I'm starting to prepare taxes for 2013, and I just realized that I paid $3,806.70 in interest alone for my student loan payments in 2013. That is almost 50% of my total loan payments in 2013. Yikes! Almost $4000. In. Interest. Alone. This amount will likely increase in 2014 due to an upcoming significant increase in my IBR payments for my federal loans.
I'm also starting to plan out a detailed budget for the next several months, which is difficult for me because I'm realizing that I'm not very good with numbers. But this is all about to change! I'm going to get good at numbers. I need to if I'm going to figure out the best methods of paying off my loans. I want to set out a detailed plan for debt payoff, with goals, dates, and spreadsheets. I'm going all out! And I'm going to have to get creative. Stay tuned.
Hi Debt Emergency - I am in a very similar situation with high student debt. Just wanted to share that I recently switched to "Pay As Your Earn" instead of IBR. You should look this up because it is "erasing" any interest amount over what you can pay based of their calculations. For example. with IBR's calculation I would pay $541 a month. This basically cover's my interest per month. However, now with Pay As You Earn I am paying $356.... and the difference is erased. I am stilling learning about it and this month was my first month into it. Good luck and now there are many of us >100k out there.
ReplyDeleteHi there! Thanks for the comment. I actually inquired about Pay As You Earn but unfortunately due to timing restrictions, I don't qualify for that program. Good luck to you as well and glad to hear you've found a program that works for you! We will get through this.
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