: February 23, 2018, 08:33:01 PM by eightyeighttoone »

eightyeighttoone

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #88 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!

sweetkerryline

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #89 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!

palebluedot

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #90 on: February 26, 2018, 07:35:23 PM »

My February payments are posted.



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.


MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #91 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.

sweetkerryline

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #92 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?
« Last Edit: February 28, 2018, 10:23:28 PM by sweetkerryline »

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #93 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?

sweetkerryline

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #94 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.

imadandylion

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #95 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!

Slow&Steady

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #96 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!

sweetkerryline

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #97 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."

ontheroaderic

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #98 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).

palebluedot

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Re: Student Loan Challenge (2018 Edition)
« Reply #99 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.