Today I made a preemptive strike against the soon-to-be whelming war that is paying off student loans. Of course, this is an example of a necessary yet reactionary measure – the proactive and wisest solution would have been not to take on debt in the first place.
My loans go into repayment in November, which means that the first payments are due in December. I have set up my budget so that I will be able to pay over the minimum payments, reducing the overall cost of the loans (if you are sure to have the amount you pay over go towards the principle of the loan). Since I have been living off my budget for several months, today I was able to pay off the smallest loan completely. It feels good to win this first battle.
I have chosen the path of repayment prescribed by Dave Ramsey. He calls it the Debt Snowball. Here is basically how it works:
List all of the debts you owe and arrange them from smallest to largest. Pay all the minimum payments and then pay over as much as you can against the loan/debt on which you owe the least amount of money. When that debt is paid off, take the money you would be paying against it towards the next loan. When the second loan is paid off, apply all the money you were putting towards it towards the next loan. Battle by battle, you win the war.
Although I tremendously regret getting myself into this debt, today is a victory.Â
May the Lord’s will be done,
CWillZ
Related:
Make Love, Not Debt - A Very Active Blog about Personal Finance
Dave Ramsey - Money Stud
Crown Financial - Biblically Sound Teaching on Money
Good Sense - Willow Creek’s Stewardship Ministry
 Finances & Spirituality by Adam Lehman
Tags: credit, Crown Financial, dave ramsey, debt, debt snowball, free, Good Sense, money, personal finance, proactive, repentance, stewardship, student loans
Hooray and Congrats!
This is the same layout that Wyatt and I use for our “often updated during summer, hardly ever now” blog about baseball at
http://www.chargingthemound.wordpress.com/
I really like the “About” section.
Nice site. There’s some good information on here. I’ll be checking back regularly.
nice man.