Learning about debt and how to pay it off.

I am doing some research on debt and how to pay it off. Because after all education is the key to any successful adventure right.

I am reading Debt Free Forever by Gail Vaz Oxlade. You can find it at Amazon. I am only reviewing this book for myself and you. I am about 1/2 way through and Gail is very informative.  The hardest part is reading about adding up your debt and taking a good hard look at it. And yes it's hard. Crazy hard. I kid you not doing this just is something that my mind keeps putting up roadblocks. So I started with 2 bills. Electric and my cable. I owe back payments on both. But these are my smallest bills so I am going to start there. I want them paid in the next 3 months. After doing all the math I got a realistic view of how much I will need. It is not going to be easy but I have a goal and a starting point. I will have to work over my budget so I can make my goal but at this point I need to find some success.

Reading Gail's tips on evaluating your debt and take a good hard look at it. Doing some simple math she has made me see that yes it may be possible to get out of debt. But it is not going to happen over night. As much as I would love to have this happen its not. And I need to face that reality.

My long term goal is to get my small debt paid off and then work on the student loans as I wait and watch and read what is going on in the Government and the special interest groups on Student Debt. I realize that even if the possibility of forgiveness is out there. It will not happen in the next few months and it may not happen in the next year. So until then I have to do what I can to work toward start paying it off anyways.

Student debt is big and bad. I run into people everyday who has this debt. We got there because of a dream for a better way of life. Only that dream was turned upside down and was messed up. Life is odd that way.

Burnt out on Student Loan information

Hello there. Sorry to be gone for so long. The summer came and went and I did not get to blog much plus I was burnt out on Student Loan information. There is so much out there now about pushing for loan forgiveness, the Art Institutes, petitions and so on. Truth be told I got overwhelmed in it all and realized I had to make some really difficult decisions.

I want to post some of that information here in the near future. There has been so much going on this summer that it needs to be shared some more so that we can get the word out there. But I realized that none of this as far a loan forgiveness is going to happen anytime soon. I still have to protect what is left of my credit report and I have to move ahead and make every attempt I can to  pay down my student loans.

I made big progress on my other debt! And that is great and one reason my credit has not totally tanked. I did sign up for Credit Karma! Found at Creditkarma.com  and yes its really free. Its a helpful tool when working on credit repair. I can check it anytime I want too. I like this because once a year or every few months sometimes is not enough.

I used to like to coupon. I had time to coupon then. Couponing takes a lot of time. lol. While I love a good coupon bargain I also need to simplify a few things in my life as  well. I hardly been couponing in the last year. I been shopping at Aldi's instead. Also there is 3 adults now living in my house and we all work and we all are not home at the same time. So oddly enough I do not need as many groceries. I do not make a whole dinner during the week so our evening meals have become more simple. But I will still coupon for things like soaps and shampoos, deodorant, pet treats, paper products ect. A lot of the time I can find this kind of stuff or next to nothing and it does not expire as fast either. Save me time and money.

Seasons are changing and so does my budget. I am researching a few things to make over my budget. I been thinking about this for quite some time now. I need to reel in a few bills and get a payoff goal in place. And I want that done before the end of the year so that I can work on my student loans. These has caused problems in my marriage and I need to get a handle on it as soon as I can. Life for me may or may not change because of what happen to me. My husband just does not understand and I do not think he will ever forgive me for what happen.  I fear one day it might come down to me asking him to make a choice. Leave and move on.  I will only ask he help pay on the house. I'll pay everything else. Or he can stay and forgive me and help me get rid of this debt out of our lives. There is more to this also.  We do pay a huge price for the choices we make in life. I never thought that going back to school would be the worst possible decision I would make in my life. But it has. I wonder why God would want my marriage to suffer because of it. I'm not happy about it.  Its not that I do not love my husband but I am not sure how much longer I can live this way. Its not right. Its hurtful. I got in over my head because I thought I had to get educated and get a better job so just in case my husband got sick and could not work I would be able to support us. Him getting sick, having a heart attack, having diabetes are all reasons I decided to go back to school. Our daughter was also still in school and I worried how I would take care of her. Had I just trust in us and God I should've realized that we was Ok and that no matter what could happen we would find our way through it. Now here we are facing a huge problem and I am here by myself trying to find my way through it alone. It sucks.

Harsh realities of Student Loan debt.

Its been awhile since I have posted anything here.  There seems to be a lot of talk going on in the news world about the student loan crisis. And also about for profit schools shutting down. EDMC is closing some of the Art Institutes with New England being one of the first. Pittsburgh is on the list but there is no closing date as of now.

I started a facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/426283364206783/ Pittsburgh art institute fails and tales online division.

I figure we need to keep the conversation going and in some other groups it was suggested that we should start groups for each school so that we can compare stories and what not. Its going to be my summer project. One of many but life goes on.

I had to call Navient to make some adjustment in my payment. I had a monthly payment agreement and somehow I ended up with the wrong account number. So my checks was being kicked back with a note to my bank that the account is closed. I did call and got that straightened out. But it also put me a month or two behind and well then my monthly payments was way too high and there is no way I could afford them. So I called and have to reapply for my ibr, got a small forbearance and that is all for now. No further ahead and my loans are higher not smaller.

Had a talk with my husband about what is going on. Thankfully for a change we did not end up in an argument. But it's still heart breaking to hear that he thinks he will never be able to retire and will work until the day he dies because of these loans.  I hope someday this will get resolved somehow so he can retire and enjoy his life and not work. It would not both me in the least at this point to be poor and not have much if we got out from under this debt.

I was looking at my loans again. I want to try something to see if it works. I was told last year that I can pay off just one loan if I had the money out of the many I ended up with.  I notice that I have different interest rates on these loans as well. I am planning on doing something to make extra money in addition to my job. I'm off all summer so I have the time to work things out. It will be art stuff and crafts and what ever else I can find. Dog sitting, cleaning out peoples houses, sell on ebay again. What ever. I always can find extra little jobs for a few extra dollars. But my goal is to put that money toward one of the smaller loans and pay it off by the end of this year. Get all the paper work showing its paid off then move onto the next one and so on. Yes it will take years but there has to be a way to paid this stuff off and not have to keep paying that interest for years until I die!  I guess if  I do die any time soon I would not have to worry about it any more.

Well just me thinking and hoping that I can find a solution to a rather large problem and find some resemblance of my life before AOI or move forward to a better life and put AOI behind me for once and for all.

Until then here I am. Wishing and hoping for the best.

If you are just finding out about the student loan crisis and the for profit colleges. Just Google For profit college scams, the Art Institute reviews and scams, Student loan crisis. You will find loads of information. There are facebook pages popping up everyday for discussing these issues as well and is a great place for information and knowing that you are not alone in this fight.

Sallie Mae call.

Well I got the call. ugg. Was late on sending in my payment. But it was that or not get heating oil for my house and freeze.  I told her I will have a payment by the end of the month. A quick adjustment and forbearance and they will be off my phone once more. I am going to send in weekly small payments and see what happens. I was thinking of also sending in 1.00 a day. lol. Just for kicks. Sounds like a waste I know. But really sending in this money all goes to interest and the likelihood of these loans getting paid off is slim to none. So why not enjoy being a pain in their butt too.

Saw this article this morning I thought I would share. Its called "Colleges Follow Bait and Switch Pricing Measure to Lure Students.  Its a good article that explains how we end up in this mess. If nothing else its something else to warn those who is doing their homework about for profit colleges.

First payment ready.

Well I have to take the plunge and make these payments. I"m doing it weekly. Small chunks at a time. Heck since I am going to pay this until the day I die I might as well not take a huge hit monthly right. Smaller amounts are easier to deal with. Well until something happens that well I either win the Lottery or these loans are forgiven. And right now it does not look like either is going to happen fast.

I did hear from the Art Institute. They offered me to pay 1/2 of what I owe in full. Nice deal if I had that money. I admit it would be nice to get them out of the way.

On other debt news I"m plugging away at things a little at a time. The car loan is paid off! I need to send extra money to another bill. But right now with the weather being so cold our extra money went to heating oil instead. :(  

My bill binder is working for me. Its keeping me somewhat organized. I do have a envelope that i put in a few dollars here and there to work on my emergency fund. I have to say it feels good to stash a little money aside. Even if its just a very small amount right now. I think I"ll start selling stuff from around here again and put that toward this fund.

So far sadly I do not see an end to the student loan. But I have learned a lot about  myself from this experience. But what I should of done and what has been done are not going to change things. But I know that I can move forward.

I pray a lot about this student loan situation.  So hopefully something will happen one day. Right now I have decided to put it in God's hands and listen to him. He is saying pay what you can at the moment. For me personally this is a lesson I had to learn. Its a hard one at 48 I tell you.

Until next time. Pray, Keep up with the latest news, and do what you can. We are all in this together.

Happy New year!

I know I am a little late but we had a busy holiday season and things have just settled down enough here for me to catch up with my blogs, budget and goals for 2015!

Toward the end of the year Sallie Mae had created a collections branch called Navient. I got my paperwork in around Dec and took a quick peek at it and took note of the due date of my payment and set it aside. Yesterday I took a good look at it. OMG confusing! I did go onto the site to see if I can get any clearer info on what I was seeing. Basically a breakdown of all my loans, the interest rates for these loans and what my payments are and what I paid so far. Its not a pretty picture. I am on an income based repayment plan so it made it a bit easier. Still its not like I have the extra money. But I am doing to do my best to keep these people off my phone.

I am working on paying off other debt and I am happy to say I am seeing progress! I hope to make some good goals for this year. Like we do need to purchase a car or truck for my husband this year.  And hope to make another major home improvement this summer. But we will see in a few months what we can do or not do.

I organized my budget binder!

I found a free printable pack of sheets for my binder. I forget the link but just google free budget printable sheets and you will find many to choose from or make your own

These I laminated so I can use a dry erase marker on them. 

Nothing fancy or really pretty in my binder. Its pretty basic and easy to use. 

Student loan stuff. I used page protection sheets to keep this stuff in. 

I do want to work on my emergency fund this year. For now I am putting in loose dollar bills into the envelope to start it. How I am going to go from here I do not know just yet. I need to add this into my budget somehow. I do know I want to get this built up and put into a savings. 

If you look up binders, filo planners, planners etc you can find loads of information on how to create on. You can make them really fancy and colorful. I thought about this and decided that while it is great fun to have all the post it notes, colored pens etc that I am going to keep my pretty basic. I may stick in art work in there as  I go. But as far as color coding things that just sound like more work to me and a reason to spend money on things I do not really need. I do that enough now as it is. 

Things happen for a reason. I suppose that I have learned here a huge lesson on money, loans and debt. I'm always learning it seems. But this studen loan has forced me into taking a good look at my life, our money and how we live. I realize that I do not have to keep up with my neighbors, friends and family. I do not desire designer clothing, purses or fancy cars or homes. I am pretty happy living a frugal life and it suits me. I am working on my art and will work toward building on that dream again. I might not have the degree but there is lots of ways to reach that dream I am finding out.  

That loan will always be lurking in our lives unless something happens and its forgiven and wiped off my credit report. But for now I own it and it owns me. We meaning the loan and me have to learn to live with each other. It will not be easy to live with. Kind of like a rotten relative who moved in your home to stay a few months and never leaves.  

Coupons and sales!

I know not everyone likes to cut coupons and go through the trouble of shopping the sales. But I have learned this is one way of saving money on the grocery budget. I have been lacking in my couponing lately due to many reasons. But I am going to get back into the groove of it again.

I will not go through my haul. I got bath products mostly and pet treats. I saved 1/2 on my bills and I also gave myself a budget too. So I know what I can and can not spend. I did not spend the whole budget today because well lets just say that Walmart was a zoo and I was in no mood to shop among those who go out once a month. I did got to places like Dollar Tree and Dollar General and the K-mart.

While out shopping today I was thinking of my mind set in the past. I always was a frugal shopper but at some point I let others lead me to believe that there are things you just can not buy cheap. That they are not good enough. And for a long time I did with out because I could not afford the better things. One reason I went back to school was because of this mind set. What if something happen to my husband, what would happen if I did not make enough?? What if we could not afford this and that??

Guess what?

Who cares!

See after spending 4 years of school, another year or so with a my mom who was sick and passed away last year. My life kind of came undone in that amount of time. I did not have time to stick to my frugal ways, I was stressed to the point where I no longer enjoyed it either and I just went through the motions of life and taking care of the basics. This is how we ended up where we are in debt. As this year comes to an end I come to realize that no while its nice to have the nicer things in life it does not mean you have to wait and do without and be miserable. Lately I have DYI a bathroom cabinet that looks great, found a shower curtain for .80cents and its so cute. My bathroom is not finished but it looks better these days just because I care enough just to do a little something to brighten it up a bit. I know strange but your home is your home and you can do with it what you want and be happy with it.

Same goes for my personal self. For years I did not buy make up. Really its expensive stuff to buy the right foundation, eye shadow, eye liners and what not. So I went with out. I'm not a big make up person but I do like to fix myself up from time to time. Guess what! I found makeup can be bought for 1.00 or free with coupons and it works just as nice as the more pricier stuff. Work with what you got and be happy. There may be a time you can invest in really good products but when you owe 60,000 in Student Loans. Lets just say the dollar store stuff is just as nice and no one will know any better. Its not like they are in your face taking a sample of your foundation.

So yes I have found laundry detergent that works for 1.00, fabric softener sheets that work also and smell good, cleaning supplies for cheap or make my own.


I have been thinking of this silly stuff because I do have debt to pay and I want to take the steps to pay it off. But I am not fooling myself I do enjoy decorating my home and getting myself a little something for me from time to time. Just keep myself sane so to speak. But I do not have to spend money I do not have on it either. My budget is small so I work with what I have  and I am OK with that too. I figured out that trying to keep up with someone else never works and will not make you happy. Being happy is a state of mind and I was there at one time. I am finding my way back and looking to enjoy those small things I used to at one time that did not cost much of anything at all. I really did not mind seeing a bill in the mail because I saw my progress in paying it off. I'm looking to that again. Watching the hard work pay off each month. At some point we can celebrate and take a vacation or something we want to do. But it will be on our terms and no one elses. We do what we want with what we have and be happy with it.

So yes its a big scary debt. The things you do to save money toward that debt does not have to be terrible. Sometimes it can be fun and rewarding.

This is just the beginning. I hope to discover some new frugal and saving things in the next year.

I will wear my dollar store makeup, decorate my home with my 90% off items, sell my ebay stuff,  cook the majority of our meals at home and not worry about who is looking into my life. Because I no longer care. If you have a problem with it you can pay my bills then. Until I am debt free this is how it is. And most likely from now on. Life is too short to worry about what others think about how you are living. Its your life make the best of it.