This weekend, we paid off Somara’s third student loan with Sallie Mae. Thanks to all those recent windfalls I had happen (Chase, Wells Fargo and the State Comptroller), I decided they were enough to put toward the remaining balance while we could endure the rate in the short term from handling more on a credit card. I made the final payment on Thursday as soon as I saw the key amount of money get deposited via CEFCU’s site. I didn’t think Sallie Mae would act so quickly, they have a history of dragging their butts with me and then I have to make a call to Bangalore by way of Indiana, if the phone numbers are to be believed.
How far along are we? We have one more loan to kill and it’s a whooper because it’s greater than the previous three combined. There remains a silver lining:
- The current rate on it is 3.25% until further notice. It used to be 8.25% when I had it refinanced in 2006 and that’s still better than the 16% it was.
- With the rate being half of what I planned, Sallie Mae lowered the minimal payment by $100 recently. I have no idea if this is permanent. I’m working under the assumption of it going up should the economy improve, thus it will always receive the amount I paid when it was 8%. I figure it will be done long before March 2026.
- The total balance of loans is now 41.1% completed since this is equal to three completed and three-plus years on the whopper. This puts us ahead of schedule on the refinancing of 2006 by five or more years, assuming we achieved five per year on average.
What’s next? Sadly, not the last loan. As the Finance Minister of the Maggi Republic, I laid out a strategy most people say is preached by Dave Ramsay. My friend Doc and I think my parents told me about it back in the Nineties. The snowball effect. Thus, all the money we were putting toward Sallie Mae #3 will be refocused on our time share in Las Vegas after we rein in a credit card over the next month. We will pursue this until it’s time buy our first new car together and it should be my second car ever. I’m not thinking any further ahead than that, it would be pressing my luck on how much success I’ve had this far.