AW Studlent loans!

lifeonthehill · June 2014

We paid another $1,000 to H's SL debt this morning! That means we are officially under $10,000 to go! I am all giddy with excitement!

When we started this 14 months ago we had a little over $33,200. It is incredible how far we have come. We are going to be switching gears and saving up $3,000 for me to start school in the fall and then we will bounce between paying off loans and saving for other things. If all stays on track we will be 100% debt free next April! Hopefully sooner.

Thanks for letting me AW

uncreatedsnow · June 2014

That's awesome congratulations!

I get REALLY excited when things change in "digits" like going from 5 figures to 4 figures, etc.

Mom987 · June 2014

Great news! I also love milestones, like each $1,000 and especially $10,000 is a big deal!

brij2006 · June 2014

That is awesome!

Xstatic3333 · June 2014

Awesome work! You and your H's focus is truly impressive, and I'm glad it's paying off for you!

lifeonthehill · June 2014

Thanks Everyone!

I love having this board to talk to and of course to AW. Our families aren't entirely supportive of what we are doing so it is great to know there are people out there with the same mindset as us.

jessica490 · June 2014

Great work!!!

uncreatedsnow · June 2014

alyssa32713 said:

Thanks Everyone!

I love having this board to talk to and of course to AW. Our families aren't entirely supportive of what we are doing so it is great to know there are people out there with the same mindset as us.

I know exactly what you mean. My family are all spenders and all try to keep up with the Jones'. They can't comprehend why I like living in a LCOL and in a Frat House none-the-less. But the idea of going into my Thirties with zero debt makes my little heart go pitter patter. That's one reason I LOVE this board(even if I only lurk most of the time).

brij2006 · June 2014

uncreatedsnow said:

alyssa32713 said:

Thanks Everyone!

I love having this board to talk to and of course to AW. Our families aren't entirely supportive of what we are doing so it is great to know there are people out there with the same mindset as us.

I know exactly what you mean. My family are all spenders and all try to keep up with the Jones'. They can't comprehend why I like living in a LCOL and in a Frat House none-the-less. But the idea of going into my Thirties with zero debt makes my little heart go pitter patter. That's one reason I LOVE this board(even if I only lurk most of the time).

All of this! You definitely aren't alone at all in not having the support. We have people constantly tell us that we could never live without a car payment. Um, yeah we can, and we will. Sorry.

lifeonthehill · June 2014

brij2006 said:

uncreatedsnow said:

alyssa32713 said:

Thanks Everyone!

I love having this board to talk to and of course to AW. Our families aren't entirely supportive of what we are doing so it is great to know there are people out there with the same mindset as us.

I know exactly what you mean. My family are all spenders and all try to keep up with the Jones'. They can't comprehend why I like living in a LCOL and in a Frat House none-the-less. But the idea of going into my Thirties with zero debt makes my little heart go pitter patter. That's one reason I LOVE this board(even if I only lurk most of the time).

All of this! You definitely aren't alone at all in not having the support. We have people constantly tell us that we could never live without a car payment. Um, yeah we can, and we will. Sorry.

I hear the same things.

My family is famous for complaining I am wasting my young twenties by not taking lavish trips, partying, and shopping constantly.

brij2006 · June 2014

alyssa32713 said:

brij2006 said:

uncreatedsnow said:

alyssa32713 said:

Thanks Everyone!

I love having this board to talk to and of course to AW. Our families aren't entirely supportive of what we are doing so it is great to know there are people out there with the same mindset as us.

I know exactly what you mean. My family are all spenders and all try to keep up with the Jones'. They can't comprehend why I like living in a LCOL and in a Frat House none-the-less. But the idea of going into my Thirties with zero debt makes my little heart go pitter patter. That's one reason I LOVE this board(even if I only lurk most of the time).

All of this! You definitely aren't alone at all in not having the support. We have people constantly tell us that we could never live without a car payment. Um, yeah we can, and we will. Sorry.

I hear the same things.

My family is famous for complaining I am wasting my young twenties by not taking lavish trips, partying, and shopping constantly.

Ours is family telling us that we're going to be old parents and shouldn't put off TTC until we're debt free. We're 26 and 28, and have fertility issues. So it makes me a bit edgy. We aren't old! They just don't get it that we're getting debt free to pay CASH to the Dr's to be able to help us have children. Even if I'm not pregnant before 30, I'm fine with it. At least we would then have the means to be able to take trips, go shopping, and adopt if we choose to.

HoneyBee973 · June 2014

That is awesome!

jjbmstinco · June 2014

Congrats! That is a huge accomplishment!

vlagrl29 · June 2014

I get crap from my mom when I talk about how I've invested my money in my IRA. She thinks that it's all a game and you may end up loosing it when you really need to retire if the economy drops like it did in 2008. I guess she thinks I should just put all my cash under my mattress instead. LOL

Mom987 · June 2014

My aunt and uncle also say "we'll always have a car payment, and look, this new truck is only $25 more per month!" but imagine, they have a $40,000 car loan when their current beautiful 2010 car could be PAID OFF lol.

CuriousKiddosMama · June 2014

That's a lot of progress in 14 months! Congrats!!!

KatieCutie05 · June 2014

Oh my family is the opposite of supportive. I mean they'll say "thats a good idea" but they don't understand that i cant spend thousands of dollars then. And they think thats its only because i have student loans and they don't listen to anything i have to say because i'm the youngest and obviously all my sisters and parents who are broke are "older and wiser"... riiiight. I give up have fun being broke.

My mom has to manage all my student loans too because they are in her name which is just a nightmare. She doesn't understand why if i don't have to pay it i would want to (while it still earns interest at 2500 per year... she told me not to pay it for years because it was eligible for deferment (and i listened) now that the balance is 20k higher, she still doesn't get it. Its like the philosophy of my family is ignore it and maybe it will go away. Meanwhile i agree to a deferment so i can pay my credit cards with a higher interest rate first, which she doesn't do and now theres a 150 late fee on there that i have to pay because "she doesn't have it". Meanwhile she gets probably like a 5k tax deduction from all the interest i pay and she pays my 30 year old sister with no job 400 dollars a month to live at home. And then i get my other sister who chooses to go on vacation or out to really expensive restaurants instead of pay her mortgage or car payment... and she gives me a really hard time telling me my priorities are out of whack and i don't care about family all because i won't spend 700 dollars and vacation time to come up for her sons 1st birthday. I love my family i swareeeee i do... But everytime i see them i get really stressed and upset and i lose my mind. oyyy

uncreatedsnow · June 2014

KatieCutie05 said:

Oh my family is the opposite of supportive. I mean they'll say "thats a good idea" but they don't understand that i cant spend thousands of dollars then. And they think thats its only because i have student loans and they don't listen to anything i have to say because i'm the youngest and obviously all my sisters and parents who are broke are "older and wiser"... riiiight. I give up have fun being broke.

My mom has to manage all my student loans too because they are in her name which is just a nightmare. She doesn't understand why if i don't have to pay it i would want to (while it still earns interest at 2500 per year... she told me not to pay it for years because it was eligible for deferment (and i listened) now that the balance is 20k higher, she still doesn't get it. Its like the philosophy of my family is ignore it and maybe it will go away. Meanwhile i agree to a deferment so i can pay my credit cards with a higher interest rate first, which she doesn't do and now theres a 150 late fee on there that i have to pay because "she doesn't have it". Meanwhile she gets probably like a 5k tax deduction from all the interest i pay and she pays my 30 year old sister with no job 400 dollars a month to live at home. And then i get my other sister who chooses to go on vacation or out to really expensive restaurants instead of pay her mortgage or car payment... and she gives me a really hard time telling me my priorities are out of whack and i don't care about family all because i won't spend 700 dollars and vacation time to come up for her sons 1st birthday. I love my family i swareeeee i do... But everytime i see them i get really stressed and upset and i lose my mind. oyyy

Katie, sounds like my family exactly! My Dad finally called and asked "If I pay the minimum on your loan every month, WHY does the balance never go down?" I had to explain interest to him. Also, I found out that the money I was sending he wasn't putting on top of the minimum like he said so we weren't making any actual progress. Grrr!

lifeonthehill · June 2014

KatieCutie05 said:

Oh my family is the opposite of supportive. I mean they'll say "thats a good idea" but they don't understand that i cant spend thousands of dollars then. And they think thats its only because i have student loans and they don't listen to anything i have to say because i'm the youngest and obviously all my sisters and parents who are broke are "older and wiser"... riiiight. I give up have fun being broke.

My mom has to manage all my student loans too because they are in her name which is just a nightmare. She doesn't understand why if i don't have to pay it i would want to (while it still earns interest at 2500 per year... she told me not to pay it for years because it was eligible for deferment (and i listened) now that the balance is 20k higher, she still doesn't get it. Its like the philosophy of my family is ignore it and maybe it will go away. Meanwhile i agree to a deferment so i can pay my credit cards with a higher interest rate first, which she doesn't do and now theres a 150 late fee on there that i have to pay because "she doesn't have it". Meanwhile she gets probably like a 5k tax deduction from all the interest i pay and she pays my 30 year old sister with no job 400 dollars a month to live at home. And then i get my other sister who chooses to go on vacation or out to really expensive restaurants instead of pay her mortgage or car payment... and she gives me a really hard time telling me my priorities are out of whack and i don't care about family all because i won't spend 700 dollars and vacation time to come up for her sons 1st birthday. I love my family i swareeeee i do... But everytime i see them i get really stressed and upset and i lose my mind. oyyy

It is hard being young. I am only 22 so my family sees me as a child as well. I am frustrated that they can't attempt to see money through my eyes rather than just shoving their views down my throat every time I see them.

At a family get together this weekend I was being harassed so much about choosing to take care of the finances prior to having kids I was in tears. Trying to be strong and say I would love to have kids today we just can't afford it just puts them in more of a tizzy about it. All I wanted to do was quote my mom and tell them "I love you but today I don't like you."

KatieCutie05 · June 2014

@uncreatedsnow

LoL I know. And people seriously wonder how i grew up knowing nothing about money thinking horrible ideas were somehow great ideas...... um hello have you not met my family? lol.

hoffse · June 2014

alyssa32713 said:

KatieCutie05 said:

Oh my family is the opposite of supportive. I mean they'll say "thats a good idea" but they don't understand that i cant spend thousands of dollars then. And they think thats its only because i have student loans and they don't listen to anything i have to say because i'm the youngest and obviously all my sisters and parents who are broke are "older and wiser"... riiiight. I give up have fun being broke.

My mom has to manage all my student loans too because they are in her name which is just a nightmare. She doesn't understand why if i don't have to pay it i would want to (while it still earns interest at 2500 per year... she told me not to pay it for years because it was eligible for deferment (and i listened) now that the balance is 20k higher, she still doesn't get it. Its like the philosophy of my family is ignore it and maybe it will go away. Meanwhile i agree to a deferment so i can pay my credit cards with a higher interest rate first, which she doesn't do and now theres a 150 late fee on there that i have to pay because "she doesn't have it". Meanwhile she gets probably like a 5k tax deduction from all the interest i pay and she pays my 30 year old sister with no job 400 dollars a month to live at home. And then i get my other sister who chooses to go on vacation or out to really expensive restaurants instead of pay her mortgage or car payment... and she gives me a really hard time telling me my priorities are out of whack and i don't care about family all because i won't spend 700 dollars and vacation time to come up for her sons 1st birthday. I love my family i swareeeee i do... But everytime i see them i get really stressed and upset and i lose my mind. oyyy

It is hard being young. I am only 22 so my family sees me as a child as well. I am frustrated that they can't attempt to see money through my eyes rather than just shoving their views down my throat every time I see them.

At a family get together this weekend I was being harassed so much about choosing to take care of the finances prior to having kids I was in tears. Trying to be strong and say I would love to have kids today we just can't afford it just puts them in more of a tizzy about it. All I wanted to do was quote my mom and tell them "I love you but today I don't like you."

Alyssa, just stay the course! I'm 27 - turning 28 in October - and I get comments about how I shouldn't "let my window pass" or whatever. I think my least favorite thing to hear is, "It's never a good time to have kids." Maybe not - but that doesn't mean that some times aren't better than others!

At the end of the day, getting your finances in order before having children will mean that you can afford to give them so much more. Plus you will be providing a great example to them of the benefits of delayed gratification and goal-setting.

brij2006 · June 2014

hoffse said:

alyssa32713 said:

KatieCutie05 said:

Oh my family is the opposite of supportive. I mean they'll say "thats a good idea" but they don't understand that i cant spend thousands of dollars then. And they think thats its only because i have student loans and they don't listen to anything i have to say because i'm the youngest and obviously all my sisters and parents who are broke are "older and wiser"... riiiight. I give up have fun being broke.

My mom has to manage all my student loans too because they are in her name which is just a nightmare. She doesn't understand why if i don't have to pay it i would want to (while it still earns interest at 2500 per year... she told me not to pay it for years because it was eligible for deferment (and i listened) now that the balance is 20k higher, she still doesn't get it. Its like the philosophy of my family is ignore it and maybe it will go away. Meanwhile i agree to a deferment so i can pay my credit cards with a higher interest rate first, which she doesn't do and now theres a 150 late fee on there that i have to pay because "she doesn't have it". Meanwhile she gets probably like a 5k tax deduction from all the interest i pay and she pays my 30 year old sister with no job 400 dollars a month to live at home. And then i get my other sister who chooses to go on vacation or out to really expensive restaurants instead of pay her mortgage or car payment... and she gives me a really hard time telling me my priorities are out of whack and i don't care about family all because i won't spend 700 dollars and vacation time to come up for her sons 1st birthday. I love my family i swareeeee i do... But everytime i see them i get really stressed and upset and i lose my mind. oyyy

It is hard being young. I am only 22 so my family sees me as a child as well. I am frustrated that they can't attempt to see money through my eyes rather than just shoving their views down my throat every time I see them.

At a family get together this weekend I was being harassed so much about choosing to take care of the finances prior to having kids I was in tears. Trying to be strong and say I would love to have kids today we just can't afford it just puts them in more of a tizzy about it. All I wanted to do was quote my mom and tell them "I love you but today I don't like you."

Alyssa, just stay the course! I'm 27 - turning 28 in October - and I get comments about how I shouldn't "let my window pass" or whatever. I think my least favorite thing to hear is, "It's never a good time to have kids." Maybe not - but that doesn't mean that some times aren't better than others!

At the end of the day, getting your finances in order before having children will mean that you can afford to give them so much more. Plus you will be providing a great example to them of the benefits of delayed gratification and goal-setting.

Exactly all of this! We live in a society of "I want it and I want it now." I understand that nobody will ever have enough money to start a family, but why not delay satisfaction for the short term to create a better life for you and your future family long term?

It's unfortunate that having children has started to become part of "keeping up with the Jones."

vlagrl29 · June 2014

brij2006 said:

hoffse said:

alyssa32713 said:

KatieCutie05 said:

Oh my family is the opposite of supportive. I mean they'll say "thats a good idea" but they don't understand that i cant spend thousands of dollars then. And they think thats its only because i have student loans and they don't listen to anything i have to say because i'm the youngest and obviously all my sisters and parents who are broke are "older and wiser"... riiiight. I give up have fun being broke.

My mom has to manage all my student loans too because they are in her name which is just a nightmare. She doesn't understand why if i don't have to pay it i would want to (while it still earns interest at 2500 per year... she told me not to pay it for years because it was eligible for deferment (and i listened) now that the balance is 20k higher, she still doesn't get it. Its like the philosophy of my family is ignore it and maybe it will go away. Meanwhile i agree to a deferment so i can pay my credit cards with a higher interest rate first, which she doesn't do and now theres a 150 late fee on there that i have to pay because "she doesn't have it". Meanwhile she gets probably like a 5k tax deduction from all the interest i pay and she pays my 30 year old sister with no job 400 dollars a month to live at home. And then i get my other sister who chooses to go on vacation or out to really expensive restaurants instead of pay her mortgage or car payment... and she gives me a really hard time telling me my priorities are out of whack and i don't care about family all because i won't spend 700 dollars and vacation time to come up for her sons 1st birthday. I love my family i swareeeee i do... But everytime i see them i get really stressed and upset and i lose my mind. oyyy

It is hard being young. I am only 22 so my family sees me as a child as well. I am frustrated that they can't attempt to see money through my eyes rather than just shoving their views down my throat every time I see them.

At a family get together this weekend I was being harassed so much about choosing to take care of the finances prior to having kids I was in tears. Trying to be strong and say I would love to have kids today we just can't afford it just puts them in more of a tizzy about it. All I wanted to do was quote my mom and tell them "I love you but today I don't like you."

Alyssa, just stay the course! I'm 27 - turning 28 in October - and I get comments about how I shouldn't "let my window pass" or whatever. I think my least favorite thing to hear is, "It's never a good time to have kids." Maybe not - but that doesn't mean that some times aren't better than others!

At the end of the day, getting your finances in order before having children will mean that you can afford to give them so much more. Plus you will be providing a great example to them of the benefits of delayed gratification and goal-setting.

Exactly all of this! We live in a society of "I want it and I want it now." I understand that nobody will ever have enough money to start a family, but why not delay satisfaction for the short term to create a better life for you and your future family long term?
It's unfortunate that having children has started to become part of "keeping up with the Jones."

This is so true. We have a 3 year old and I get that all the time. "its never a good time" "don't wait too long" (I'm 34 and DH is 38). I'm am the odd one out because everyone has kids every 2-3 years apart. DH is about to build his photography studio assuming he is approved by the bank for a commercial loan. We would prefer him to finish that process and get some more money coming in before we bring #2 in the mix. My pregnancy with DD was so hard and it was more of a financial issue than I thought it would be. We aren't the type of people that like to deal with more than 1 huge project at a time. I'm really hoping pregnancy #2 is the total opposite of #1 and I can actually enjoy it.

Also, my mom wanted me to take out $10,000 out of my IRA every year to pay off my student loans so I could be debt free. But then I thought….would I have enough money to retire and decided not to do it.

brij2006 · June 2014

It's definitely a hard spot that I think a lot of MM focused people get into, and have a hard time getting their point across to others. Which in turns becomes judgement from those who think they have a say in our family life and priorities.

We are still battling this with family and friends because we went through a fertility treatment to conceive our child in November, then unfortunately lost it. They think we're crazy that we aren't trying again right now, because financially it doesn't make sense for us anymore and we're focusing on getting out of debt and getting healthy instead of fertility treatments.

Guess we're all just a bunch of cookey numbers people.

Wulfgar · June 2014

I fully understand, MW's aunt at Easter asked MW and I if we were going to take any other vacation this year besides the family one to Lake Erie in July. We told her no because we just can't afford to spend money on vacations with our student loan debt and other debts that we want to pay off.

Luckily my parents understand that MW and I are trying to reduce our debt prior to sending our children to Catholic school which will make my family similar to what I had when I was growing up which is few vacations to see other places outside of visiting family.

HoneyBee973 · June 2014

I guess we all have someone in our family that just does not get it.

My sister is constantly 'crying' how she has no money etc etc, yet every time I see her she has something new. Every time she buys an expensive purse, she tells me, she deserves it.

We might not be taking big trips to Europe every year, but we are happily chipping away at our mortgage/car debt, and saving for our future.

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