I was able to send off a big payment to one of NT's student loans yesterday, and it hit the account today with $1236 going to principal! That means we've put $2028 to debt this month, exceeding our $2000 September goal.
This also brings our student loan debt down to $59,540. Don't ask me why $59K feels so much better psychologically than $60K, but it does! Suddenly the light at the end of the tunnel got brighter.
And we're not done with debt repayment this month! AS got a big freelance check, and after I send a chunk to the IRS, I should still have over a grand to put toward student loans. Also, her final 50,000 Chase Sapphire points showed up, so I ordered a $530 check yesterday. I also ordered $150 from Citibank Mastercard because our bonus points hit from there. So some of that will probably go to debt, either this month or next depending on when we receive the checks.
In other ways this hasn't been a great week. (Why do short workweeks always seem to drag on even longer than regular weeks?) Yesterday at work it was announced that two more ladies at my job were getting promotions. Soon after I was asked to sign off on my contractor-proofreader's time sheet, and I was reminded that she makes quite a bit more than me. More than twice as much as me, so the fact that I have benefits doesn't balance the equation. She in fact makes $10 more per hour than the girl she replaced.
The combination of these factors had me quite down about my job, because they've always said they can't give raises and can't really do much about promotions, yet here are people getting promotions and fistfuls of money left and right.
So after complaining a lot at home last night, and starting to look at accounting classes at the community college as a possible exit strategy, I decided to email my supervisor and ask if he'd help me make another attempt to get a raise and promotion.
He emailed me back right away and said he would like to support me in that, and that he thought it was a good time to try again. So I'm slightly encouraged, and we're going to meet tomorrow morning to discuss it!
Fingers crossed for me. I could use the morale boost, and more money never hurts!
Big debt payment, cool debt milestones, $$ coming in, promising job thing?
September 8th, 2011 at 04:52 pm
September 8th, 2011 at 05:02 pm 1315501330
Wishing you great success at your quest for better compensation. It is nice that you have a supportive boss to help you. Back-up plans never hurt, either. Good job on getting the education debt under $60K! I'm hovering at $21K, and might be motivated to move it to the $19s with some extra funds we've got!
September 8th, 2011 at 05:35 pm 1315503355
September 8th, 2011 at 08:50 pm 1315515056
And now that your debt reduction is going gang busters, it should give you the confidence to take on an exit strategy.
September 8th, 2011 at 08:52 pm 1315515133
As for the freelancer's pay, yes it is discouraging. But, the company is probably thinking (if they are an in. contractor) that they don't have to pay any health, workers comp or other insurance, they also don't have to pay the employer's share of social security taxes either. It can save them a ton of money. It sucks, but that might have figured into their calculus.
September 9th, 2011 at 01:09 am 1315530549
September 9th, 2011 at 04:10 am 1315541411