It's been a wild week, but I was able to make another payment, $200 on my student loan. I am very happy that I'm finally able to make some progress. 

Other news, I've been super sick. It's not COVID,and I'm thankful.  I have been down like four flat tires. I haven't been able to work my part time job, which sucks, health is a priority. I'm looking forward to a restful weekend. 

I don't want to hear crap from any Trumpers who think that this execution of this young man justified!

I have been in tears all day, trying to comprehend when, how and why are we at this state in this country. 

As a Black woman I have experienced racism, in the workplace, friends of friends, school etc. I didn't learn about what my parents endured until later on in life. You read about the Little Rock 9, sit ins and you think, this was so long ago. And now here we are real time, watching a US president order executions on citizens and people that can do something aren't. I'm devastated. Lord please forgive us 

I'm not the best with money but I'm trying. The mentally of some people baffle me but that's a different story. 

Though I kept at it with my student loan, I still fell off track. I just canceled a few subscriptions, Amazon Music $10 a month and Cricut $10 a month. Though I listen to my Amazon Music often, I figured out how to stream the YouTube Music app, which I prefer and pay for to my device.  I don't have cable because I love listening to music. 

I received my Cricut machine about 8 years ago as a gift. Never opened it until last November. I was really imitimated by it. Well I went down this rabbit hole using it, crafting, paid for a subscription but realize, I don't use it as much to justify a subscription, so I canceled it. 

I also found that I had failed to cancel a subscription after the trial period and was charged $10. Well I contacted the company and they're issuing me a refund. 

With the three subscriptions canceled I am saving $30 a month. $30 extra dollars I can add to my student loan. Every little bit helps. 

Lastly, pay day is Wednesday and I'm able to view my part-time job's  paycheck. Needless to say I scheduled $1000 to be paid towards my student loan. I'll be just under $9000, approximately $8787, if I calculated correctly.  The following week I can make a $200 payment. I was hoping to have this gone by March but it's looking more like June. Either way I am thankful. 

I know when I hit send on that last payment I am going to cry. 

Lately my friends have been discussing getting debt free. I think everyone is over it. My brother and his wife just shared that they are. 

For 13 years, I’ve been paying on my student loans—13 long years.

What started as a $33,000–$35,000 loan turned into nearly $90,000, because my income couldn’t keep up with the payment plan.

Some people will say, “Don’t take on debt.” I hear that. But here’s my story.

At the time, I was making $36,000 a year. I was debt-free. Then I lost my job. I went back to school because employers wanted higher education. Since I wasn’t working, I burned through my savings paying rent, electricity, water, and my phone bill—so I ended up relying on credit cards again.

Then depression hit. Thought about taking my own life, thankfully I haven't had these thoughts in years. Prayer and good relationships help. 

After almost 10 months and thousands of applications, I finally landed a job at Target making $13 an hour—and it wasn’t even full-time.  I had already depleted my savings, couldn't get a job , so I decided to go back to school and I used loan money to cover not just tuition, but living expenses too.

After I finished school, I landed a job making $55,000 a year—the most I’d ever made. Then they let me go. I cried, but I was also thankful, because I truly believe God removed me from a mess. Federal agents eventually raided the place and the owners went to jail. I was interviewed by the feds and asked to be their witness. That's a different story. 

Long story short, I was unemployed again. I used my savings, what little I had, to pay bills, including my student loans. I found another job making $36,000. I left because I needed more money and found one at $40,000—then my dad fell ill. Because I didn’t meet the FMLA requirements, I was let go.

My dad passed away. My brother sued me (I won, but it still cost me money). And I was unemployed for another 10 months. Living off savings once again. 

Eventually, I found a job making $40,000—only to learn my direct report came in making $50,000 . I had been with the company two two years, no raise. I asked for a raise after learning that the person who was reporting to me with no degree, experience my title was senior there's was not was making more than I was. It took months to get it. I finally received it, but by then I’d already decided to leave.

I found another job making $55,000, all while still paying student loans and other bills. Then COVID hit. I left my job, started consulting, and that’s what finally helped me pay my loans down—no interest for a period of time, and I was earning $10,000–$12,000 a month consulting. I threw what I could at those loans. Paid off two and consolidated the other two, now my balance is just under $10k. 

Life isn’t easy. Many of us are paying these loans and interest is outpacing the payments—and we can’t keep up.

I understand we borrowed the money. I believe it should be paid back. I also understand lenders deserve to make money. But I don’t believe it should take 13 years to pay off a $33,000–$35,000 student loan. And I don’t agree that someone can pay for years and still watch the balance increase.

People are trying to do better. They want to. But the system is designed in a way that keeps too many people stuck.

How much money is “enough” to finally breathe?

I’m not mad at billionaires for being rich. I’m mad at the greed—and the way it lands hardest on people who have the least margin for error.

I’m also reading more and more about how tens of millions of people are at risk of defaulting on their loans due to the changes  that the Trump administration has made. Things are going to get worse, I pray that I'm wrong. 

And I’ll leave you with this—something I’ve seen with my own eyes:

Leadership was asked to approve employee raises and said no. That same leadership team’s bonus ranged from $500,000 to $1,000,000 in a single quarter—while employees were making $13.50 an hour, rent was $3,800, and support like food assistance and childcare subsidies were being cut. How can you accept a bonus, quarterly when people are suffering? I don't know I'd rather go without a little so that that mother who's catching the bus, with no lunch could make a little more. 

Do some people abuse the system? Yes. Is that most people? No. Should everyone be punished because of a few? Absolutely not.

If we don’t stand up for the people, who will?

Okay… stepping off my soapbox now.

Finally my $780 payment hit my student loan, I'm officially under $10k. My new balance is $9,991.01. 

The daily interest is about $2. Next week is pay day with the first job so I'll be able to throw another $250 on it.  

Side-note, I'm learning to keep my mouth shut with the second job. I know that there are a ton of things that's going wrong, but I need the money so I'm just going to keep my mouth shut. Make my two grand a paycheck so that I can pay this thing off, hopefully by March. Basically, I have a manager who's an idiot who makes very poor decisions and I do try to correct them, but it frustrates me so much that I'm learning to just focus on the plan and where I can chime in chime in

I received a 2.55% raise. I wasn’t initially excited about this; I thought it could have been higher. However, it is what it is, and I have to remember that some people don’t have jobs right now. 

What really changed my outlook on things was that I increased my 401(k) contributions by 2% because (I can’t enter 2.55%). I didn’t realize I was at an 8% contribution rate; I thought it was lower. I must have bumped my contribution last year when we got a raise. I’m at 10% contributions, with the 2% bump. I’ve never in my life contributed this much, I’m so thankful to have been able to do this. My organization matches up to 45% and you’re vested from day one, I’m very thankful for this. 

My balance is $36,419.75, just in three years. I know I’m way behind, I’ve used my 401(k) in the past to pay bills when I wasn’t working( never do this if you can help it). Though I know there is still room for improvement as it relates to my finances, however, I am thankful that I learned the importance of saving and reducing my debt. 

Once this student loan is gone, I can bump this amount more. 

Other news, I started back using my planner, thus always keep me on track, as well as blogging. Accountability is key.