AS's other student loan payment hit, and $60 went to principal. That's $1125 down, meaning we surpassed our $1039 goal by $86!

$7,987 down, $12,013 to go in my goal to pay off $20,000 this year.

I'll post a wrap-up of the month and new goals for April later in the week.

Still haven't heard from my paid tax preparer! Hmph. Yes, I will probably whine about this in every entry until I do. I've decided to give him until April 1 and then will bug him again.

Still haven't heard from the estate-planning lawyer. I didn't think it would take this long! Kind of annoying, but I hope it's because he's taking his time and doing it right, not just blowing us off. At least we didn't have to give him a retainer for this portion, like we will for the adoption process eventually.

Thanks for the thought-provoking comments on the last entry. I've got a lot to think about, both in terms of whether it's financially better to work or stay home, and whether private health insurance makes more sense than what's provided through work.

NT, AS and I haven't discussed all of the issues yet--it's a bit hypothetical until we see whether we're having another child anyway--but we did talk about the plan of NT going down to one class. On further reflection, he's inclined to think like Thriftorama on that topic, and cram as many classes in as he thinks he can handle until we have another baby.

I told him we have to decide in April which way he'll go, but it sounds like he's leaning toward taking a summer class (which we'll need to finance as they're not eligible for federal aid) and then a half courseload in the fall (which will keep the student loans from coming due). Then look at dropping back to one class for the spring 2012 semester (especially if AS is pregnant and due before that semester is up; 2 classes nearly killed him when AA was born midsemester in spring 2010).

That buys us some time before we have to start paying his student loans AND part-time tuition. We might even be able to pay for his half-time fall 2011 tuition without taking out more loans, which would be supercool because that would mean when they DO come due, the payments won't be higher than what I figured for the recent budget considerations.

So much to think about! Sometimes I just stare at my debt spreadsheet, willing that student loan number to start going lower again. I'm really glad we paid off one of AS's loans in a fell swoop earlier this year, but now we have to make up the money we spent from the lawyer fund and haven't been able to progress on debt for a while. It's making me very impatient! But the lawyer fund and tax bill are smart priorities, I think.

Blabbety blabbety blab. Sometimes I just go in circles mentally. But I think it helps me work things out, slowly and tediously.