In case any of you missed it, I accomplished my goal on December 3rd. I paid off my undergraduate student loans, and I have the picture to prove it:
After I finished dancing around the room and texting everyone I’ve ever known, I sat down to total all my payments for these loans.
Over this past year, I paid just over $12k. Over the 8-year life of my loans, I paid just over $26k. Since my original loan total was $23,300, I paid about 10% extra in interest.
I could have done a lot with $26,000: a nicer car, a bigger apartment, a lifetime pass to Dragon*Con (and ones for 5 of my friends as well), or a trip to any convention I wanted.
Instead, I have a college degree that informs my work life every day, and shaped my life in so many other ways. I think I made the right choice.
Here’s hoping my graduate degree pays off in the same way. Because really, there’s so much more I could do with $70,000.
One final note: this is the first New Year’s Resolution I’ve ever made and kept. And no, next year’s resolution will not be to pay off my grad loans in a year, unless I win big on a lottery ticket in the next two weeks. But I do have a new project starting on January 1st. I’ll be posting more about that next week, so stay tuned.
Congratulations! What a great feeling, huh? I’m looking forward to paying off mine, too.
It really is a great feeling.
Good luck with yours!