Saro,

I've been lurking for a while and I just wanted to say hang in there! I know what the slog feels like (though my numbers were not as high as yours, no judgment implied) and what impatience feels like too. When I get impatient I look back at my accomplishments, or I look forward month by month, to help myself feel like I'm making progress.

You. Are. AMAZING! You are doing something truly incredible: paying off 200K worth of debt in about four years. That would seem impossible to most people, but you are doing it!

Keep it up! You can stay the course! You can do it!

Cecily

Thanks Cecily! I appreciate it. You're right, I do need to look at what I've already accomplished. And I am close, much closer than I was before. I'll have paid off about $145k by the end of this week, not including the CC debt from many years ago. I'm almost there!

I also realized that I need to focus on my 'side-business' which I want to take full-time soon. So less staring at my student loan balance and more focus on my other goals.

Thank you again for the encouragement.

Just got paid for June, yay!

I checked my bank balance and it says the payment is 'processing' so I scheduled my student loan payment for later next week. I realized that my next payment, according to the company, is due in 2015. Previously, I just wrote 'please apply extra to principal amount' but this time I wrote 'Please apply all to principal amount'. I have to check if they are charging me the incorrect amount of interest.

If I push myself, I think I can pay off this loan by October (September salary but I get paid in October). Exciting!

Just found out I have to travel suddenly and

1) will have to pay about $3k in travel and;
2) won't get paid while I'm gone.

Boooo.

Oh well, I'll be paying in cash for the travel and can swing the extra expenses, it just pushes back my student loan pay off about a month. I have a raise (backdated to 3 months ago), which should help a bit. It's not the end of the world, I've just got tunnel vision in paying off this student loan so it'll be a little frustrating, that's all. I think I'll have to push back the debt pay-off date to December...I'm trying to figure it out so I don't have to push it back, but we'll see.

At least I'm not going into debt b/c of this!

Gosh, your doing great with an awesome income and job to boot!

Keep going your almost there!

Yeesh, our travel was delayed which resulted in lots of extra expenses. I'm finally back at work and waiting for my email to download. I haven't tallied up the final expenses but I know it's going to be about triple what we expected, including the lost work time. Oh well, positive points: 1) I've got some freelance work for an extra boost of income; 2) getting reimbursed for some of the travel; 2) and I'm healthy and looking forward to a promotion/salary increase!

It could be alot worse so no whining from me. I'll be adding up the final figures soon, paying off the cc bill and figuring out how much I can throw at the student loan. I sent in a huge payment while I was on break, so there has been progress.

I also need to turn in my invoice for the freelance gig. They are so quick at paying me, Bless them!

Well, I was able to make what I consider a 'full payment' but I don't know if I'll be able to pay off the loans by November. I have a smaller than usual paycheck coming for the month of September, and won't get paid for October until the end of December. Grrr.

I had my heart set on a full pay-off by November but now we'll see. Still I'm at less than a 1/3 of my original loan amount, so progress has been made.

I can't wait until my first paycheck that has no strings attached. WOOOO.

Hey Saro,
What a cool story. So are you going to be debt free end of this year, then? Thanks so much for sharing your journey! I have $29k left on mine, and I think it'll be about 12 months if done properly...
Best,

Yes, I hope so. I've been working pretty hard.

I've just had great news where I'll be hired on as an employee and my break from work can be counted as a vacation...So I may just be able to pay off my school loans next month!

I've just been imagining writing my 'success' story post. Yay!

Hey Saro, in another post you said your going to have a baby, money wise so far what are your new expenditures?

Supplies, clothes and stuff.


Congrats on the baby!

Hi Fantasma,

Thanks for the congrats! We're excited!

This is what we've purchased so far:

- Cloth diaper covers: $110
*I plan on buying about $10 on flat folds/cloth wipes and that should be more than enough until the baby is at least 9 months or older (depends on the size).

- Baby Accessories (wet bag/changing pad/spray for cloth wipes): $63.75
- Used baby clothes (ebay) - 20 pieces of fall/winter for 0-3 months: $25
*I plan to buy some new onesies, some baby pants, socks and bibs and I should be set.

- 3 books & 1 DVD (baby related) $58

We still need to buy a car seat, bottles, breast pump. (estimating $300 for these)

The baby bed and blankets, we plan on getting here (overseas) for under $100
= $256.75

So, not too bad. My friends with babies have said that they didn't use 75% of the stuff they bought, especially in the first three months, so I am trying to stick to bare essentials. I figure I can buy the fun stuff once the baby is born if I feel the need. Of the three books I bought, only one is what I consider truly essential (Mayo Clinic Guide to Pregnancy). The DVD is a workout DVD and umm, I've watched it, haven't even used it.

Health care costs will probably be reimbursed by my company, but if not, they will be under $10k (probably closer to $5k). We already have saved up for this. My husband and I have a joint checking and savings account and once my student loans are paid off, I will either convert my sole bank account to a joint account or just close it.

Still waiting for my salary (Sept/Oct) and obviously, want to get paid so I can be debt free. I was due to be paid last Friday. Ho hum. Sent in an email and copied the big bosses - hopefully it'll come through soon!

Well, I got paid and it was significantly less than what I was expecting, I think payroll made a mistake. I was hoping to pay this loan off and also throw some more into our emergency fund. But I had enough to mostly pay off the loan and completely pay off the loan if I used our savings. So that's what I did.

I put in a payment and it's processing. I guess since the money is still in my account and the payment is pending, it hasn't hit me yet. I certainly don't feel the euphoria that I imagined I would feel.

I did email the company right away and ask them to send me a letter confirming that my student loan is completely paid off once this payment went through. They said they would do so w/in 45 days.

Even if it doesn't feel that way yet, I guess the next phase of our financial journey has begun. We will have no student loans, completely merged expenses (I plan on closing my personal savings/checking account the next time I'm in the states) and look into buying a home. Oh, and a baby (!).

I think I'll wait a bit before posting in the 'success story' forum. I imagined doing it right away but it doesn't feel real just yet.

Congratulations!!!
I'll cheer for you now.

I paid off my motorcycle early, and wanted to post in the success stories. All my other payments went through on the exact due date, but the final payment took a week longer to process. It was so tiring waiting for the payment to go through that when it happened, I was like 'meh'. hee hee.

I can't wait to read about your next steps. Woohoo!!

Thanks Peachy!

Yes, the payment went through and I gazed at the 'Paid in Full' on my student loan account deadline. Pretty exciting but I think it'll be more fun once I have an entire paycheck to play around with!

I'm seriously battling the urge to online shop. Don't know what that is about!