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  

According to my 2020 student loan statement I owed $72,431.53, for some reason I thought this number was much higher. So I took a look and according to my numbers, my balance was 83,248.27, strange, I can never figure this thing out. 

Anyway as of today the balance is $44,133.09. Just under two years, I’ve paid a total of $28,298.44, if I go with the $72k balance, just under half is paid.  

I’m going to go back and look at my totals. My records show just over $83k was owed. Last year I know I paid over $15k and the year before I paid off one loan that was just over 8k, bringing my total paid to $22,014.76 plus if I add the interest paid on the third loan, it’s about $7k so my total should be almost $30k paid in student. I’m just estimating here.  This is the issue I have, trying to figure this out either way though the numbers are going down. 

I tell ya, had  COVID not happened I’m certain this loan would be at at least or close to $90k. Student loans are similar to loan sharks. I’m all for paying what you borrowed; however I do believe that there needs to some significant overhaul on how these loans operate. The inability to pay on one’s principal is disgusting, the loan is guaranteed and compounding sucks. 

I know COVID has negatively impacted a ton of people; however for me it was a blessing. The freeze on interest was a game changer, I’m praying someone (or more) who can make a difference has an ah ha moment and not only say but do something about this. 

I’m not eligible for loan forgiveness and I’m happy for those who are and who have received it. I’m not sure why people get pissed off about this, it’s ridiculous. Yes I’m paying my loans, no I’m not eligible and no I’m not mad if loan forgiveness is afforded to others and not me. We forgive so much for so many any not for these kids. I’m just thankful I was able to pay such a significant amount, and not getting myself whined up about someone’s blessings. 

I’m floored, happy, disgusted, sad etc. basically my emotions are all over the place. I want these loans gone so bad, I can scream. In the end, I’ll keep plugging away as much as I can. 

It’s official, I’ve paid off the interest on student loan number three and I can now start tackling the principal. I’m so excited I can scream! 

Principal balance is $15,421.43. Hopefully, when I get my check from my client next week, I can pay the $421.23 to make things an even number. 

I’ll have to see. I have an eye appointment next week so I’m sure I’ll need new glasses. So I may not be able to add anything. 

I’m just so happy to finally see some traction. 

In honor of my birthday and turning the fabulous 48, I decided to pay $48 on my student loan. 

Normally I'm out and about for my birthday but today all I wanted to do was rest. Unfortunately, I worked, well I'm thankful so I shouldn't say unfortunately. I work for myself, and my clients needed attention, and I'm thankful for the opportunity to serve. I am heading to Greece for my birthday later this year, that's my a gift to myself and  I've paid cash for this trip 

In financial news, I've reworked my budget and I should be able to pay the final amount in interest on my student loan, #3, next week, this will allow me to start tackling the principal. With student loans, you must pay the interest before paying the principal. Fingers crossed that I can have this loan paid off before the interest starts back up. 

My brother paid me back, $150. I took this money and threw it at my student loan, and the new balance is $17,500 (student loan #3), I'll update my sidebar later.

Looking at my budget, I may be able to add $2000 at the end of the month, fingers crossed. 

Though I am not finished, I crunched a few numbers today and in 2020 I saved over $10k and paid off $20k in debt. I'll complete my year-end round-up later, I just felt great about 2020 and needed to share 

Happy New Year 🍾 🎆

I can't complain this has been a fabulous year. 

Here's a quick recap but ill be spending the weekend reviewing and finalizing things 

• Quit my toxic job
• Paid off a student loan
• Paid down my second student loan 
• Met my goal of one extra mortgage payment 
• Met my savings goals 
• Turned my side hustle into a nice little job 
• Improved my blood pressure, no longer on meds 
• Main bills paid through February 
• Mood improved drastically 
• Closed out the year with extra payment to my student loan and mortgage 

This has been a great year 

I know Dave says X; however, I can't follow his plan completely, for me it is about staying motivated. 

Yesterday I dropped $750 extra on my student loan. I surpassed my monthly goal of $500 for December.  I paid a total of $1250 for the month and next week I'm planning on another $250. 

One goal I had for 2021 was to pay an extra mortgage payment towards my principal. I honestly didn't think I'd meet this goal but after looking at my budget and making some adjustments $444 was paid. I know Dave says not to tackle the mortgage while paying off debt; however, for me this keeps me going. And my thought is who cares as long as the debt is paid. 

I promised myself that I'd make one extra payment a year and once the student loss is gone go full force. I’m glad I paid it, I feel great. 

I also went back to the cash envelope system, something Ramsey recommends. I do spend more when I’m not using cash. 

I’m so looking forward to 2022. It’s going to be a fabulous year. 

I'm thankful that the student loan forbearance on interest has continued. My goal is to have my third loan paid off by February. 

I know some people are against this but it's been a big help. I've gone from about 80k in student loan debt to about $45k in just over a year. No way would I had been able to do so if these were incurring interest. I'm sure I’d pays them off eventually but not at this speed. 

Paid an extra $750 on this loan 

I made another payment of $100 to my student loans. I'm so happy to be making traction.

I know some do not believe that students need help but I'll be the first to say, I would not have been able to pay off  $35,000 in the last two years had it not been for the relief we received. I pray that we get another six months, but I doubt it. I'm okay if we don't, just thankful for something and the opportunity to tackle this debt. 

My goal is to pay off the third loan by June of next year. 

I decided to wait for the escrow analysis and paid the extra $100 that I would have paid towards my student loan. So as of today, I paid  $500 towards my student loan. I’m so excited about this. I honestly think that the way things are going, I’ll have this sucker paid off by February. 

Who would have thought that I would have ever been able to tackle this massive debt 💸. Sadly COVID hurt so many people; however for me it was a blessing. I was able to kick start my business and pay off two student loans, now working on the third. 

I also booked my 2022 trip.  I know I should have used the money towards the debt but hey, I’ve been working extremely hard and am ready for a trip 

I am so thankful and blessed to finally be in a happy place.

My escrow for taxes and insurance was about $200 short. When I make my next payment should I add extra to cover that? Or pay the money on my student loan and wait for my escrow analysis? 

It’s not much however I’m happy. Today, I bumped my IRA contribution to $100 a month, I’m hoping to eventually max this out since I’m not getting any younger. 

I also paid $100 on my student loans. 

Since I’m not great at managing my money without a pay check, I got with my accountant  who will begin paying me a paycheck bi-weekly, withholding taxes starting in January. 

My interview with my third client went well and I’m estimating, approximately $24,000 a month for the next three months if I land that contract. I’m exhausted but the plan is to max out my IRA, pay off my student loan and get my mortgage down. 

I can't help but think that had I not had these student loans I'd be half way to paying my house off 

Well here’s an update. 

Paid $100 on  student loan #2 and I’m now  at $19,600. I’m hoping to throw another $4000 at it by the end of the month. Hopefully I can pay it off by February. 

My lawyer called and the company that ripped me off offered $2,500, he recommended we reject it. The sad thing is the language they’re using implies that I was to be an employee and not a contractor which by the way is worst. They technically violated DOL FLSA rules, SMH.  If they go with the amount requested by my lawyer, I plan on throwing it all at my student loan. 

I also have the possibility of picking up another client at about $8k a month and I submitted a RFP with a partner for $300k on a six month project. Fingers crossed. 

All in all, I’ve made more money in one month that I have working two months at a job that was very toxic. 

Lastly, I see that the site has a new look. I like it but had a hard time on my phone, locating how to create an entry. 

Made my first payment on my third student loan. My goal is to pay something no matter how small each week. This week, I paid $50.63.  I’m hoping to have this loan paid off by December 2022, then on to the next one. 

I’m excited to start this journey. 

Great news, my payment from my second client came in today, just over $8100. Well, $4900 of that will go to paying off my second student loan. I’m so thankful that I can scream. These last six months has been great, I feel truly blessed. 

Last month when I received their payment, about $8600, I paid all my bills through December. So this month was earmarked for the student loan. 

I also picked up another client today, well we started today, and I will average about $8000 a month with them. I opened a business account and will be paying myself through payroll. Since I paid all the bills through December, my payroll won’t start until January. 

I’m still waiting on the $5-$10,000 from my first client. Prayers that they pay what is owed. 

I looked at my checking account and realized I had an extra $1,000 I could pay towards my student loans, so I did so. I'm so thankful that the interest is not accumulating, it's given me the opportunity to actually make a difference. Hopefully I'll have my second one paid off by the end of this month. 

My new balance is $4,960, for this one. My new overall balance is $53,576.29, in two years I've paid off about $30k. 

Happy Sunday everyone!

As promised I wanted to check in and let you all know how things are going. 

First, my job is very stressful, our CEO needs to retire, but she refuses. She’s done a great job with getting the business where it is but we can’t move forward under her leadership. I’ve submitted about 85 applications in the last 30 days and nothing. For those saying people don’t want to work, I say think again. It took a friend over a year to land a job. This was his first and only offer. 

Next, I managed to get my emergency fund to $14,000. I’ve never had that much money. Though this is a drop in the bucket for some, it’s a lot for others. I’m so proud of myself. My goal is to save about a years worth of my take home pay. 

Moving onto my student loans, I’d slowed down because the HOA is attempting to amend the bylaws to force everyone to change the roofs even if there is no damage. I’ve been praying this does not pass. Any way I started back at it. I got my second loan down to $6500, I’ll be paying another $300-$400 this week. It feels good seeing this go away, even if it is slow. 

My internet has been down since Wednesday, this sucks but I have to finish my taxes, I’ll do that today using my phone’s hotspot. Thank goodness I completed most of it. I just have to add the tax ID of my side hustle and hit send. 

I’m still trucking along with the 52 Week Challenge as well as the $2021 for 2021. I had fell behind a bit but I’m catching up. This money will go towards my student loans. 

I’m still paying an extra $25 a month on my mortgage and adding an extra $25 to my IRA each month. I know Dave says not to do this but I’m older and it gives me a peace of mind. 

Health wise, I’ve been walking more so my blood pressure has been great. Hopefully when I see the doctor I can get off these pills completely. 

That’s it for now