I have about $8100 left to pay on a student loan. Between the vacation fund and the tiki fund (yes, that one...), I have enough to pay it off. Right now, the payment on that loan is about $300 a month. We are expecting another baby in November, which means another college fund.
We'd still have a decent-sized emergency fund. As long as hubby and I can stay at least partially employed, we will be in good shape.
The loan has really started bothering me recently. I paid too much for a virtually worthless degree. Journalism is no longer a profession. No one is hiring, the industry is in shambles, and the jobs I had had have never once paid as much as I made working as a Bourbon Street bartender before I got the degree. How sad is it that a bartender can make more than a reporter at a major daily newspaper??
So, I guess I am mad that I spent so much on a degree. and I'm ready to put it all behind me.
So, should I just go ahead and pay it off?
My savings accounts are paying about 1.3 percent, and I am paying 4 percent interest on the loan. We get virtually no tax deduction for it. I would automatically redirect the $300 I was spending back into savings, which would eventually replenish the money I am taking out.
Any thoughts?
Thinking about paying off the student loan
July 25th, 2009 at 05:16 pm
July 25th, 2009 at 06:09 pm 1248545382
July 25th, 2009 at 08:57 pm 1248555424
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July 25th, 2009 at 10:04 pm 1248559470
but please don't discount what you learnt through your degree. i enjoy reading your blog and your writing, i am sure you can put your skills to use another way even if it's not reporting.
July 26th, 2009 at 04:00 am 1248580822
I also wouldn't discount your degree. I had the discount stage like that myself when I bailed out on a scientific/ academic career, but I realized that while I didn't have an outlet (college profship) I kept the skills: learning, critical thinking, training in scientific method, a bs detector. Out of all of those, the bs detector was the most valuable. From your writing, I know you have a great bs detector. Treasure that.
July 26th, 2009 at 07:38 pm 1248637099
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July 27th, 2009 at 01:15 am 1248657324
July 27th, 2009 at 05:25 pm 1248715536
Yeah, I'm tempted to say that you should go ahead and pay it off as well. I know that were I in your shoes (and I've been there before), I would have done so.
July 27th, 2009 at 10:46 pm 1248734795
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July 29th, 2009 at 01:24 pm 1248873866