Money (Debt Frugality Minimalism)

[-$64,900] Deficits & Daydreams

Posted on by Double Debt Single Woman

This is now the second month that I’ve paid less than my target bi-monthly payment amount. As I mentioned in this post, I have a mid-month payment that is required by my servicer, but I also have an end-of-month surplus payment that I use to pay extra on my loan. My end-of-month target payment has been $1,000. So far this year, I’ve managed to hit that  target, until recently. I’ve been having a long standing battle with overspending my budgeted allowance. It’s a battle that I’ve clearly been losing.  Read More

[-$65,348] Data Breach Edition

Posted on by Double Debt Single Woman

I’m feeling exhausted and in need of a break. Not just a break from work, but I also need a financial break. Like over 140 million Americans, I’m simultaneously infuriated and apathetic about the Equifax data breach. I’m furious that Equifax (and likely their competitors as well from what I’ve been reading) can be so lax in their data security.

On the other hand, I’m also numb and jaded given that I’ve already been affected by multiple large breaches already (university, state gov’t, retailers, data companies). My social security number has been compromised so many times, it doesn’t know which way is up anymore. And this Equifax data breach is the worst of all.

These organizations and corporations never appear to face any consequences. Needless to say there is something wrong with this. Companies that can profit from their own lax protocol and data handling will never have any incentive to do any better. They are like bad student loan servicers that misplace paperwork and neglect proper record keeping, then profit even more from the resulting slew of borrower defaults. Read More

[-$67,520] Making Hay While the Sun Shines

Posted on by Double Debt Single Woman

Why do I make such large payments on my student loan debt? Because, for now at least, I can.

In the past month, I’ve dodged a bullet that would have raised my rent by over 50% (losing a new roommate because of discord in the house). So far the climate in the house is improving. I’m really hoping it continues.

I’ve always known, and written here, about how my cheap (for this area) rent will not last. At some point in the future, LL (landlord) will stop… landlording and we’ll all have to leave. When that happens, my rent will go up significantly as soon as I move anywhere else. So I must pay as much as I can now  toward this debt, while I have this cash flow. In other words, I have to make hay while the sun shines.  Read More