It’s time for another student loan update! Let’s look at the cycle between January and March. I took a month break from making student loan payments and here I am, back to it again. Let’s take a look at my progress with my federal student loans and what moves I’m taking to finish this account soon.
EdFinancial
In my last update, I decided to pause my student loan payments for a month. I was tackling EdFinancial’s Group C, which had a balance of $2,554.13 at that time. That break proved to be very useful because I was able to boost my saving funds and pay off credit card debt.
Looking back at my Net Worth Update, I wouldn’t have been able to do that and feel relieved of my finances if I had not done the pause. It was a hard decision to make, but it was necessary. I learned that sometimes, you don’t need to force yourself in that situation. Life has a way of making things work for you, as long as you’re consistent.
I resumed payments in February 15th, and 5 weeks have gone by since then. That means I made a total payment of $1000 throughout those weeks. Today, my balance for Group C in EdFinancial sits at $1,554.13.
There is still no change to Group A at this point. The balance still sits at $5,344.78.
Weeks Left to Payoff
Based on this calculation, I have 8 weeks left to fully pay off Group C. 8 weeks fall on May 9, which is more than 1 week beyond the supposed start of repayments. There have been rumors or hints that the Education Department will extend the payment pause, but that is something they have yet to announce.
If we follow the pattern of last extension’s announcement, it was 40 days prior to the restart of payments in Feb 1. So there may be an announcement next week, starting March 22. This is all speculation by the way, and not solid info about an extension.
Final Thoughts
The balance as of March 18, 2022 for my entire student loan is $6,898.91!
I have come so far with paying off my student loans since 2019. If everything goes really well this year, this balance should be paid off in 7 months, or some time around October.
Throughout my student loan sabbatical, I’ve actually thought about using my savings to completely wipe off or at least pay a huge chunk of my balance. It’s a very interesting thought to be honest. I’ve been weighing the pros and cons to it, as it fits my current situation, but I haven’t gotten an answer yet.
If I get to an answer, that will reflect on my updates, and you will know.
For the mean time, I’ll continue to pay $200 every week to my balance. Once Group C is done, I will move one to Group A and add $25 every week. That should put me to $225 every week, or $900 to $1,125 every month.
The calculations I made today do not include the excess money from my tax savings account. So if we include that, it could potentially shave off weeks from my timeline.
Thinking about the final pay off is making me excited on finally being free of my student loans. I’ll be able to do a lot of things — help my family, help my friends and other things that I really want to do.