Non-progress

aka $30.20 in almost six years.

I just had a look at that in my student loan documentation. While I don't think it's that bad, I think there was another loan consolidated in with "B" to make the starting point for "C", it looks as if I really didn't make much progress in almost six years. I did defer student loan payments while in grad school (the above is my undergrad consolidation) and did not pay the interest accruing at the time (hindsight: I know) but I didn't realise the non-progress it would result in. Oy.

At least that one still lets me log in, my log-in for Citi student loans no longer works post consolidation. Weird.

61,171.51

I finally got the summary sheet for my student loan consolidation today. I'd applied for consolidation on August 5th, and I'd really begin to wonder with the recent melt down whether or not Direct Loans would remain in the consolidation business when most of the big banks and even Sallie Mae have pulled out.

I'm glad to know that in the two months and five days since I applied, my summary wasn't far off from my estimation. I knew I was around 60K, so 61, 171.51 isn't far off. I know there are rules of thumb for the amount of student loan debt you acquire vs. starting salaries and while I don't remember what they are exactly, I'm comfortable with where I am now - noting this approximately 25% undergrad remains and 75% grad school. Given the annual cost of NYU, I'm happy with how I came out. I worked through both years of school and had ~10K in scholarships, all of which helped. 

I love the repayment options they give, hope the formatting remains here. I've left off interest rate since that remains the same for all: 6.5% as well as initial loan amount because that is also a constant. I'm not sure whether there are any on-time, auto-pay incentives available through Direct Loans. There is also the income contingent plan, which they did not detail for me since I didn't select it.

Plan # Payments Initial Payment Max Pay Interest Total

Standard 360 $386.64 $386.64 $78,019.39 $139,190.90

Graduated 360 $331.34 $579.96 $79,767.04 $140,938.55

Ext. Fixed 300 $413.03 $413.03 $62,736.99 $123,908.50

Ext. Grad 300 $331.34 $619.55 $64,805.85 $125,977.36

There's something a little cockeyed there since extended should be longer term, but it's not. That said, I can see the benefit in just an extra $26.39 per month in terms of interest paid in the long term. There's a new car in the difference there! While I'm lucky (?) enough to live in a market where $140K is going to buy me nothing,  I can see how people would see this as a mortgage.

There's no pre-pay penalty and my plan was always to pay more than the minimum and have the extra applied to principle. Now that my 2.9% is sorted, this is my highest interest. That said, I think I know how much I need to apply to loan/debt-repayment each month. I don't have a pay off date, but I like having a plan.

Off for the weekend -- not driving and spending gas and wear and tear... I'm taking Peter Pan to Boston and then the T/bus. 

Key Issue: Student Loans

In addition to the other expenses associated with city living, I, like many, deal with student loans. I'm in the process of consolidating my loans which consist of:

• undergraduate consolidated loan. Approximately 13K 
• graduate Stafford loans (unsubsidized and subsidized): 39K
• Graduate PLUS loans: Approximately 8K

Not too bad given that I went to two private schools. I'm happy with that total especially since I landed a job in my field prior to graduation with my MSc. I think I made the right choices with respect to working while in school, living at home to save money on rent and food and other items. 

I was tossing up whether or not to consolidate and finally decided the convenience of one payment a month where I could pay over the minimum far outweighed making over the minimum on three separate loan accounts just to pay down principle. While there is the risk of paying more over time in a consolidation loan, I think I will be able to pay it off in far less time, mitigating some of that extra interest. I want to pay it off sooner rather than later because when I eventually move from Manhattan, I want to buy a house. I don't want to have these loans hanging over my head for the next 30 years and I'm willing to make sacrifices to make that happen.

I need to find out what my student loan payments are going to be (consolidated) so I can make a more accurate budget with respect to loan repayments, credit card payments, etc.