@Anonymous You are absolutely right. I have been working on debt for a year now. I managed to pay off about 36k this year. I still have roughly 1.3k on a card but it's at 0% interest and slated to be paid off in November with my bonus. I never did the bar graphs but maybe I should work on making one so I can see the progress I have made thus far.
The difference is I had small progresses of payoff all along the year. It keeps you motivated. The student loan won't be that way. I have to cling to the small progresses made throughout the year be it interest savings or watching the balance go down. I have worked on this plan and I should trust myself. I have shown it can work. This is just the largest debt and it made my anxiety set in. Truth is I always have anxiety spending just from some of the things I have gone through in life. It's just fear.
I really appreciate the encouragement from everyone. I know I can do this if I hold steadfast to the plan. It helps to know that other folks are on the same type of journey or have gone through it. I don't know if there's some kind of post up here where people show their progress. There probably is. I haven't looked. I still come here just to see updates so I can help family members improve their scores like this forum helped me years ago. I find the forum is still helping me though. Just seeing people have a mutual struggle or reach goals that I want to achieve keeps me focused.
Thank you so much again!
My wife has ~40K in loans and we have been working on the plan to pay them off in the next 3 years as well. The thing that I am trying to use as motivation for her and may or may not be motiviation to others is that once they are gone that is $1000 a month in the bank that can be used towards so many things, if not just additional savings. In the grand scheme of things, 3 years isn't that long and think how wonderful it will be when 71K in debt is gone after 36 months!
@sxa001 wrote:In the grand scheme of things, 3 years isn't that long
Yes but no. I'm just going to use mine as an example. I went to college for 5.5 years total (Bachelors then straight to MBA). When I graduated I was 23, that was 24% of my life to that point. Then I'm immediately looking at paying the loans for 10 years which is 43% (10/23). When I'm fully done (including forgiveness for federal loans somewhere around February 2027), it will have been 30% of my life to that point so it's still a huge chunk of relative time so far!
Now as time continues to go on that will diminish and I'll have more time and money for other things that make me happy but man is getting past this going to take awhile!
as of 1/1/23
@sxa001 That is a wonderful motivation. The extra money would be a true bonus once all is said and done! It's definitely on my mind. For me it's not the 3 years that makes it seem like forever, it's 2k+ a month for the 3 years. My mind starts thinking what I could save in that time. I have to put that on the back burner and focus on the task at hand. It's worth it to be rid of it for good.
@Anonymous wrote:i have over 40,000 in student loans. much need to get rid of them.
You can do it @Anonymous ! I contacted my servicer about the REPAYE option. I wanted to see if that option would save me money. They gave me a 5 year payoff. But I wouldn't save any more interest than I would with the plan I came up with. Also, leaving it at the standard payment amount is better for my DTI. It's a cushion in case there is a month where I need to skip the large payment (anything can happen) and my plan is faster.
Thank you so much @calyx . I started off with the Dave Ramsey baby steps. But I soon realized that though his program can work, it wasn't the right fit for me. So, I tweaked his plan and other debt reduction plans to fit my needs. I took every penny I could gather through budgeting to pay off all of my debt from car loan to credit card and personal loan. That was the only way I could free up the cash needed to face the student loan debt head on. I then made sure to pad emergency savings before moving to the student loan. This month I called cable, cell phone carrier etc. and I was able to free up an additional $200 to work with. This year I will have paid off roughly 35-36k. This let me realize that I could realistically get that student loan paid off in about 2-3 years. 2.5 is the most probable payoff time.
I keep a spreadsheet to track everything. Someone here suggested an interest savings spreadsheet so I started that as well. It is not easy but I decided this is the most important thing to me right now. It hard because it's so freaking easy to just make the monthly payment and disregard the rest.
You are doing a great job as well!! I think attacking student loan debt is HUGE. These debts are usually so big that it's hard to even look at. Keep up the great work!
I am inspired by everyone working on knocking down this student loan mountain! I know it takes a lot of hard work, sacrifice and discipline.
I just wanted to update everyone on my progress and give a quick reminder to STAY ENCOURAGED😊 I started off as planned for the month of October. By the close of November I will have gotten my loans from 71.9k when I posted this originally to 68.5. It isn't quite where I wanted to be but I had to get a new washer and dryer as my current one conked out😞 I used some of my SL extra payments to take care of that without adding new debt or tap emergency funds. I will make up the deficit by tacking on a lil more over time- whatever I can scrape up. It still feels good to see some progress made in these crazy and uncertain times. You may have some bumps in the road but don't give up. Progress is progress no matter how big or small. I also want to thank everyone for their suggestions. I am utilizing them to stay motivated to press forward and stay focused. Have a great month everyone!
@Anonymous Thank you so much! I have been sticking to it as best I can! By the end of this year I will have it down to about 45k from the 72k starting point. I had some snags in there with unexpected things coming up. But the 0% interest has helped tremendously. I am definitely feeling relief now as I watch the balance go down. The anxiety is fading.