• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
    • Budget
    • Health
      • Food
      • Fitness
    • Financial Freedom
      • Travel
    • Money
    • Student Loans
    • Sweet Reads
  • Shop
  • CONTACT
  • Sugar and Money
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
Sugar and Money

Sugar and Money

Sweet Life Sweet Finances

May 2018 Debt Payoff and YTD Totals

by Jackie Leave a Comment

0 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet

debt, money, payoff debt

Paying off debt isn’t fun but it is fun to see the balances decrease, especially when the balance FINALLY reaches ZERO.

With this post, I am playing catch up and then going forward these posts will be current and come on the first of the Month to show the prior month’s debt payoff progress. The goal is to be as transparent as possible but I won’t disclose our income. After all, it’s not how much money you make but how you spend what you make.

When 2018 started, I had one credit card that had an expiring special interest rate so I paid it off in January. Then starting in February and going forward, the only debt (*besides mortgage) that I have are student loans. I have 6 student loan groups to be exact.

The strategy that I am using to pay off my student loans is the snowball method where I pay the minimum required payment  on all group groups and then throw all remaining money on the student loan with the lowest balance. I plan to continue with the snowball method except for the last two loan groups when I will have one loan with a 2.125% percentage rate and one with a 6.3% percentage rate.  In that case, I will pay off the 6.3%  interest rate loan first and then the 2.125% interest rate loan, eventhough the balance will be lower on the 2.125% loan. Therefore, the last two loans will be paid off using the avalanche method. The avalanche method is where you pay off the debt with the highest interest rate first.

2018 Numbers and Progress YTD:

January – $2450.00 – Credit Card Payoff!

February – $900 .00– Paid off Student Loan Group G. YAY!

March -$126.00 – Cash flowed a beach house rental for April, purchased spring/summer items and cash flowed some other expenses that came up. Honestly, just did a lot of spending this month.

April -$899.00- I actually planned to pay $1000 but I didn’t fully submit the payment so it was added to May’s payoff amount.

Which brings us to this Month. May, where I paid off $2000.00, this was a stretch but was able to be done since I received 3 paychecks this month and really watched my discretionary spending in the areas of eating out and shopping. I’m pretty happy that I was able to make additional payments totaling $2000.00 and can’t wait for the balance to be updated on Nelnet’s website.

The numbers reflected show payments made above the minimum payment required to show actual debt reduction.

Sugar and Money for the Month of May

Sugar for the Month- a beach trip for Memorial Day Weekend which we only had to cover our roundtrip gas and $80 in food. Thankfully, a family member invited us so we had a free place to stay and most meals covered. Definitely sweet living in my book.

Money for the Month- Paid off a total of $2000 on Group D Student Loan. Also met Dennis Kimbro at the Black Expo In Columbia, SC where I was able to hear him speak, snap a picture and get my book signed. Lastly, I finished reading, “Richest Man in Babylon”.

Now Let’s Imagine… What could I have done with $2000 if it didn’t go toward debt…

Sugar – I can purchase a single “The Runway VIP Experience” ticket to Beyonce’s concert in Columbia, SC for $1995.00 (not including taxes and fees) Which would include:

One premium reserved ticket in sections along the Runway,* access to an intimate backstage tour-go behind the scenes and ask select members of the JAY-Z AND BEYONCÉ OTR II crew what it takes to put this elaborate production together (tour led by your VIP Concierge), one VIP parking space per order, exclusive access to the pre-show VIP Lounge, limited edition JAY-Z AND BEYONCÉ OTR II VIP gift item, & more!*

Money – Start funding a Roth IRA with a deposit of $2000 toward the 2018 contribution limit of $5500.00.

Next Steps with Debt Payoff:

Currently targeting Group D with a balance of $2,700.00 and my current overall balance on my student loans is now under $50,000. So, Bye Bye $50’s, Hello $40’s!

Let me know of any questions or comments about my first debt payoff report! Thank you so much for reading and all of your support!

 

signature

 

Filed Under: Money, Student Loans Tagged With: debt, debt payoff, money, student loans

JOIN THE NEWSLETTER

Signup today for free and be the first to get notified on new updates.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

A little about me…

Sugar and Money is a blog about the personal finance choices and thoughts from a 30- something old Mom, Wife, and lover of personal finance. This blog shares her story of tackling debt and creating her version of financial freedom. Read More…

JOIN THE NEWSLETTER

Signup today for free and be the first to get notified on new updates.

Save More, Spend Less Bundle

Starter Worksheet Bundle to Save More!

 

Categories

  • Budget
  • Family Finances
  • Financial Freedom
  • Financial Inspiration
  • Fitness
  • Money
  • Saving Money
  • Student Loans
  • Sweet Reads
  • Uncategorized

JOIN THE NEWSLETTER

Sign up to receive our newsletter & updates

The Latest on Instagram

👉🏾Today’s Action Take a page out of my bo 👉🏾Today’s Action

Take a page out of my book on just 1 simple but powerful action to take today.

It is creating a brain dump! 🧠 

A brain dump is basically just creating a list of everything that comes to mind. This process gets everything out of your mind and onto paper so you can focus on what you need to take action on. 

You can create a brain dump on a specific area or topic or just everything that comes to mind.

Then the fun happens when you can check things off! ✅ 

I created one today of everything that comes to mind that I want to focus on as March comes to an end within in 2 weeks.

Now Tell me something that you would put on your current brain dump👇🏾

PS: If pen to paper isn’t your thing then use the notepad in your phone 🙂

#selfcaresunday #braindump #planneraddict #sugarandmoney
Happy International Women’s Day 2023! ✊🏿✊ Happy International Women’s Day 2023! ✊🏿✊🏾✊🏽✊🏼✊🏻

The theme for this year is Embrace Equity.

The IWD 2023 campaign is striving to inspire worldwide discussion about embracing equity, so it’s important to understand the difference between equality and equity.

Equality means each individual or group is given the same resources or opportunities, while equity recognises each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.

🥂”Here’s to strong women. May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them.”

Please tag any women that inspire you! Or give that woman a shout out below! 

Happy International Women’s Day! 💐

#iwd2023 #embraceequity #sugarandmoney
Ok Y’all, hear me out because I know how you all Ok Y’all, hear me out because I know how you all like to tussle especially over Queen B. 

But I have to say, let’s all take a collective deep breath and not get all worked up over these advertised resale ticket prices. 

Honestly, I hope you haven’t bought them 😳The tickets for the United States leg of the tour aren’t on sale yet. 

Again, Tickets aren’t on sale yet!

Hopefully you didn’t let excitement and FOMO cause you to buy nose bleeds seats in the range of $500-$600+.

Personally I don’t believe tickets will start that high especially in the upper sections but time will tell.

However for now, do your due diligence and register for presale access, check for the official tickets, etc. 

I’m not going to tell you what to spend on a ticket, what not to spend, etc. Everyone knows their income, their budget and their responsibilities- so you know what you can afford for a concert especially if you have to travel to see Beyoncé or any of your favorite artists.

I even saw a video saying tickets are $2000! Okay, maybe VIP might be that much but again official ticket prices aren’t released yet but I’m sure to just grab any seat, it’s not going to be $500 or $2000🤷🏾‍♀️

So 1,2,3…. Whoosaw! 

And if I’m wrong, I will come back to this post and apologize. 

🗣Let me know what’s the most you’re willing to pay to see Queen Bey’s Renaissance tour👇🏾 

#beyoncerenaissance #sugarandmoney #budgetfirst
Do you REALLY know how much you’re paying monthl Do you REALLY know how much you’re paying monthly for subscriptions?

🗞 An article by CNBC (9/6/22) states that, “54% of consumers underestimate how much they spend (on subscriptions) by at least $100.” The average per month is $133 with some people having over $400/mo in subscriptions 😳 (survey of 1000 people).

🌞 So on this beautiful Self Care Sunday, take some time and review your bank statement and/or credit card statement and see what you’re actually paying for subscriptions.

Then are you okay paying that amount?
Do you truly need all those subscriptions?

If the answer is no, then start cancelling those unneeded subscriptions!

📱 2 apps that you can use to find your subscriptions is @mintapp and @rocketmoney 

The article also mentioned that people forget about them since the subscription is on autopay and I must admit, there has been a time or 2 that I’ve let subscriptions run longer than they needed to because of that darn autopay 😡

So take a few a minutes today to cancel those unneeded subscriptions, it could save you at least $300 a year! ($25/mo saved in subscriptions equals $300!)!

👉🏾Comment below and let me know what’s the last subscription you canceled or what subscription will you cancel after reading this post?
Follow me on Instagram
Sugar and Money

Copyright © 2023 · Sugar and Money | Sweet Life Sweet Finance ·