The goal was to have my student loan debt under $100,000 by the end of the summer. Ultimately, the big goal is to have it at $0 by the time we turn 30.
We sat down for our August budget meeting at the beginning of the month just like we do every month. After we battled out what we wanted to spend our money on in the weeks ahead, we sent out the big checks. Thank goodness for electronic banking.
The bank account got smaller and smaller as each check cleared. Today, I called the student loan center and dialed "1" for account balance. An automated voice replied, "Ninety-seven thousand, two hundred six dollars and seventy-eight cents." If your math skills have waned over the summer that is, in fact, less than $100,000. Woohoo! Goal achieved.
(I have to be honest that we still have $5000 left on Jason's loans, but he qualifies for a grant that should cover that. We are just waiting for the 6 weeks of paperwork to process. On a side note, why, in this day an age, does it take 6 weeks to process paperwork? It has never taken them 6 weeks to process our check when we send that. Anyway...)
Hopefully, you realize that, probably just like you, we don't just have money laying around. I may be a doctor, but I'm still a resident who's married to a teacher. There's no BMW in our garage. It has taken some sacrifice to get us this far. We didn't go on the cruise we had planned this summer, and just this month we depleted our "new car" fund. If you see us riding our bikes to work, now you'll know why.
Still, in 20 months (or less) it will be worth it. I'll keep you posted.
Good for you! I'd be interested in what you sacrifice to be able to make bigger payments on your loans. What things have you learned to live without? There are a lot of things we could probably go without, but have got so comfortable with how we live.
ReplyDeleteGreat question! It really hasn't been as difficult to "go without" as I thought it would be. We gave up a few big things: a new car and a vacation; and we gave up a few small things: eating out regularly and going mall shopping. We still have cable and internet, and we still go on dates and to movies. We make a budget (including how much we want to send for our loans) and STICK TO IT. For example, I ran out of juice the other day, and that means the boys will only be drinking water or milk until the end of the month. Now next month I'll plan to buy two bottles. It's a process, but well worth it.
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