Student Loan Update

We've paid down our loans some this month. I can see why I put this off some. It will be a slow but steady process. We did not pay off as much as I planned because we did not get our stimulus deposit from the government. When it arrives, we'll have an additional $1800 to put towards the student loans (big dent)! Maybe we should lobby for another stimulus check. If sending a family of four $1800 is good for the economy, imagine how much we'd accomplish doubling it!!!

Ken's loan: Paid $254 in principle
Tamra's loan: Paid $137 in principle
Total Paid of $700: $391 Principle and $309 Interest

Why only $700? We've been adding to our savings accounts. With a baby on the way, we need extra money on hand. It actually does not cost much to add to our savings. The money will be applied to the student loans if nothing comes up and I actually earn .03% more on my savings account than I pay in student loan interest (pay 3.25% earn 3.28% at IGoBanking).

Doing Student Loans Gazelle Style

We are going to get gazelle intense with the student loans. They've been on hold for awhile because we owed $1800 in taxes, unexpectedly. To help offset that, we decided we'd have another kid (he he). Unfortunately, having another kid meant we had to write a $9,000 plus check for a one year old Chrysler Town and Country, so we will not break even for quite a while.

The good news is that in a few weeks, we should get our economic stimulus rebate and then we can throw it at my student loan. That should mean about two thousand dollars in reduced principle next month! These loans total just over $550 per month in minimum payments on the shortest repayment plan and we have about a grand per month budgeted for them. From this point on, most everything extra will go their way as well (which will hopefully add up to a lot).

So here is our goal: to pay off my student loan, over $20,000, by fall of 2009!

And for archival, here is what the progress bars looked like when we first started:

2008 Payoff Progress:

0.23%

$214

$92,000

First Ken's Loan:

0.65%

$145

$22,300

Then Tamra's Loan:

0.1%

$69

$69,700