Woot! I’ve made it to the 40’s. Now that I’m here, I’m already in a sprint to get well into the 30’s, by the end of the year.
Current stats on my student loan:
Original Balance: $112,258
Remaining Balance: $49,402
Monthly Payments: $2,800 (Payments are back up and I’m back on track) 🙂
Term Remaining on Debtor’s Prison Sentence: 1 year and 6 months 🙂
Current (variable) Interest rate: 4.88% (up from original rate of 3.42%)
If I stay on track, I’ll make my last student loan payment on November 30th, 2019. By December 1, 2019, I will be debt-free! Eighteen months is a long time to hope for having no financial disruptions, but I will just keep going for as long as fate will allow.
1940s Lindy Hop — I said I was energized, but I’m not quite this energized yet. Whoa!
I’m thinking about re-financing my student loan again, but don’t want to leave my current servicer. Their website is so easy to use that I can make extra payments whenever I want, shift the required payment date up or back a few days as needed, etc. all on my own and it is taken care of, automatically. Other servicers are harder to work with in terms of their technology and processes. Having to call some other servicer on the phone whenever I want to do something extra/different and then hoping they don’t screw it up will be a pain. I don’t know if the hassle is worth it at this point.
We Can Do It!
All women out there who are where I am now. We’re at war. Our enemy is debt. Let’s get to work. Let’s flex our financial muscles. Let’s increase our payments and our savings. We can do it, ladies!
@Commenter
FI Before I Die is a blog written by that I was introduced to when I stumbled across one of the posts, which was written about me! Ms. FiBiDie is a 47 year old single mom, getting her finances on track and aiming for financial independence and she following her own specific plan to get there.
@FiBiDie – Thanks for reading this blog. I’m certainly enjoying yours.
Anonymous Mess is written by a poster who is, surprise, anonymous. One recent post caught my eye. Reminiscent of my own posts/rants here about job interviews, Anonymous, who is also paying off six figures of debt, has a similar outlook on this horrible form of socially acceptable torture.
@Anonymous Mess – Your comment settings prevent me from leaving comments, but I’m looking forward to reading more from you who must remain unnamed. 🙂 Congrats to the Spouse for getting a job, and cheers to you for your description of it. 🙂 That’s great news!
Struggling to be debt free – @Michelle, girl, please adjust your blog comment settings to allow “name + url” comments. You are not easy to catch. Maybe you’ll see this. Congrats on maxing your Roth for the year. You didn’t waste time. 🙂
1940s – Rosie the Riveter Women Shipyard Welders
What’s Next
Getting to work and making payments. 🙂
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“Debtor’s prison is real, and opportunity cost is a bitch.” (DDSW Archives)
Double Debt Single Woman 
Congrats on the job well done!! It’s like a car payment now. You’ve got this. I like the “Evil Student Loan” on the legend. Unless refinancing offers you a significant reduction, stay. Which reminds me that I need to look at refinancing mine. My interest rate is right below what you have (4.66%)
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Thanks. 🙂 Yeah, my milestones are feeling more and more significant as the balance drops. Dropping from 50’s to 40’s feels greater than 90’s to 80’s. I can’t wait until I get to the 30’s!
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Thanks for the mention! It makes me happy to find a blogging community that is supportive – this is some challenging stuff we’re up to!
And I LOVE seeing your debt number going down. Right now I’m at $43,982 and I bet you’re going to be me to zero! Your determination is pretty badass. 😄
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Hey, we’re in the debt thing together. The only one getting beaten is the Evil Debt! 😈
It’s in trouble with the two of us on the loose!
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I love getting notifications from your blog! I get so excited to open them and see what is new. Totally inspirational! I was recently feeling wary on my debt-free journey, because life happens, and it hit me that I won’t become debt-free until past 30 (if I stay on track it will be 31 or closer to 32). Just for some context, I’m in my late 20s, single, no kids, working 2 jobs (about 13 hour days as of 1 year) and I’m already getting exhausted lol. Student loans are evil, but your posts remind me to not dwell on the past and my silliness with money in my early 20s, and focus on what I can do now! Thanks for the reminder that We Can Do It! Seriously, it is a huge push forward!
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Hi Erika. Awww. Thank you! 🙂
Thank you for sharing. As someone already in my 40’s, I can tell you that you still have a LOT of time to clean up past financial mistakes and secure your future. Being debt free in your early 30’s, will still give you a great shot being able to retire well or early! Keep going.
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Congratulations! Your progress is very inspiring to those of us struggling trying to get debt free but having life continue to throw us curveballs. You can do it!
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Thank you. I can relate.
It’s taken me years of sacrifice to get to this point. Since starting this blog, I’ve lost my job, which set me back. I’ve had an emergency room $$ visit, which set me back. I’ve had major surgery, which was a big setback financially. But each time, I had to get back on the horse. There was no other option. I get it.
If all goes well, I’m 18 months away from debt freedom and the start of the next phase of my life.
I don’t know what tomorrow holds and how it might impact my finances, so I can only do what I can, while I can, and adjust when the next curveball hits.
Hang in there!
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Fantastic! Look at those numbers. Wow so inspiring!
You are kicking butt!
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Thanks, Nicole! 🙂
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YES! You are soaring through this!!!
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Thanks! Yep, another punch at the Evil Student Loan. 🙂
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Awesome DDSW! We’ve been on this ride with you and we couldn’t be more proud of you.
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Thank you! 🙂
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The 40s! The same decade as your age! Pretty soon, you will feel yourself getting younger with each payment 🙂 I’m excited that you’re back to the big huge enormous payments. So much progress, so quickly, with those.
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“…getting younger with each payment.” Ahhh. If only that were true! 🙂
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Oh, this is just fantastic. Keep churning and you will be in the 30’s before you know it.
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That’s the plan! 🙂
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Fifty-six percent paid off! Congratulations, DD. You’ve done an amazing job.
And thank you for reading — and mentioning — my little blog, plus introducing me to FI Before I Die. (I think I fixed the commenting issue.Some technical professional I’ve turned out to be!)
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Thank you. And you are very welcome! 🙂
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Great job
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Thanks!
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