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Time for an update on our student loan project!
May was great with cash only lunch challenge I had with myself. I managed to cut my eating out budget by more than half. I had so much fun doing it, I'm continuing it this month and beyond.
Scheduling Regular and Bonus Payments
Since we've been paying extra with our loans it has pushed pay the due date for the next payments.
Right now, according to the Department of Education's website, our next payment does have to be made until the beginning of 2013.
To keep focused, we went ahead and added student loans to our bill payment schedule.
Cutting Back Expenses & Building Income
Based on how May went, I've adjusted my food budget for eating out to reduce it in half and now have another set of payments sent out.
For My Financial Reviews, I earned a bit of money from writing, so now that the payment has been deposited, I'll schedule another payment.
Timing the Student Loan Payments
One change I've made is that extra income payments won't be sent out as soon as they come in.
Instead I'll schedule the payments for either 15th or end of the end of month.
It's easier for me to keep track of everything. I'll transfer the money immediately to the checking account, so I can get the bill payment out as soon as I need to.
It's my hope to have payments made 3x/month and to get this balance down by a few thousand this year.
I'd love for us to knock another debt off the list and then focus our attention on other foals that we have.
I'm so happy things are picking and I hope the momentum continues for the rest of the year!
Thoughts on Paying Down Debt
I’d love to hear from you about your financial goals this year. How many of you are paying down debt? How is it going so far? What has been the biggest challenge?