Thanks for the link! I added it to my favorites.

Also for those interested in saving money check out this thread.

July 2012

$54,922, made a couple big payments this month, paid off one SallieMae loan that started at $3,500 when I graduated in 2009. Next one to go have $4,200 left on it, should only be a couple months!!

Dec 11: 13,144/73,625 = 17.9% done
Jan 12: 13,942/73,625 = 18.9% done (+1%)
Feb 12: 14,608/73,625 = 19.84% done (+.94%)
Mar 12: 15,380/73,625 = 20.89% done (+1.05%)
Apr 12: 16,071/73,625 = 21.83% done (+.94%)
May 12: 16,729/73,625 = 22.72% done (+.89%)
Jun 12: 17,482/73,625 = 23.75% done (+1.03%)
Jul 12: 18,703/73,625 = 25.4% done (+1.65%)

Keep up the good work everyone!!

A quarter of the way there nossorc, well done!

Eagle, glad you liked the link! I just listened to an episode myself. I never get tired of hearing those cool stories.

Geoff, how've you been? What's the latest??

Nossorc-- great milestone! Have a cold one to celebrate, or something!

Best,

Hey Jake.

Keeping my Journal up to date on here, exploring the local trails on my MTB, trying not to fall asleep at work (damn Le Tour). Next months update will be interesting as we've just invested in some artwork that wasn't in the budget.

You?

Hi all,

I'm new to the board but really glad to have found it! I graduated in 2005 with about $66k in undergrad student loan debt. Currently I'm down to $39,449. I'd like for that number to be a lot lower since it's been six years but we've also been saving (and have succeeded) a down payment for a house for which we are currently hunting, paid for our wedding and had a son! So we've had quite a few financial priorities.

Now that the house down payment is no longer a focus we're putting all our energy into paying down our student loan debt. Which is a good thing because my husband graduated in November adding another $35K in loan debt!

I plan to pay off both our last private student loans by the end of this year. That's $12,961. That will bring us from $74k to $61K. Still a lot to go but it's doable.

On average I think we'll be able to pay off at least $10k per year - though my hope is that by using my raises and bonuses we'll up that number quite a bit. It's been great reading everyone's stories - keep them coming!

Hello everyone,

Had some free time and thought I would check in. Have backslid a bit since my last post in March. I had surgery in April followed by the birth of my son via C-section in June. Then he got sick at the age of 2 weeks and we spent the weekend in the hospital while he fought off an infection. Thankfully the wife and baby are both ok which is the important thing. However I now have shifted my focus to the medical bills. While those bills aren't bad (a couple thousand, I have great insurance) our cars have required some work too. So now my goal is med bills, credit cards, unsecured bank loan, then finally back to student loans.

I've made a few changes to make things easier. I got a forbearance on my federal consolidation loan. The payment I normally make to it is being applied to what I listed above. We cut the directv and use Netflix streaming now. $80 --> $8.

Question: My company matches 8% of our 401k contributions ( 75% on the first 4, 50% on the 2nd 4). Presently I'm not making contributions. However I feel like I am leaving money on the table. Should I slow down on the debt and fund this to 8%? Since I am 27, I really don't expect Social Security to be around when I hit retirement age lol.

Plus I want to stop renting as soon as I can and get into a house. I have $1200 a month going out the window that could be turning into equity. So I guess to rephrase the previous question: Debt vs House vs 401k match. Thoughts?

Gwrol, I think to say you have had a busy last couple of months would be an understatement.

On the 401k question: I would just do out the numbers and think about it.

If you make 60k and don't contribute up to the match, you are losing out on 3k of extra earnings from your employer. Over 20 years at 5% growth that's $103k+, over 30 years it's $208k+, 40 years...$380k, anyway you get the picture. I'd at least for certain do to the first 4% and consider doing the 2nd 4% strongly.

Renting for a family at $1,200 a month isn't too bad. I would slowly starting putting down payment money away, but I wouldn't rush it. While you might be gaining equity, even just a $200k house is going to run you at least $1,500 a month for mortgage, taxes etc. And that is without all the possible headache that may come with a 200k house.

The most conservative approach would be paying down the loans, it offers a fixed return on your investment. Although as everyone on here can attest, it is definitely the least exciting and fun as your 3 options.

Anyway, longwinded, but that is my opinion, hope you are having fun and surviving the new bundle of joy.

It's been quiet on here but just wanted to give a quick update. We've made an offer on a house that has been verbally accepted. We're in the throws of dealing with mortgage approval now...so nothing is finalized for a while.

The good news is - we've been waiting to pay off my one private student loan (the money is in a savings account waiting!) until the mortgage process is over. It looks like we may be able to pay off Sallie Mae (and give them the metaphorical finger ) in the next two weeks!!!

I am slowly making progress on my own student debts.

Av8,
Welcome! Really glad to have you join the group.
Interesting setup you have, for sure! I definitely have some thoughts on it. Would you mind if I discussed it on the podcast?
Best,

DoMoneyBetter thanks for getting back to me!

August 2012

$53,455, another big month, hopefully around 2% a month can be the norm for now, trying to balance it with real estate investing. Projecting to complete this goal by the end of 2014 at the moment.

Dec 11: 13,144/73,625 = 17.9% done
Jan 12: 13,942/73,625 = 18.9% done (+1%)
Feb 12: 14,608/73,625 = 19.84% done (+.94%)
Mar 12: 15,380/73,625 = 20.89% done (+1.05%)
Apr 12: 16,071/73,625 = 21.83% done (+.94%)
May 12: 16,729/73,625 = 22.72% done (+.89%)
Jun 12: 17,482/73,625 = 23.75% done (+1.03%)
Jul 12: 18,703/73,625 = 25.4% done (+1.65%)
Aug 12: 20,169/73,625 = 27.39% done (+1.99%)

How is everyone else doing? I've seen a lot of new folks and questions, but not many updates?

Not sure how to quote yet..but I'm figuring it out.

DoMoneyBetter, Under normal circumstances, I would totally agree with you. Unfortunately my job security is uncertain at best. Since they just fired 10 people (more experienced than myself), I think I'm actually going to be saving more this year. If I can just make it to my third year at this company, I should be okay for the future.

I also found out some great news! I qualify for the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program for $17.5k. So all the more reason to stay in education. All I need to do is reduce my $28.8k loans to below $17.5k in 4 years.

I am on track to have about $11k.

By the way, paid off $334 in principal. Not much, but it will do just nicely.

Hi everyone! I've been viewing these boards for a few months and wanted to jump into the action.

My wife and I got married in July 2011 and this past March decided to get crazy on our debt (all student loans) and get these things paid off as fast as we could. We both recently turned 27 and I wanted to have everything paid off before we were 30. But 3 years seemed too long for me so we've set a goal to get all $116k worth of SL debt paid off by Summer 2014. It's gonna be tough but with our income and budget that we're fine tuning each month I think we can make it.

In March 2012 we had around $116k in combined undergrad debt. We had about $18k left over after our wedding and made the bold choice to make a $1k emergency fund and throw everything else at our SL. So right off the bat we got it under $100k which was a little victory.

Since March we're now down to $84,500 left (so about $31,500 paid – about $16,500 if you take away the big pile of cash we started with) and it feels great. We’re following the Dave Ramsey method and have paid off 10 individual loans which was very rewarding. At our pace of around $3000+/month paying down debt we have 27 months to go and we’re inclined to pay more now that we’re getting moving – it really is snowballing.

Here’s a breakdown of our remaining loans:

Jason Citi = $12,369 @ 2%
Jason Citi = $12,047 @ 2%
Jason Citi = $11,473 @ 1.75%
Jason Citi = $13,042 @ 1.75%
Erin Citi = $11,515 @ 2%
Erin Citi = $12,739 @ 2%
Jason Sallie Mae = $9,299 @ 2.326%

Total = ~ $82,487

Can’t wait to pay these off in 2 years and start our EF and reward ourselves with a nice vacay!!! I’ll need the help, advice and inspiration to keep us going now that we’re hitting the large loan balances and won’t pay them off for 4-5 months at a time. I look forward to taking this journey with everyone and getting to the point where we get to keep our income for ourselves!

- Jason