I'm participating in a savings challenge, rather than saving the money I'm throwing it at my student loan, $41 was paid towards my loans today. 

It's just a little over the anticipated weekly interest incurred. November is my first official payment, I honestly thought it was October, either way I'll keep chipping away at it. 

Between September 1st and the 4th my student loan interest has accumulated $18.15 in interest. That’s about $4.53 a day, or about $135.00 month. I’m not sure if this is right since Monday was a holiday. It’s  ridiculous how the interest works on these loans, but here we are. 

I’m thankful for the three year freeze, and am thankful that I was able to pay off two loans, I can’t imagine much my loan would grow had I not done this. Not many people were able to take advantage of the freeze and pay towards their loan. 

I pray that I can get things under control. My goal is to pay the interest accrued at the end of each week, in attempt to make things manageable. I can’t think of any other way. 

Let me know if you have any ideas. 

Other non financial news, after three years I contracted COVID from an infected colleague who traveled while feeling not well. I feel much better but I'm still a little down. SMH

I had a few things come up so I couldn't make my semi-monthly payment of $160, towards the student loan. I paid only $100. 

This is one thing that freaks me out, what if I can't make the payment when things kick back up again. I pray all goes well. 

I am making a little less, but I like the new job. Sometimes it's not about the money but our peace. 

Inflation is definitely here, my grocery bill has skyrocketed. I use to budget $200 a month, now it's about $80 more s month. Thankfully me not driving into work helps, what I save in gas goes towards my food bill.

That's it for now.  

I’ve been sharing with others that the interest on student loans, and repayments are scheduled to start back up with interest accruing first in September, followed by the  first payment due in October. 

Though I can only worry about myself ( I haven’t stopped paying), I’m still anxious about this happening. I’m scared, anxious and  nervous and I don’t know why. Maybe because no one is talking about it. I’m in different financial groups, follow financial gurus and nothing.  It’s almost as if no one is expecting this to start, strange. 

 I recently paid $96 dollars to round things to an even number, I hate odd numbers on any of my debts, don’t  ask me why. 

In preparation for repayment , I signed up for auto pay which saves me a very small amount on interest. I have to remember not to make any payments next month (September).  The reason why is that my first payment of $318.68 is scheduled to hit on October 15th. Since I get paid bi-monthly, (for a while I would pay $160 a pay date for a total of $320 for the month), I want to make sure the funds are available when payments starts. 

 If I skip the September monthly payment that I normally make, the funds are surely to be available on the 15th of October. 

I can surely make extra payments, and I want to, I just need to figure out how much and when. I’ll be reviewing my budget. 

I bought my home a few years ago, and ever since I’ve started making payments, I always pay a little extra extra towards the principal. Sometimes it’s $10, $800, $60, it’s always something. I swear this was/is the best decision I’ve ever made financially. My goal is to have my mortgage paid off early, and I think it’s going to happen. 

When mortgage rates were low, I refinanced. I was nervous as hell to do so but I did. I did some research on why I should, spoke with two friends who are financially savvy, I think I also posted here. Either way I got some good advice, and understood why it would be beneficial to me yo do so. 

I ended up getting my rate down to 2.75% and reduced by $200 a month. The money saved from the refinance,  I used to help throw at my student loans. 

I’d shared with my sister to refinance her mortgage and shared why it would have been beneficial, she refused. Once before she’d done this and locked into a balloon mortgage and lost her home (2008). I told her she was wiser now and to ensure that the rate was fixed. She now regrets not doing so, especially with rate hikes in Florida’s homeowners insurance. That’s a different story. 

I can’t help but wonder how fear hold so many of us back, myself included. 

Once I get these student loans gone, I’m going to throw that amount at my mortgage. I can’t wait to do so. I honestly think I’ll be debt free including my mortgage in 10 years. I’ll see. 

today I'll make my September mortgage payment (I like to pay early), for now I’m going to continue to add extra to mortgage, I’m averaging about $60 a month. 

One of my goals for 2023 was to knock out 1/3 of my student loans. I am way benhind on this goal, I've paid just over $2,000. This really ticks me off. I've had so many expenses come up, I can only think that had I not had these this thing would be gone. 

Nothing like crunching the numbers for a reality check. Starting September I'll throw about $1000 a month to it, that's about $4,000 by the end of year. I'm estimating that it will take me two years to pay this thing off. 

Fingers crossed 

I’m slowly but surely getting my feet wet with investing. I’ve opened an IRA, not much, however, I contribute monthly so that I have funds to invest with. 

I only purchase stocks of those organizations that I’m loyal to, some pay dividends some don’t.  I can honestly say, that they’re (stocks) doing pretty good, even in these times. I am happy because I  feel like I made some good choices. I still have a lot to learn though. 

My best performing stocks is Walmart and Costco, my worst, Nike. Nike was also my first ever purchase. However, for the most part I’ve seen a positive gain over all. Sometimes I can kick myself because I hadn’t purchased more, especially of the Costco stock. 

I’m proud of myself for stepping out. I am way behind the eight ball and I’m looking forward to getting this student loan down, so that I’ll have more funds to invest. 

I’ve decided that for every $5k paid off on the student loan I’m going to increase my 401(k) contribution by 1%. I should have the loan at $30k by December. It sucks that the student loan interest is starting back up. For me it means I have to decrease my IRA contribution temporarily and throw the funds at the student loans. 

I’m not going to lie, it would have been a huge help had the loan forgiveness went through. I’m glad I kept paying when the interest rates were frozen. I wish I could get another year, lol but oh well. 

For me the ability to throw $2k or $5 at a time on my loan felt great. Now I have a payment of $319, I’m readjusting my budget so that I’m ready. I hope others are as well. 

Student loan payment kicks back up in October. I wish I was in a position to be much more aggressive with paying things off but hey, I got this thing down to just over $32,0000 when I was close to 90k, so I’m happy with that. I’ve been throwing extra when ever I can, sometimes the amount is as little as $8, by doing this for the month of July I paid $584 towards my student loans. 

My fence is falling apart so I had to get a replacement, HOA requires it. I was able to pay cash (half down) to get the job started. I also took the money out of my money market account and paid off my shutters and kitchen. It stung, to take $8k out but it’s better than paying interest on a CC, and I still have enough saved to cover my expenses for about 6-8 months. 

I feel like everything with the house is falling apart all at once. I had to replace my water heater, refrigerator, cabinets, and now the fence. 

I also decided to do something fun for myself once a quarter. I know I should throw at debt; however, I need these breaks. Good thing is, I’m able to pay cash. 

So basically I’m just bracing my self for the student loan payments to start back up. 

I'm so happy to hear that the Supreme Court has allowed the $6 billion student loan debt settlement. There's still another case pending but this is good news. 

I've been privileged enough to knock my debt down from $80k+ to just over $30k during the freeze on interest. I also consolidated my loan. I'll continue to pay and if I'm granted a forgiveness, I'll be thankful and if I don't I'll still be thankful because over the last two and a half years I accumulated no interest. 

I don't know why people have a problem with this loan forgiveness but hey. I still think that the student loan debt guarantee needs to done with. Lenders would be more cautious with lending if this wasn't the case. 

I haven't updated my sidebar but will do so over the weekend. 

The application to apply for relief finally opened and I applied. Fingers crossed that I get something. In the meantime, I'll keep paying 

I think I may have received partial student loan forgiveness. I had applied to consolidate the last two loans in hopes that I would receive the full $20k, my consolidation app is still in progress, but when I logged in to make a payment my new balance was $29,999.92; down from $35,500. I'm a little bummed but thankful. I'll take whatever. 

I'll follow up on Monday and continue to make payments. It's strange that the balance is low but no information is provided as to why.  My goal is to be done with this loan sometime next year. 

Well prayerfully we won’t get hit with a storm. 

I literally just got an estimate on hurricane shutters, $6k for all windows. The good thing is I won’t have to run around trying to get plywood, nails and someone to put them up once they’re installed. Not to mention, I think I also get a decrease on my homeowners insurance. I’m thankful I have the cash to pay for it. 

With the storm approaching I’m also thankful I locked in my price prior. Things tends to go up around here once there is a hurricane. 

Last week at work was much better, I’m still looking for another job though. I decided to put my foot down and not let that nitwit administrator run my department. S/he’s an idiot, and is now officially on my documentation list. I shared with my assistant that s/he isn’t to have one conversation with him/her without me as a witness and vice versa. I hate when things comes to this, especially since I’ve only been there a month, but this individual is trouble so I need to cover my 

a🤬 until I find another job. 

Everyone complains about this individual, but won’t share with the executive. I’ve shared my concerns with my executive and it’s whatever, well at least it appears that way.

Other news, I’ve applied to consolidate my student loan today. This will give me more bang for my buck if I am eligible for the loan forgiveness, it will allow for the full $20k pay off.  I’m just shy four years for 100% loan forgiveness, I worked at a nonprofit for about 6 years total 

Just dropped $500 on my student loans. If feels good to be able to start this back up aggressively paying it off after a few months hiatus. 

Though I’d love to see my lower balance loan knocked out, it makes more sense financially to tackle the larger loan since there is interest involved, and payments will resume in January. I’m still hoping I see some forgiveness but if not at least I know I’m working on it 

I wish there was a change in the repayment practices though. It makes no sense to make payments for years only to see the loan increase. Ridiculous 

I'm confused about which student loan to tackle. 

student loan 3 has a balance of $7700 with no interest. Student loan 4 has a balance of $27,600 with interest. 

I don't think I'm eligible for the loan forgiveness and I'm not upset about it. However, my dilemma is whether should I pay the loan that has no interest or the one with an interest balance in hopes that I do get forgiveness. 

Another part of me is telling me to knock this $7700 balance out quickly 

Just wanted to share that I landed a mid-level contract on Thursday and a lower-level one on Friday, both are remote.  So I should be able to net about $3500 a month. 

I also had an interview for a full-time remote position on Friday that went well and I’ll be moved to the second round, just waiting to hear from the recruiter, regarding scheduling. 

I’m also scheduled for two additional second rounds with two other organizations. One is in person $100k a year the other is remote $85k full benefits, honestly, I’ll take the remote job over the office, it’s not about to pay for me. It’s more so my peace of mind and the $100k role sounds toxic, I’ll explore and see what the CEO has to say. 

In other financial news, I’ve been able to make about $400 in gift cards submitting content for HR professionals. This has allowed me to significantly decrease my grocery, household, and personal budgeted line items. I wish I could use it for gas, but I’ll take this. 

I also had to pay close to $700 to get my car fixed. I’m glad I have the money in both my car fund and baby EF. I paid using my credit card for points and will pay the bill today.  I’m disappointed I had to tap into the funds though. I think I’ll take the funds from the baby EF since my six-month car insurance renewal is coming. 

Tonight is my class reunion, so I washed my hair and colored it, saved me $55 I’m adding this towards my EF. My goal was to get to $20k this year, and I’m $3k away. 

Lastly, I paid an extra $50 on the student loans. I’m praying I get one of those remote gigs because if that’s the case I can pay number 3 off next month 

I received my $800 payment from my long-term client,  paid my tithes of $80 and I have $720 left. I plan on keeping $500 in my checking account and using $200 towards savings and debt.

I always struggle with how much to save, pay towards my snowball but for savings I decided to round up and for debt I decided to round down. 

So for today I will be saving or paying the below: 

$29.63 EF

$13.04 car fund

$16.96 baby EF 

$15 vacation fund 

$50 student loan

$68.59 mortgage 

$20 IRA 

I'm so upset that I won't be meeting my June goal of paying off my student loan; however, I have to remember that I came a very long way and by the grace of God I was able to do what I have done. Actually, the goal was to pay it off by December but I was doing so well that I thought jube would be the month. 

I think that when I get the settlement check rather than paying the September mortgage and the November HOA, put that money aside. My thinking is I should land a job/contract by then and the money saved I'll just throw it at my student loan. If I don't get a gig well at least I know I have the money. 

Seems like saving and paying debt is the story of my life. I can't wait to reach financial freedom. But is that such a thing? 

It was bugging me that I couldn't pay the typical amounts I normally pay on my student loan but I wanted to pay something so $25 it was. The new balance on loan number three is $7,950. 

I figured something is better than nothing. 

I get a check from another client this month for $800, I'm going to use this for some of the repairs I have to have done around the house. I wish so badly I could throw this at my debt but here we are. 

Other financial news. I had to get gas yesterday, to fill up my Camry, it was $71.00. I couldn't believe it. Two years ago it was about $30. I'm so thankful that I'm not driving into work, this would kill me. I would have to fill up weekly, now it's every 30-days or so. It might be longer because I now walk to the grocery store. 

I also went to Walmart. I noticed my waterpik stopped working so I needed a new one, cost me $40. Then I needed a filter for my sink. The new faucet didn't have one, and there were particles in the water, that was $30. SMH. 

Next I needed detergent, bleach, and dishwasher liquid, all in all I spent almost $90 on four items. My God! I don't know how families are doing it. 

Things are not going to get any better. I've been saying since 2020, that we are in a recession; it's just that most of us aren't feeling it and now we are starting to feel it. I'm so nervous about what is to come. 

I need to start preparing for hurricane season, because not only are things scarce they're expensive. 

Paid an extra $25 on the mortgage and student loan each, now I'm officially under $8000 on student loan number three (3). See sidebar. 

I have to invoice my client on Monday. They're pretty good with paying the bill timely. If I get it before I leave for my trip, I'll pay another $2,000+ on student loan number 3. 

I'm so excited to see this number decrease. It's a matter of weeks by the time I pay this loan off then it's officially onto the last loan, that's about $28k. This will take some time because I'm going to slow down while I max out my IRA. I'm shifting my focus a bit after paying student loan number 3 because I'm behind on saving for retirement and I want to make sure I max out my IRA before the end of the year. 

I plan to pause student loan number 4 since it's interest-free for two months and throw everything at the IRA, then tackle the student loan. 

I know this isn't the Dave way but it's my way and it works for me. Age is not on my side. 

Welp, I thought my check wouldn't clear until Friday, since I'd deposited it late last night. Well it cleared today and I paid $2100 towards student loan (number 3), now I wait patiently for the balance to show $8k. 

I'm so happy, I should be able to meet my goal of paying this off before June. After crunching the numbers, student loan number 3 should be paid off next month, right after I return from vacation.  

Wow, is all I can actually say. 

I can't believe where I've come from. I have worked so hard to save and pay off debt. I've done it before but this time seems more difficult. I don't know if it's because I'm older, had more debt, or simply have a better understanding of money. Either way I'm making progress. 

I re-worked my budget to include extra payments on the mortgage. I know some will say why pay extra on the mortgage when you have student loan debts? Well because it makes me feel good and keeps me motivated. So today as I prepare for my trip, I paid my May mortgage and an extra $71.11 towards the principal. I absolutely love the amortization table, I use this to round down my debt. 

Other news, looking at my side bar you can see that I'm way behind the eight ball as it relates to my retirement account. I also re-worked the budget so that I max out my IRA account this year. I'm self-employed so I have no 401(k). I did a little research and learned that a SEP might work for me. I'm able to double what I'm contributing to an IRA to a SEP, so this might work. I've set up a call upon my return with a member of the Fidelity team. 

Also about a week ago, I bought my first stocks, Nike, because I'm a Nike snob. Well it's been exciting to watch how my stocks are doing, following the news on the company and all, not to mention the highs a lows. I'm new to this whole investing thing so I'm nervous as hell, I only bought five shares (I do plan on increasing). I must say that  I'm happy with the progress I'm making. I decided to follow a few other companies and every month when I deposit to my IRA, I'll take a little and buy a few shares. By doing this, I have an entire month to research the companies before purchasing. 

Friday is pay day for me and I'll be dropping $2100 on my student loan, this will bring my third student loan balance under $10k. I'm so happy I can scream. I still cant believe that in just over a year and a half I've paid off over $40k in student loans. Plus my other credit card debts. 

If you're new to this journey, keep pushing it gets better. 

I can't discuss the details of my case for nonpayment of services, but I wanted to let you all know we settled and I am pleased. I hate it had to come this but here we are. 

Edited to add that I paid another $100 on student loan #3, the balance is now $10,100. I can see the end. 

Praise God, the Biden administration has extended the pause on interest and payments for student loans again. 

I logged into my account and read, Federal student loan flexibilities for the COVID-19 emergency have been extended through August 31, 2022. This is awesome! I'm slated to pay off student loan number 3 in June and can begin to tackle student loan number 4. 

Though there isn't an official announcement yet, I know that this is true, because it's on the site. 

Many people post that this is the wrong thing to do, people should pay their loss,  yada yada ya. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. One I'm thankful for this, it has allowed me to pay off two loans and be on my way to paying off another, in a span of two years. Had the pause not occurred I'd owe over six figures on the 30k loan.  In my opinion, student loans are like loan sharks. It's ridiculous that unlike a mortgage I am unable to pay down the principal until the interest that compounds daily is paid. Do I believe in paying what I owe, yes? However, if parts of it were forgiven, I'd be thankful and if not I'll just keep chipping away. 

Either way, this extension is a huge help for me and I'm taking advantage of it. 

I did it!

I reworked my budget so that I will max out my IRA for 2022 and meet my savings goals. 

Yes, I'm still paying off debt but for me paying debt and saving simultaneously gives me peace of mind and keeps me motivated. I've learned that everyone’s journey is different and I have to do what best fits my needs and most importantly keep me motivated. Who knows this may change again, but for now here's what happened today. 

$500 added to EF

$773 paid on mortgage principal 

$2000 paid towards student loan number 3

$500 towards IRA 

$205 saved for HOA

$100 for house fund, next few years I'm going to need a roof 

Next week I get another $800 and I’m going to throw it towards my student loan 

One of my clients offered me a full time position, I countered, and if all goes well I will be making $16k a month. Please pray for me. 
If this happens, I can be done with my student loans, and start on my mortgage, this year. 

I am asking that you all send positives vibes and prayers. 

side note, I paid $200 extra on the student loan (#3) 

Though what's happening in Ukraine doesn't impact me directly at this moment, I'm a nervous wreck. 

I am not sure if I should focus on savings or continue paying down my student loans, given this war. I currently have about 8 months worth of expenses saved but my car is old, very old. If I was driving to work I'd probably be looking for a new vehicle right now. 

I guess I'm nervous, things are good but whose to say if my consulting gigs will continue and then I'd have to go back into the office. 
I just don't know. What are you all doing? 

Paid another $200 towards my student loan (#3) and the new balance  is now $12,600. I'm so thankful that I'm finally seeing a dent. 

I went ahead and updated my sidebar to show the new balance. 

Edited to add, I did not meet my goal of $2500, I only paid $2200, feeling a little down 

Paid another $2,000 on my student loan(#3) today. The new total is $12,800, I will have to update my sidebar later. 

I'll be earning another $800 from my side hustle, and will add a little more to the student loans and my IRA. Early March I should be able go pay another $2k, fingers crossed. 

This has been a journey and I'm thankful for the opportunity, to pay these items off. 

I don't know why I struggled today but I did. I did not want to send/pay anything towards the student loan, but I pushed through and paid $422.23 bringing my new balance just below $15k. 

I haven't struggled with this decision before and I'm not sure why I did today. I was like just hit the send button already. Weird 

I also contributed $25 to the IRA, not much and I'm not worried, I should be ble to contribute  the max amount in July. 

That's it for me 

After looking at the mortgage 🏡 I realized I have not made any traction in the four years that I've had this loan. This was my ah-ha moment. 

In December I decided to make one extra mortgage payment 💰  a year. Today I decided that every month, I'm going to round down my mortgage, so today I paid $75 towards the principal and my new balance is $114,600. 

I'm 48 and I've set an aggressive goal to have this loan paid off by my 55th birthday 🎉. 

I know Dave says you can't save and pay down debt, well time is not on my side so I chose not to listen to him. I add to my IRA since I'm self-employed, working on my student loans and mortgage at the same time, I'm just more aggressive with the student loan. I also save money for a rainy day. Yes, I'm making good money 💵  right now; however, either one of my clients can say, hey we're done. Makes no sense to only have $1k saved. With my total savings, I can pay one year's worth of expenses. 

I just realized that I'm back to blogging. I hope this site stays up and running 

I'm so excited, I thought budgeting monthly was going to be hard. When I started working for myself I completely stopped, didn't even try. I continued to knock out my student loans and save a nice chunk but I also spent a little more in a few areas. 

Well, I decided to get back at it, I started back using the cash envelopes and when I tell you I killed it, I killed it. I pay myself about the 20th of each month, monthly, this is also new. Anyway, I came in well under budget, this budget period and had a ton to roll over in my cash envelopes. I usually roll over twice before throwing at debt. 

I also do these money-saving challenges (e.g. 52 weeks) ad love them.  every year that I do these challenges I say I'm getting a new bedroom set, well the money always goes towards my student loans. Last year June, I took half and threw it at my student loan. Then in December I took a little, even though I have a Christmas fund, and used it towards Christmas gifts. Well, I have $955 left of that money and that will pay for my ten days in Greece (housing). My plane ticket was paid in cash last year. I'm so excited. 

For 2022,  I started the savings challenges again and I have $365 saved. This money will be my spending money while in Greece. I'm thinking by the time we go, I’d saved about $1200. Everyone on this trip is just as frugal as I am and I love it. I'm certain I'll probably come home with a ton 

I'm so excited about my journey. Never in my life would I have saved to pay cash for a trip, under any other circumstances this would have been on a credit card. I've never been able to afford COBRA and here I am seven months in and haven't missed a payment. I've never had more than a few thousand dollars saved and here I am close to 30k saved. I just can't believe this