As I am writing this we are about 3 months into 2021. I cannot believe how far I’ve come in my student debt repayment journey. For those who have not yet lost interest in this series, thank you for reading so far! This is one of the main reasons I started this blog so I really love taking the time to write these types of personal posts to document my personal experience. I hope to be able to provide inspiration or encouragement to other young self-made professionals that are tackling their student debt.
To break down the figures here is the specifics of my professional student line of credit:
Closing Balance $159,260
Balance $85,234
Interest 2.95%
Unfortunately my bank records will only go back until April 2019 otherwise I would specify how much I have paid so far. From the figures above, you will notice that I have gotten the principal down from $159,260 to $85,234 (a $74,026 difference!). In total the payments are more than this as interest has also been accruing each month.
For reference and just in case you have not read my previous posts, I have an unsecured Professional Student Line of Credit with a Canadian bank. The interest is prime plus 0.5% which at this time is about 2.95%. This is a 10 year term loan which means my minimum payment is calculated accordingly and presently it is $928.21. Because I am trying to expedite this repayment process, I am making larger payments in an effort to minimize the amount of total interest paid at the end of the loan. I have calculated that in order to pay off my loan in less than 3 years, I will have to make monthly payments of about $2,558 to be on this timeline.
An exciting piece of news that I have not yet shared anywhere else is that I have recently been able to secure a significant salary increase. This has truly affected my ability to pay off my debts while living my best life (which is so important given the year we’ve lost to the pandemic). Instead of increase and expediting my timeline, I plan on saving and investing the extra money.
I think this change in my finances will really make my journey a lot more enjoyable and will really help alleviate the mental space that my student debt has admittedly been occupying.
I will certainly dedicate another post to my top tips for “asking for a raise”. Leave a comment and let me know if you’d be interested in that and what your personal experience has been.
In terms of my next debt diary entry, I anticipate that will be once I’ve reached the halfway point of my principal which is $79,630 which should be soon!
