It’s been about 6 months since I’ve started paying back my student loans (… for the second time…) and I wanted to do a bit of a recap. When I posted my student loan repayment plan a few months ago, I ambitiously posted a scenario that would see me pay off my student loan in about 2.5 years. With a $27,000 loan, that’s over $9000 a year. Yikes!
So far, my approach as been to pay a monthly budgeted amount ($500) each month towards my student loans. In addition to this base amount, I throw on my extra OT income and part of my blog income. Brian also contributes a bit of money towards my loans.
The exact amount fluctuates, but each month, I’m always paying more than $500.
When I started repayment, my original amount owing was $27,574.78 and I was paying almost $4.50 per day in interest charges. Today, my balance is $23,554.73 and I’m down to $3.50 per day in interest charges! I’ve paid about $4000 in 6 months, and this doesn’t include my upcoming pay raise.
Needless to say, I’m pretty happy! Things are chugging along right on schedule. Starting this month, I’m going to be able to put another $20-40 on my student loans regularly, thanks to a cheaper phone bill. And in a few more months, I should be receiving a salary increase that will also go towards my loans.
I like it when things work out as planned!
Anyone else out there still paying off student loans? Any suggestions for fast-tracking my repayment schedule even more???
