Hey guys, it’s time for another student loan update!
Let’s talk about my current Sallie Mae loans, the possibilities of a second stimulus check and the extended student loan relief program included in the CARES Act.
TLDR; As always, here’s a video version for your convenience!
I’m on my 12th month documenting my debt payoff journey on video, and it has been quite the blessing. I’ll make the anniversary video for the 13th month instead, so it will include a breakdown of my journey so far.
But anyway, for this round, we’ve made payments to Sallie Mae #4245 that total to $550 since the last recording. I actually forgot to keep the extra payment at $50 during the week of my auto-debit payment. Hence, the extra $50.
But because of that, I was able to reduce this particular student loan to $250. This means I’ll be able to finish this before the end of September. Woohoo!
I am planning to switch to a Debt Avalanche method though once I’ve paid off #4245. Instead of attacking College Ave, which at this point has a balance of $3,200, I’ll be shifting focus to Sallie Mae #6489. This way, I can reduce the costs I’m incurring due to interest accruals, and I can rest easy that one of the biggest loan amounts I have is being taken care of.
Aside from that change, I might also reduce the weekly payment I make towards Sallie Mae due to a recent dip in my income. It saddens me that it has come to this, but it has to be done.
It’s better to keep paying it off, than to completely stop in the future because I can’t afford it. Just like my mom had always said to me: Don’t rush.
As for my EdFinancial loans, I still have an outstanding balance of around $11,900. I’ve made an extra $75 payment last month that brought it down to that amount. I plan to continue making manual payments every last week of the month, so I can take advantage of the no-interest forbearance.
Extended Student Loan Relief
On August 21, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos implemented the executive memorandum President Donald Trump issued during the first week of August.
The most notable piece of info here is that federally-owned students loan payments are suspended until December 31, 2020. This means that every borrower can get relief from making payments to their student loans. Better to use this time to make extra payments to the principal balance.
However, this extension doesn’t include student loans such as FFELP loans and Perkins loans. This article from Forbes explains what they are and more information about the extension.