Personal loan payment posted. $414 to principal (not as much as I hoped, but more on that in a bit).
$1357 down, $2743 to go on my May goal
$58,513 to go on my Big-Picture Goal
It looks like I'm right on track with my Big-Picture Goal, but I don't see as much extra in my June budget to put toward debt (more like $950 extra versus the $1600 or so I usually like to pay in). I refigured my debt snowball yesterday, and I still don't see my personal-type debt going away before Feb. 2010.
If I stay exactly on track with planned payments and get a few windfalls over the next year and a half, I'll make my goal of having it all gone by 12/31/09. But there are so many variables coming up (AS changing jobs, NT going back to school, AS student loans coming due, ARM adjusting itself, wanting to save for babies) that all I can do at the moment is cross my fingers.
The reason I feel annoyed today is because my personal loan payment, which I thought would be more than $441 toward principal, was only $414. I guess I thought since it's a fixed-term loan (60 months), it would start out lower in principal and gradually increase, like my mortgage does. Instead it seems to randomly fluctuate. I did pay a little extra at some point, so I don't know if that affected it.
It's got a fixed interest rate, so it couldn't be that they're charging me more interest. And I got assurance when I signed up for this loan that there was no prepayment penalty and I would only be responsible for accrued interest if I paid early.
Huh. Well, I don't get it. I could do more research, but I think I'll just take this as more motivation to get out of this debt. So I'm increasing my fixed payment, from the minimum $623 to $650. Hopefully that will ensure I never fall below $441 in principal again. And after my UK credit cards are all paid, I'm attacking this loan with a vengeance. This time it's personal. :-)
Next step toward May goal + annoyance
April 17th, 2008 at 03:28 pm
April 17th, 2008 at 06:46 pm 1208454398
Keep the pace, this is a marathon
April 17th, 2008 at 10:28 pm 1208467735
Have you considered doing a post listing out your individual debts and the interest rates on each? I'd be interested to see that - would be exciting to watch as they get ready to join the graveyard!
Keep up the great work!
April 22nd, 2008 at 06:05 pm 1208883917
I will put together a page of current debts, minimum payments and interest rates and update it occasionally. Thank you for the suggestion and the encouragement!
CJ