Finally dealing with my debt has been a relief. I still have not opened those other two credit reports and therefore do not have a complete picture, but that is ok. Even though I wanted to get into a position to improve things for a long time I know I have to pace myself. Otherwise I will get discouraged and probably do nothing which will not do any good. Here is what I have tackled so far:
Title Loan
Amount Financed $3,090.00
Amount Paid $6,642.01
Balance Due $2,748.34
Yes I know that is ridiculous lol. The interest rate is outrageously high and I accrued late fees when I could not pay on time or made partial payments. I do not like to say never, but after this experience I can truly say I will never do this again! I am absolutely determined to have a decent EF so that I do not have to resort to this ever again. I seriously cannot wait to pay this off and be done with them forever.
Given that this is my top priority and the interest rate is so high I decided to use a modified Avalanche method. Basically instead of making a monthly payment I am making payments from each paycheck, because I have been blessed with two jobs. Given my estimates of this months income I see this loan paid off before the new year.
Student Loans
Grad $56,475.22
Undergrad $8,666.40
Total $65,141.62
While the goal is to be debt free one day I am less stressed about these debts. Why? Because before my world turned upside down (when I just had my Undergrad loan) this was the one debt I was actually happy to pay. The whole experience of getting this bill, writing a check, and putting it in the mail reminded me of what I had accomplished with the money I borrowed. Despite how easy it was to get a forbearance I felt the guiltiest about being unable to pay this debt. At that time the payment was $100.00 a month and the fact that I could not afford that (or less than that!) made me feel like such a failure.
As soon as I finished my Grad degree this past spring I could not wait to enter repayment. I was still working a low paying job (although permanent full time with benefits) with no idea how long it would take to get a better one so I applied for the Income Based Repayment (IBR) on both loans. I was surprised that IBR gives you the choice of using last years tax return or submitting current paystubs to determine your monthly payment. I opted to use last years tax return because my income was less while a full time student and primarily temping/unemployed. I figured I could use the breathing room to take care of more important debts and get caught up on household bills. Right after I turned in the IBR paperwork I landed my new job, but decided to stick with my original plan. IBR is good for one year and here are my monthly payments:
Grad $0
Undergrad $0
They likely settled on $0 because at the time I was making less than a third of my overall loan total. My hope is that I can begin paying midway through 2015 and at least enjoy writing the interest off on my taxes. When its time to renew in 2015 I am leaning toward using my 2014 tax return so the payments stay low, allowing me to focus on building my EF.
Someplace to Start
December 8th, 2014 at 01:55 am
December 8th, 2014 at 11:23 pm 1418081010
December 9th, 2014 at 01:01 am 1418086889
December 9th, 2014 at 01:34 pm 1418132042
December 9th, 2014 at 03:00 pm 1418137236
December 10th, 2014 at 01:45 am 1418175910
January 5th, 2015 at 12:24 am 1420417454