Today, I submitted the final payment towards my Undergrad Student Loans. Despite never exceeding $11K during its peak balance, minuscule compared to what I accumulated during graduate school. Like starting a new job and snagging those “quick wins” or “low-hanging fruit” to designate you as a rising star in the organization, this should motivate me going forward.
The Payoff!
It truly is gratifying to reach zero. They became due in July 2010 entering deferment while in B-school, so the adjusted payoff date must’ve been January 2022. Instead, they are gone by December 2017. However insignificant, I could not have accomplished this without my parents. They are the reason that my loans were only $11K while costing ~$45K for all 4.5 years of undergrad. I also found out later that my Mom periodically sent $50 payments to the servicer while I was still finishing to limit the accruing interest. Writing about this makes me a bit teary-eyed and grateful for them.
What’s Next?
Sadly, there won’t be any other quick wins on this journey – it’s all attrition, determination and belt-tightening moving forward. From a fundamental standpoint, it made sense to pay Undergrad off first because it had the highest interest rate and lowest balance – reconciling the two schools of debt payoff – snowball and avalanche. The minimum payment was $82 but I elected to pay a little extra at $110/mo. That amount will be reallocated to the Grad PLUS loan with the highest interest rate, a balance of ~$14K.
For the first few months of 2018, there won’t be extra $400 or $500 chunk payments like in late 2017 because the holidays will be costly with travel, presents, etc. Until then, I’ll be enjoying this small accomplishment because it will be a while until the next one.
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