Assassinate your Student Loan *here*

DoMoneyBetter · **Posted:** Tue Oct 09, 2012 2:07 am

jdskovs wrote:

I just graduated in May 2012. I had $31k in student loans to pay off and have since then brought them down to $23k. I had some savings to throw at them in May, but I am paying $1000 a month right now to get rid of them.

There is a lot of inspiration on this thread. I won't stop till they are gone. Thanks for the motivation.

-Skovs

Skovs,
Welcome! You are in exactly the right place. You and I actually have about the same amount left to go. $1000 per month is massive!! Nice work. Are you specifying your extra repayments to the lender? SallieMae basically raped me on that until I figured out what they were doing with my payments. Looking forward to hearing more from you!
Best,

SAHDof3 · **Joined:** Wed Oct 17, 2012 7:45 am **Posts:** 4

Hello to all,
I am a Stay At Home Dad of three, hence the username. My wife and I are currently in the midst of attempting to slowly strangle our student loans.... slowly strangle due to the three little ones. My wife is a Physical Therapist. I have a M. Div. So between our four degrees and 15 years of Higher Education, we have a little under 100K in student loans at this point. When we married 3.5 years ago, we had close to 120K. However, in those three years, we have moved twice, bought a house, and of course had three kids. Since the kids have been born, I have stayed at home, thus we are doing all of this on one income. We are attempting to pay some of them off early ( I have about 25K at a 1.25 APR, thus paying it off, when we get around to it, would actually cost us money in the long run when considering even investing the extra money in a short term CD or even savings account.)

We slowly look forward to paying off our student loans, using the little extra money we get each month, along with Tax Refunds and the like.

Timmiebe · **Joined:** Thu Sep 06, 2012 7:35 am **Posts:** 4

I wanted to post an update on my loan status since last month:
Loan 1: $1,461 3.375%
Loan 2: $641 3.375%
Loan 3: paid off
Loan 4: paid off
Loan 5: $763 0.00%
Total $,2865

My plan is to have loans 1 & 2 paid off by December 31, 2012. I have paid $9,018 on my loans during 2012 or $901 per month so it should be possible. The monthly payment on loan 5 is only $22, so I am planning to let that one stay around for the next year or so since it is at zero interest.
My biggest challenge so far is spending most of my disposable income on paying down my loans rather than saving more. Several co-workers have bigger savings but larger debts as well and would rather have $10,000 more in cash and in loans rather than the opposite. I am getting excited that my loans are about to be paid off!

dacsocial · **Posted:** Wed Oct 17, 2012 2:27 pm

It's supposed to take me about 10 years to pay off my student loans if I make payment by the given rate. I work full-time and live below my means so that I can pay my loans off faster. Is there any advice that you guys do to pay off your student loans faster?

SAHDof3 · **Joined:** Wed Oct 17, 2012 7:45 am **Posts:** 4

dacsocial,
If you are already living below your means, that is most of the battle. The only other advice to give you is simple math.... pay off the higher interest rate loans first. There are other things to lower your interest rate, such as automatic debits. Also, some banks offer a reduction in interest rates after a certain period of constant on time payment. I have always found it helpful to make full use of the loan websites, including how to pay off individual loans specifically, rather than just throwing a handful of money at all of your loans and having it spread across the board. If you need the encouragement, go after your smallest loan first. Good luck!

DoMoneyBetter · **Posted:** Thu Oct 18, 2012 7:11 pm

SAHDof3 wrote:

Hello to all,
I am a Stay At Home Dad of three, hence the username. My wife and I are currently in the midst of attempting to slowly strangle our student loans.... slowly strangle due to the three little ones. My wife is a Physical Therapist. I have a M. Div. So between our four degrees and 15 years of Higher Education, we have a little under 100K in student loans at this point. When we married 3.5 years ago, we had close to 120K. However, in those three years, we have moved twice, bought a house, and of course had three kids. Since the kids have been born, I have stayed at home, thus we are doing all of this on one income. We are attempting to pay some of them off early ( I have about 25K at a 1.25 APR, thus paying it off, when we get around to it, would actually cost us money in the long run when considering even investing the extra money in a short term CD or even savings account.)

We slowly look forward to paying off our student loans, using the little extra money we get each month, along with Tax Refunds and the like.

Hey SAHDo3,
Welcome!! Glad you are here. Sounds like you have your work cut out for you with those loans, although you are a champion for doing it all for your kids' benefit. I'll be a first time dad in February, and I'm having the same feeling about our debt. Have you connected with Dave Ramsey yet? Best personal finance advice I know of out there for folks like us. Check out daveramsey.com.
I believe it's all about planning your spending and being very focused and intense for a period of time until the student loans are gone.
So, is your lender Sallie Mae? If you're paying extra, make sure you specify how you want it applied, or they may just apply it to "future interest", which is totally useless!
Best,

DoMoneyBetter · **Posted:** Thu Oct 18, 2012 7:16 pm

Timmiebe wrote:

I wanted to post an update on my loan status since last month:
Loan 1: $1,461 3.375%
Loan 2: $641 3.375%
Loan 3: paid off
Loan 4: paid off
Loan 5: $763 0.00%
Total $,2865

My plan is to have loans 1 & 2 paid off by December 31, 2012. I have paid $9,018 on my loans during 2012 or $901 per month so it should be possible. The monthly payment on loan 5 is only $22, so I am planning to let that one stay around for the next year or so since it is at zero interest.
My biggest challenge so far is spending most of my disposable income on paying down my loans rather than saving more. Several co-workers have bigger savings but larger debts as well and would rather have $10,000 more in cash and in loans rather than the opposite. I am getting excited that my loans are about to be paid off!

Timmeibe,
That is seriously exciting! Nice work! Having $2,800 left must be amazing. So can you somehow work extra, kick it in high gear, and be debt free with a clean slate on 1 January 2013? How awesome would that be?!
By the way, congrats on being smarter than your coworkers...I'd rather have modest savings and no debt than big savings and big debt, any day of the week!!
Please keep us posted on your progress next month!
Best,

DoMoneyBetter · **Posted:** Thu Oct 18, 2012 7:18 pm

SAHDof3 wrote:

I have always found it helpful to make full use of the loan websites, including how to pay off individual loans specifically, rather than just throwing a handful of money at all of your loans and having it spread across the board. If you need the encouragement, go after your smallest loan first. Good luck!

I couldn't agree more!!

DoMoneyBetter · **Posted:** Thu Oct 25, 2012 8:51 am

Timmiebe wrote:

I wanted to post an update on my loan status since last month:
Loan 1: $1,461 3.375%
Loan 2: $641 3.375%
Loan 3: paid off
Loan 4: paid off
Loan 5: $763 0.00%
Total $,2865

My plan is to have loans 1 & 2 paid off by December 31, 2012. I have paid $9,018 on my loans during 2012 or $901 per month so it should be possible. The monthly payment on loan 5 is only $22, so I am planning to let that one stay around for the next year or so since it is at zero interest.
My biggest challenge so far is spending most of my disposable income on paying down my loans rather than saving more. Several co-workers have bigger savings but larger debts as well and would rather have $10,000 more in cash and in loans rather than the opposite. I am getting excited that my loans are about to be paid off!

Tiemmebe, your story is so encouraging. Do you mind if I summarise and share it anonymously with the reader community over at domoneybetter.com?

Timmiebe · **Joined:** Thu Sep 06, 2012 7:35 am **Posts:** 4

DoMoneyBetter wrote:

Timmiebe wrote:

I wanted to post an update on my loan status since last month:
Loan 1: $1,461 3.375%
Loan 2: $641 3.375%
Loan 3: paid off
Loan 4: paid off
Loan 5: $763 0.00%
Total $,2865

My plan is to have loans 1 & 2 paid off by December 31, 2012. I have paid $9,018 on my loans during 2012 or $901 per month so it should be possible. The monthly payment on loan 5 is only $22, so I am planning to let that one stay around for the next year or so since it is at zero interest.
My biggest challenge so far is spending most of my disposable income on paying down my loans rather than saving more. Several co-workers have bigger savings but larger debts as well and would rather have $10,000 more in cash and in loans rather than the opposite. I am getting excited that my loans are about to be paid off!

Tiemmebe, your story is so encouraging. Do you mind if I summarise and share it anonymously with the reader community over at domoneybetter.com?

I do not mind at all, feel free to share it.

LeRainDrop · **Posted:** Sat Nov 03, 2012 5:43 pm

Jake, I just want to say that I love your positive attitude and enthusiasm. It's so awesome how supportive and encouraging you are for all the people in the process of paying off their student loans. Wishing you and all the other folks the best!

DoMoneyBetter · **Posted:** Sat Nov 03, 2012 9:29 pm

Quote:

Tiemmebe, your story is so encouraging. Do you mind if I summarise and share it anonymously with the reader community over at domoneybetter.com?

I do not mind at all, feel free to share it.[/quote]

Thanks!! Keep the good news coming!

DoMoneyBetter · **Posted:** Sat Nov 03, 2012 9:31 pm

LeRainDrop wrote:

Jake, I just want to say that I love your positive attitude and enthusiasm. It's so awesome how supportive and encouraging you are for all the people in the process of paying off their student loans. Wishing you and all the other folks the best!

LeRainDrop, Thank you! Fighting loans can be really discouraging, so I think keeping positive and motivated is pretty much half the battle. Quick plug: if you are enjoying the thread here, join the mailing list over at DoMoneyBetter.com and get even more encouragement and tips!

DoMoneyBetter · **Posted:** Thu Dec 06, 2012 6:24 pm

Timmiebe wrote:

Beginning in January 2012, I decided to assassinate my loans and have paid $7,274 or an average of $884 each month for the first eight months of the year. My goal is to pay $1,000 each month going forward so they will be paid off by January 2013.

Guys, Timmeibe is only WEEKS AWAY FROM REACHING HIS GOAL of being COMPLETELY free of his student loan debt!!!

Let's give him the final push he needs, with loads of encouragement and pats on the back!! PLEASE LEAVE SOME ENCOURAGEMENT FOR HIM!

GO TIMMEIBE!! You are only one or two payments away! Imagine how incredible it's going to feel!

LeRainDrop · **Posted:** Thu Dec 06, 2012 7:25 pm

DoMoneyBetter wrote:

Guys, Timmeibe is only WEEKS AWAY FROM REACHING HIS GOAL of being COMPLETELY free of his student loan debt!!!

Let's give him the final push he needs, with loads of encouragement and pats on the back!! PLEASE LEAVE SOME ENCOURAGEMENT FOR HIM!

GO TIMMEIBE!! You are only one or two payments away! Imagine how incredible it's going to feel!

I'm so excited for you, Timmiebe! Way to go on a fantastic year of killing the student loans! Let us know how you feel once you make it. Cheers!

Assassinate your Student Loan here

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