The last time I updated this, I owed $12,333.78 on the student loan. As of today, the current balance owed is $11,899.22! I am happy that it has fallen below the $12,000 mark!

I got paid a quarterly bonus and put most of it towards the student loan. Also, I have paid off the Home Depot Credit Card that had 0% for 12 months before the promotional period expired.

Ultimately, I’d like to pay off this student loan before the year is over, but that seems like a pretty hefty goal, so I’m going to go with 2 years, or 24 months to have it paid off.

Ultimate Money Blog reader Christian sent me an email asking for my advice for a college freshman. He just set up his own checking and savings accounts and wants to get a head start on his finances.  He’s secured a partial scholarship and his parents and himself are footing the rest of the bill.  Here’s the advice I would give to college students:

Manage your Bank Accounts Wisely

Make sure you’re keeping up with your checking account.  I recommend using a check register so you know exactly how much money you have in your account at all times.  When your statement is ready, reconcile against what you think you should have.  Sometimes banks make mistakes and they can be costly!  Also, merchants can run debit card transactions for incorrect amounts, and if you don’t double check, you can end up getting charged a lot more than you really paid.  Make sure you have some type of overdraft protection set up on your checking account just in case.

Keep money that’s in savings savings.  Don’t use it unless it’s an emergency.  Save as much money as you can, but don’t beat yourself up about it. I would recommend starting a savings account at a separate financial institution (perhaps online) so you’re not tempted by viewing the balances every time you log onto online banking to view your checking account.  Out of sight, out of mind.  Plus, it’s harder to access your money so that will be less tempting as well.

Focus on your studies

I know this one doesn’t seem like an obvious financial answer, but hear me out.  When you do well in college, you learn good habits and persistence and other good skills.  Many of these skills can be applied to every day life and will help you out in the long run.  Plus, the better you do in college, the more likely you may be to get hired at a company or secure an internship.

Don’t get wrapped up in money

Don’t worry about making tons of money while in school if it isn’t absolutely necessary.  Of course, if you need money to pay the rent or buy groceries, you’ll have to make sure you’re working enough hours to make the bills.  If your parents are willing to help support you financially with living expenses, make sure to focus on your studies instead of getting wrapped up in the amount of money you could be making by working.  Trust me, the hourly wage you get paid now versus what you’ll (hopefully) get paid as a college graduate can be vastly different.  Focus on the long term, even when things get tough.

Consider credit

I know I may get flack for this, but I think it’s truly valuable to get a credit card when you’re 18 if (and only if) you’re responsible with your money.  If you know that it may be too tempting to have a line of credit, don’t get one.  I think one of the worst mistakes you could do with your finances is jumping in to credit card debt at an early age.  It takes forever to dig out of it sometimes!  Don’t ever charge anything on a credit card that you don’t have cash in your checking account for.  Paying interest on credit cards sucks. If you can get a credit card and handle it wisely, by the time you’ve graduated college you’ll have some credit built.

I think the most important things when heading off to college are: focus on your studies, don’t get in credit card debt, and don’t spend money foolishly. Keep up the great work, Christian!

What advice would you give to college students?

The last time I updated about our debt reduction, we owed more than 50% on our student loans. I am happy to say that today we hit over 50% paid! I am ecstatic! I thought it would take us a lot longer than this to knock out some debt.  I had originally planned on paying off the student loan in the next nine months, but then decided that I would do a “reverse debt snowball” instead, and put the money that I was going to throw at the student loan in a savings account earning 4% interest. It looks like that was a sound decision, because now there’s rumors that they will start converting my area first. Oh well. I’ve got an emergency fund, and that’s what it for: in case we need it.

I can’t wait until I get to 50% of our car loan, but that should only take us 5 months or so.  I’ll keep chiseling away at these debts and try my darnedest to save, save, save!

The last time I updated, which was July 23, we owed $8,800.00 on our student loans. As of today, we only owe $7250! I can’t wait to get this loan paid off! I plan on getting it paid off by the end of the year next year. If we can get it paid off sooner, spectacular! Then it’s on to the car loan.  Whew.  All of our extra money is going to go towards paying off debt because I feel we have a pretty padded emergency fund currently.

No spending month has taught me a few invaluable things. 

• We can live on a lot less than we thought we could.  We weren’t horrible about spending money frivolously, but there was definitely room to tighten the belts.
• There are many activities I can do to keep myself busy and not spend money.  Honestly, I feel better when I do those things!  I think of all the money I’m saving and putting towards debt.
• I’ve learned that I like cooking.  Before, we’d go out to eat or Mr. Money would cook.  Now, I’m doing more cooking and baking and I really enjoy it!

I can’t wait until my tracker says 50%! Let’s hope by the end of the year!

What is your priority “debt snowball”?

I am so proud to announce that we owe less than $9,000 on the student loan! Lately, every little extra “snowflake” money I get, I am putting towards this. It feels good to be under a “monumental” number, like the thousands. I am debating whether or not to put some of the stimulus money towards it. I am also expecting my quarterly bonus on the 15th of next month, so I may put that towards it too. At least some of it!

It feels really good to be making progress on paying off this debt. I’ve been worried more about saving lately, and a lot of our extra money has been going right into savings. I think tonight I’m going to sit down and create the sub accounts with ING that I’ve been meaning to. I am not a spreadsheet person! I like to have it all visualized for me. Once I get that done, I’ll have a better idea of how much money I have allotted for each fund, and then go from there. I think it will work better for me.

Only $8800 left!

I am slowly but surely making a dent in my student loan debt. With the way the economy is, I’ve been trying to put as much money into savings that I can while paying off this debt. I’m not in too big of a hurry to pay this off because of the ultra low interest rate I am paying on it. This is the only other debt we have besides this loan is our mortgages. I’m not in too big of a hurry to pay those off right now.

I’ve decided that for our next vehicle purchase, we’re going to pay cash. I understand that we may not be driving the newest, hippest cars out there, but we’re going to have a car that gets us from point A to point B. Back when the tree fell on our house in January, I was able to get a 1994 Oldsmobile Achieva from my very gracious aunt. I have been so thankful for that car! It may not be the best looking, but it does the job and I love it. We can afford a car payment, but my thinking is if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.

I want to have enough money saved up that in the event I am able to stay at home with our children. With me not bringing in a stable income from the bank, I’d like to know that we’ve got an emergency fund to cover everyday living expenses in the event something horrible happened. Let’s just say that I lost my job (knock on wood); I’d rather have the money that I normally would be putting toward debt reduction to be able to make the monthly payments on those loans and be able to pay living expenses rather than have less principal on the loan. That’s just my thinking.

Maybe once the economy gets better I’ll start being more aggressive in paying off our debts. Right now, this is working for us, so I’m going to continue to do what we’re doing. Of course I’m going to keep trying to make as much money as I can online by the different avenues I’ve discovered, and I’ll be putting that into savings.

Do you think I am doing the right thing by saving instead of paying off debt in this case? 

The last time I updated this, I owed $9950.00 on my student loan balance.  I am happy to say that I’ve paid $450 off and I only owe $9500!!  That feels like such a good number.  I am so proud of myself. 

I’ve been earning a little extra cash still, but not as much as I’d like. I’m hoping that with my recent decision to look for another job, that I may earn more money that I can save and throw towards debt.  I’ve got this loan at 0% interest right now, so honestly the only reason I am trying to pay it off quickly is for peace of mind.  I can’t wait to get it paid off!

Personally I love when people post their debt reduction and savings plans. I am updating my debt reduction this morning. I decided to take some money out of savings and pay on our student loan debt. I’ve also consolidated it at a much much lower interest rate. The personal peace of mind is priceless to me, so I decided it was worth it. We do still have a nice “cushion” in our savings account, but now that our student loan balance is down to a more comfortable level and I know we aren’t getting eaten alive in interest, I’m going to start saving more money for our emergency fund, a new car, and also for retirement. I’m proud to say we are under the $10,000 mark, and I hope to get under the $5,000 mark by the end of this year. I’m going to take half the money I make online and put towards this debt, and the other half I will put in savings. I can’t wait to get this paid off!

$12,333.78. That is currently the amount that we owe on a student loan. This is our only “unsecured debt”, and I’d like to get this paid off as soon as possible. My ultimate goal to pay this off in a year, but I am not sure how well that’s going to work out.

Reading different articles says to not worry about paying off student loans, but for me, the peace of mind knowing we don’t owe as much (or any!) is worth it for me.

This is the amount of debt I will be focusing on eliminating. Any money I earn online, whether it be from eBay sales, survey sites, or whatever, I will be putting towards this. I will keep this amount updated to show what I have paid off!