Hubby and I went through our closets and dressers today, getting rid of clothes we don't wear, don't love, or that don't fit anymore.

36 items to consignment store=108 points
67 items to thrift store= 100.5

I'm amazed we even had that much stuff to give away.

We still have more areas of the house to tackle. It's kind of fun assigning a point value...

I noticed a lot of folks blogging about points when they are getting rid of stuff. Can someone explain to me what's going on? Did I miss something?

Hubby and I have been talking, and it seems like 2010 is shaping up to be an expensive year.

We need to buy a new car. We have a crappy 1998 Chrysler we inherited from my dad.(We call it dad's last laugh). The repairs are getting bigger and more frequent, and it's to the point that I feel nervous driving my children around in it because it's only a matter of time before it just quits.

We have a few options for buying a car. We could use our tax refund (usually 10k) plus pay the rest out of savings. (If the car lasts until we get the refund...). We could pay 10k out of savings and finance the rest. We need to really talk about it, what kind of car we want, what to test drive, and how to pay for it. I think we will do new, because we drive cars until they die, so it'd be nice to start with something solid. We also want a hybrid, an electric car, or a Fit, and they are harder to find used.

We need a new cooktop. Two of the four burners on our original 1957 cooktop no longer work and making dinner is now becoming difficult, slow and frustrating. We have talked about new countertops as well, as we have the original 1957 counters and they are not in good shape. They are significantly damaged in several spots and stained all over. Replacing them was on our to-do list when we bought the house. And, what better time than when you have to install a new cooktop anyway? For a cooktop, converting from electric to gas, and for quartz (read:indestructible) countertops, we figure the kitchen will cost us a total of $5k max.

We need to add insulation to the attic, at a bare minimum. I do want to look at having insulation blown in to the exterior walls as well. I haven't researched this as far as cost or if it's a good idea. This would help us meet our green goals and help us save money on heating and cooling.

So that's big stuff. Other than the car, I want to pay for everything out of cashflow, not savings.

As far as my financial goals for 2010:
I don't have the total numbers calculated, but my goals is to put $10,000 in savings, fund the 529s to the tune of $4,000, plus at least $4,000 more into the extra college savings account. I'd also like to put $3,000 to $5,000 into my IRA, and keep adding to the new car fund.

I am on my way to meeting my goal of getting a base level of freelance income, thanks to the gig I just got at my former job. That'll be about $8000 this year if it all works out.

In addition to earning more, I'd like to work on the spending side of our balance sheet, and spend less. We've managed to save in the past without serious cutting, but I think we can do so much better, and probably without any tangible decline in our quality of life. So, if it doesn't feed us, house us or make us happier, it's out.

As far as my personal goals... Number one on the list is to be ORGANIZED and ELIMINATE CLUTTER.

Despite what seem like constant trips to the goodwill drop off, we still have way too much stuff. With two kids under 2, I just don't have time to clean and clear constantly. My solution? Get rid of all but the necessary items so there's less to clean!! We are going to try to go minimalist this year, and add some storage WITH DOORS, so things look clean even when they aren't, and get rid of anything we don't love or that isn't useful.

Number 2 for me is to be healthy and try to do 3, 30-minute workouts a week. To save money, I am just going to DVR workouts from the FitTV station. They look kind of cool.

My hope is that this will lead to 10 pounds of weight loss by the end of the year. I'm not fat, technically. I'm just 20 pound heavier than I was when I got married 8 years ago--and before I had two kids. Luckily I'm tall, so I tend to look lighter than I really am (in clothes...), but I know what I look like under those clothes, and I want that to look better!

I lost 8 pounds this year, despite just having had a baby. I have the gestational diabetes diet to thank for that (silver lining??)

So, 2010 is a tall order, but I'm feeling optimistic.

It's been a hard five years. In 2005, our lives hit an oil patch. Our lives changed over night because of a hurricane, so we sold our house, found new jobs, bought a house 1000 miles north.

A couple of months after we got settled my grandmother died. Then, seven months later, grandpa died. I was devasted, but I wasn't through the worst yet.

Six months after grandpa died I found out I was pregnant, then six months after that I found out my dad had terminal cancer. We all just prayed he'd live long enough to meet his only grandson.

When baby Bean was 3 months old, dad died. And when Bean was 11 monts old, we found out he was going to be a big brother.

It's been six weeks since Baby Bean Too arrived. we get 2 hours a sleep a night at a time. Things are hectic with a toddler and a newborn.

It's been nonstop action for 5 years, and frankly, I need to regroup.

So, it's a new year. What better time to at least put some thought into regrouping??

I'll probably post some silly ruminations along those lines int he next couple of days.

I made it through Christmas, even though I was powerless to stop Hubby's Horrible Aunt from coming. If you remember my last post, we didn't want her here because she
A. tried to molest my hubby when he was younger
B. is really mean and always makes rude comments
C. is so out of it from medications that she is unpredictable.

So yeah, I won't go into all the gory details about why I couldn't prevent her from coming. I'll just say that even though hubby and his parents don't love her or want to be with her, they feel a moral obligation to invite her for holidays. So we all suffered.

I am putting my foot down: NEVER AGAIN!!!

It was awful. On Christmas morning,she accused me of stealing money from her, while putting her hand in the pocket of my pajamas to look for it!!! Uh what??? I am still fuming over this one. I won't even mention the irrational 15 minute crying fit at 8 a.m. that started off Christmas morning.

After Christmas Eve dinner, she yelled at my mother for "not including" her. I don't know how she felt excluded sitting down eating dinner with all of us, but even so, you do not yell at MY MOTHER and someone who just fed you a delicious homemade holiday meal.

And finally...
She stayed at a hotel not far from us. Of course, she complained about it. She said she didn't feel safe because the phone in her room didn't work. Funny, she called me from that phone at least once a day.

As a result, she managed to convince hubby to let her sleep at our house the last night. We gave up the room where we take turns staying up all night with our 6 week old baby. We made up the bed, then she refused to sleep on it and insisted that she sleep on our new sofa in the living room, even though we need to walk through there to get formula all night. She argued with us for an hour. Hubby didn't want her to sleep on the sofa, and this is awful, because she smells of cigarette smoke. The smell is so strong, our living room smelled like that all weekend, and we didn't want it soaking into our new sofa.

She fought with us for an hour about where to sleep.

I have never been so frustrated by someone in my life. NEVER AGAIN!!!

I just got a new freelance gig from one of my old employers. One news column a week at $150 a pop, so about $7800 a year if I can get through it. I said yes.

It's hard juggling two babies under 2 but I figure I need to take this in order to stay in the game. It's a lot of work, but I think it will be worth it in the long run.

Plus, in this economy, I don't think it's right to turn down an opportunity to make money.

Ok, so I know the SPIRIT of Christmas is kindness and good cheer and all that. I am going to rant about this even at the risk of sounding like an awful person.

This is the first year we are hosting Christmas, with my family and the in-laws together all at our house. That isn't a problem. I was really looking forward to it-- until today.

The in-laws are driving in from New England, which is great.

The problem is that hubby has an aunt who is one of the most unsavory people I have ever met, and she is coming with them. She is super negative and always blurts out rude and offensive comments at every gathering. She is generous, but always with a catch or some sort of weirdness attached to it.

She is a hoarder who lives alone in a house filled with garbage and boxes piled to the ceiling, she is diabetic but doesn't treat it, so she is half blind on pain pills and limping everywhere from the sores on her feet and legs. This means we will have to go extra out of our way to take care of her, even though no on really wants to. (Sounds mean, but it's true)

But the icing on the cake?? She tried to molest my hubby when he was a young teen.

Well, I just found out that she is tagging along for Christmas. It is a big deal because her own family doesn't like her and doesn't want her to come, but they all feel too guilty not to invite her. Basically, they feel obligated to bring her, even though no one really wants to spend the holiday with her, just because she has no one else in her life.

I feel like we are all being made to suffer for her dysfunction and her life choices. And I'm not super comfortable having a woman who put the moves on her own nephew around my two young sons. I don't trust her judgment because it is very clear it's not good.

I know this sounds terribly mean, but you can't possibly know what a black cloud she carries with her. every word otu of her mouth is awful. She is either telling some story about how her mother tolder her she would get raped if she didn't run right home from school (!!!!) or saying that people who do certain jobs are morally reprehensible and dirty ( I had to laugh because on the last visit, she went on and on about how truck drivers are evil...) This woman has been kicked out of church and civic groups for making mean comments! How hard is it to get kicked out of the church choir??

If she weren't such a mean person, this wouldn't be an issue. I can't fault people for their health or their choices, but please, people, be nice. Who wants to hang out with someone who is bitter, dysfunctional, and clearly has some mental health issues?

Hubby is freaking out a little today. He says he feels poor now that he knows we give our friend and baby whisperer $80 a week yo watch Bean. I say money well spent. We get a decent chunk of time for that, Bean is with someone who genuinely cares about him, he gets to play with another baby his age while he's there, and they do lots of fun, creative things together that I wouldn't necessarily think to do with him.

Today hubby said I'd better get back to work, sighing "kids are sooooo expensive" under his breath. So funny. I usually am the needless hand-wringer!

When I have freelance work to cover the sitter, it's a no brainer. But, right now things are slow for both of our freelance jobs, so I think he is just having a bit of anxiety about money. We are doing just fine on his salary--even saving money every month.

Maybe I need to have another money sit-down with him. It might make him feel better. I handle all the money issues, and he doesn't really know how much is where.I try to go over it with him at least every 6 months, but it doesn't always happen.

I send Bean to the sitter even when I don't have work. When I was preggo, it gave me a chance to rest and to get things done ahead of Bean Two. Now, it's giving us a chance to nap and spend time alone with the new baby. It's so worth it!

Today was a nice, tranquil day at home with both the babies and grandma. It's crazy to think that our family is all there-- as in, we planned for two kids, now we've got both and well, that's everybody-- and now you just have to get on with the parenting and all the other stuff.

My mom is here, cooking dinner, holding babies, taking Beaner to the park, etc. What a help. I am scared about how tired we will be when all the help is gone and Hubby has to go back to work. But, we'll get through and keep our fingers crossed that this one is a better sleeper than Bean.

The to-do list on the fridge has changed too, from pre-baby to post-baby to-do. It went from "stock the fridge" to "open the 529 plan"

If we can stay on track, I hope we can fund the extra college and pay off the hospital bills without dipping into savings. Hospital bills tend to trickle in a bit at a time, so I'm hopeful.

I hope this link works.

Best laid plans, right? Literally 2 hours after I posted about being induced on Friday (today) and hoping Sid didn't come early, I was on my way to the hospital to have him. He finally came out Thursday at 3:15. So,we officially are the parents of two giant blond baby boys. Who would have guessed. we head home from the hospital tomorrow. Thanks to all of the well-wishers!

Here is the link to the baby pics:

and hopefully no sooner. We go in for an induction Friday morning at 6 a.m. Doc promises me it will be much faster than Bean, who took 25 hours to come out. She seems to think Sid will be out by Friday afternoon.

That said, I am starting to dread the whole labor and recovery thing. It's going to be a lot harder this time, now than we have Bean to take care of too. Oh, and the months of not sleeping at night. Oh joy!

On a financial note, savings has been going OK, and I do have the paperwork to open Sid's 529 plan once he's out. Hopefully I will get his SSN in time to make the contribution for this year. I may be cutting it close, as I think it takes up to 6 weeks from the time you file the papers.

So, Bean is interested in playing with train sets. He thinks they are fun, and from what I understand,that phase tends to last for a couple of years for little boys.

So, I am orchestrating with the grandparents to assemble some Brio and other compatible wood-track sets for Bean's Christmas presents.

I got the deal of the century today on a used Brio train table on Craigslist-- $50. New, they are $125 just for the frame, with no insert. The lady also gave me two Thomas Dvds, a plastic Thomas train, and a train case. Great deal! I was also searching for some track pieces.

Well, my mom pipes up with "But honey, it's Christmas. Can't he have something new?"

My thought is of course, but when it comes to stuff like wood tracks, does it matter if they are new or not? And with all the money we saved just on the table, doesn't that free up more money for tracks and trains??

I guess I disagree that Christmas gifts are devalued if they aren't new from the store. If you can get more bang for your gift buck and really assemble something spectacular, does it matter that it's not in its original package?

Any thoughts?

Plus, I already bought the Bean a NEW Magnadoodle, an IKEA rocking moose, and the Leapster Word Whammer.

I am So done being pregnant. Two weeks to go and I feel like I am going to explode. So much pressure on my organs. Constant heart burn. Ugh! I guess this is how nature prepares you for the goriness of birth- by making you feel so terrible you don't care how the baby comes out as long as it's out!

That said, we managed to get through 90 percent of the to-do list. Thank goodness. Most of the stuff around the house is finished. We have all of our bathrooms working, we have all the light fixtures working and/or converted to ceiling fans. The cars are all in working order, oils changed, and all repairs big and small are finished (fingers crossed for nothing else to go wrong...). The firewood is chopped and stacked.

My reward for all the last few weeks of heartache and hard work-- I'm getting a prenatal massage tomorrow. Oh, I hope it's great. Of course, any sort of relaxation and quiet time would feel nice at this point.

On another note, I decided to bump up our biweekly automatic savings transfer by $50, to $300 per paycheck. It may not sound like a lot, but it would mean an extra $100 a month, which can really add up. I'm hoping we won't miss the extra $25 a week.

It also dawned on me today that our college savings will have to go up dramatically once the new baby arrives. we put about $5,000 a year away for Bean, and we'll have to do the same for Bean Two. Not sure how we will come up with the extra money, since the recession has basically killed my income, but we'll figure it out somehow.

I am seriously feeling the deadline pressure. Little Sid is supposed to arrive between Nov. 13 and 19 (hopefully not earlier).

I managed to knock some stuff off the to-do list this week:

We managed to get oil changes and new wipers on both cars, a muffler and new brakes, turn signal bulb, and serpentine belt on the cars that needed them.

We also got all the ceiling fans installed. The plumber is coming tomorrow to reseat the toilet on the floating floor (we had been unsucessful).

The giant pile of firewood is chopped, and the chimney has been swept.

I finally got my H1N1 vaccine, and have heard there is a clinic for babies next week so I can take Bean in for his.

Only things left on the to-do are seasonal flu shots for me and hubby. (Bean had his today), and H1N1 for bean and hubby.

Then, I hope, we will be ready for baby No. 2.

Of course, it would be nice to get most of the Christmas shopping out of the way too. I've done some, but getting all of it finished seems darn near impossible.

I'll also have to hope I can stock the freezer and pantry with easy to make foods before I go into labor. Last time, I felt like I was starving all the time, and I had never seemed to have the right food on hand. Not this time!

Well, it's 4 weeks until my due date for Bean No. 2. I have been knocking some things off my to-do list, because even though it's hard to move with a big preggo belly, it's more impossible to get things done once you have a newborn keeping you up all night.

So, we've been spending way too much:
$300, unexpected brake repair on car
$130, new muffler for car
$60, replace broken belt on car (see a theme here?)
$300, installation of ceiling fans in kitchen, 2 kids rooms (converted from recessed light fixtures a la 1957).
$400, cost of fans for rooms

I still need to get oil changes and new wipers for both cars, replace the door between my kitchen and garage with something that will actually block the cold air (and pay to have it installed), and pay a plumber to reseat the toilet in our guest bath. We can't seem to get it right since we had a floating floor installed and the flange is slightly below floor level now-- and I can no longer pick up and move the toilet.

Note to everyone: my hubby is so not handy. I do all the home improvement projects (dad was an engineer...it rubbed off.). So when I can't physically do the work, it gets expensive.

Also, while the light fixtures were being converted to fan boxes, I realized there is no insulation above one of the bedrooms. That explains why it is so cold in there all the time. I have no idea why, as I can see the batts and the cellulose above the other rooms, but all I see if roof rafters and no insulation in this one room. I may have to pay someone to go put something up there, as this is Bean two's new bedroom, and you can't have a freezing newborn.

I am currently two round to fit into the attic access panel, and probably shouldn't be breathing or handling insulation at this late date.

So, money money everywhere!! It never seems to want to stay in my bank account.

We have a half bathroom off of the kitchen that hasn't been usable for two years. We had a floating floor installed in the kitchen and bathroom, and because the toilet flange was slightly below the level of the new floor, it leaked. Every time we flushed, it'd send water cascading into the laundry room below. That's why we haven't been using it.

I know. We should have fixed it. But at the time, we were pregnant or had a new baby and tackling those projects was last on the list. So, we closed the door and it's like that room has not existed.

Now that I am seriously nesting and staring down the barrel of a second baby, I am feeling immense deadline pressure to get home improvement projects done.

I called the flooring installers to get a quote for redoing the floating floor in the half bath. I was floored by what they wanted to charge me for such a small space-- $500!!! And that's with $100 off for me taking out the toilet and sink myself.

Uh, no, I'm sorry. I would have paid about half that. So, I began tackling the job myself. I spent about $95 on supplies-- new jigsaw blades,extra floor tiles, etc.

I started demo on Wednesday. I unhooked the toilet and hubby was gracious enough to move it now that I am too preggo to lift heavy objects. I also inspected all the damaged floor tiles and removed them. Also easy.

While the toilet was out, I repainted the accent wall in that bathroom, using leftover paint from the accent stripe I painted in the bedroom in February. Looks great and it cost nothing.

Last night, I used the jigsaw to cut the tile. It wasn't hard at all. All that's left to do today is click the floor tiles back in place. Supposedly, this is easy, but we'll see.

If it does work out, I saved us $410, which is enough to replace two of our kitchen doors with more energy efficient ones, but that is another story...

Just an update. We managed to put $782 into savings this week. $550 of it was planned savings-- our $250 direct deposit every payday, plus the $300 extra for what used to go to the student loan payment. The other $232 came from a check from hubby's side work. A nice bonus, considering our side work has basically dried up this year.

I'm up to 39 pounds of veggies from the garden this year. Realistically, I am not going to make it to 100 pounds this year. It just didn't work out. In part, because I was super duper pregnancy sick and tired during planting time. But what we have planted has done well.

And, a lot of it doesn't weigh much-- like hot peppers-- so we really do have an abundance of produce, even if it isn't translating into heavy numbers.

Whew. This week was expensive on the health front.
Turns out gestational diabetes isn't just a pain in my butt, it's expensive. It's going to cost me a minimum of $100 a month PLUS the special food for my diet for the next 3 months. I don't know what we would do it we were more cash-strapped. If you're living paycheck to paycheck, how could you afford all the test strips and stuff?

Hubby also got glasses and contacts this week. Since he only goes to the eye doctor every few years, he got one pair of glasses and two pairs of contacts. Total: $600, after insurance. Insurance only paid for part of one pair of glasses.

After looking at how much we pay in vision insurance premiums and how much we actually saved, we've decided to cancel the insurance. Eye exams aren't that expensive, I don't wear glasses, and we'd actually come out ahead not paying the premiums. Sad, huh?

On a non-medical front, we canned 7 quarts of homemade pasta sauce yesterday. It feels nice to have something put up for the winter. When the next round of tomatoes kick in, we are going to try our hand at salsa.

I canned today for the first time ever-- 2 quarts of pasta sauce made with stuff straight from garden.

Usually, we make stuff and freeze it, but last year, we lost power for 5 days and lost everything, so I was determined to learn to can. I don't want to have AEP determine the fate of my produce. It really wasn't that hard.

I just found out I have gestational diabetes. I am totally blindsided, as I didn't have it when I was preggo a year and a half ago with the bean, have no family history and none of the risk factors. I don't know why this time would be different.

I'm really upset about it. I don't know how I am going to completely revamp my diet and do good knows what else while taking care of the bean and being exhausted from being pregnant.

I just feel like after the last couple years, with both my grandparents dying and my dad dying that I can't take any more emotionally, but that the crap just keeps on coming. It's like I just can't bear anymore, but tough luck, I have to,.

I put $550 to savings today. It felt great, like I am finally back on track after so many paychecks of saving nothing. I also paid all the bills.

Today was also the first month in 10 years where I didn't have a student loan payment deducted from checking. That feels nice. The decision to pay it off I think was a good one.

of course, that also is the reason we were able to put so much in savings!

I just added up how much our new rewards credit card has added to Bean's college fund: $195, in "free" money.

(We pay off the card in full every two weeks, and use it for convenience.) It pays cash into a brokerage account we set up as a secondary college fund for the Bean.

If I had stuck with my former card, an Amazon rewards card, I would have netted less than $100, all in Amazon gift certificates. I really do think we made the right decision when we switched.

I picked 2 pounds of beets today, so my 100 pound produce challenge is up to just under 21 pounds. Not too shabby.

I went to the St. Vincent thrift store yesterday and did I make out like a bandit!

I got a really nice graco pack n play for $6.99. I couldn't believe the price. The one my mom bought used was $40, and that was a good price!

I also bought an extra little tykes chair for Ben's table set for $2.50, a complete Dr. Seuss ABC board game for $1, and a pack of 11 baby puzzles for free! (Buy one get one for games.)

It was a great stop.

I also picked all the beets from the garden today. I will wash them and weigh them and then update the garden challenge.

I still can't believe it. I have NEVER had cable TV since I moved out of my parents' house at 18. So for 16 years, no cable, and for 5 of those, no TV at all.

I'm still a little dizzy thinking about it. So what happened?

Hubby LOVES soccer. Unfortunately, he couldn't see the games he wants to see. He had to go to a bar or to someone else's house to watch games. He began lobbying for cable TV, with the Fox Soccer Channel, a month or so ago.

I finally caved and we had cable installed yesterday. It will be costing us about $50 a month extra on our phone/internet bill.

Hubby says it's fine, we can afford it.

We can. We have zero debt now, and we don't go out much because we have a bean and a second one on the way. (it's just too hard to get a sitter to go to the movies!)

We'll see how it goes. I am still skeptical. Mostly, because I don't want to be that guy who sits and surfs channels when nothing is on, which usually nothing IS on. I also don't want to raise TV addicted children. I want them to be out actually in the world, not sitting watching a virtual world.

Bean, at 16 months, has still seen NO television. He won't until 3, when we will start DVDs of Sesame Street.

My final payment hit today. My $40,000 in student loan debt is officially PAID IN FULL. I am now transferring my monthly payment to my savings account instead.

I graduated in 2001, and have been whittling away at that loan ever since.

When I got my first office job out of college, I vowed to keep freelancing and use all of my freelance money to pay down the loan. Some months, I was sending $1000 extra. When times were slim, I sent $50 extra. But as long as I had work, I always sent a little extra with the payment.

If I hadn't done that, I'd still be paying down that stupid debt 10 years from now.

My advice to those of you with loans-- always send a little bit more than you have to, even if it's $5. It does shave time off the loan.

So I'm just shy of 19 pounds of produce so far this year. My goal is to grow 100 pounds of my own food from my very small urban garden.

I was planning to pick and process the beets today, but it is pouring down rain. Again. I'm happy to have the free water, but Bean and I don't like being stuck in the house.

I'm happy to report that the zucchini plants have finally given up and died. Thanks god. Bless them for being such good producers, but my freezer is packed with zucchini, and it got so bad that every time I picked one I would be angry, because I didn't want to have to come up with something ELSE to do with a zucchini.

I did try an awesome veggie chowder recipe (with zucchini, of course) yesterday. It was quite good. I will have to thank mom for the cookbook.

In other news, I am waiting for my student loan pay-off payment to clear the Dept. of Ed. It left my bank account this morning, but there is always a couple of days lag until it is processed by the Dept. of Ed. I hate waiting!

Once that clears, I will shuffle things about so the money I would have spent on a payment will go to the savings account instead.

I also have to get back on the wagon and rebuild the tiki bar fund. I liquidated $3000 of it to pay off the student loan. I haven't been very good at building it up this year. I'm also not so sure how much money is really to be made in eBay. etc. this year. I think everyone is cutting back on discretionary purchases, and I think that will make it harder to earn extra dollars.

Thanks for sharing all of your thoughts on my student loan. The money from savings hit my checking account today, so I scheduled my LAST payment. It should take another day or two to process on the lender's end.

When it does, I will cancel my monthly payment debit, and then have the $300 I would have sent for the loan transferred to savings once a month.

I think it will be a great weight off of me. Many times I've thought of taking enrichment classes at community college but have talked myself out of it because I still had my loan payment. Maybe now I will be more free.

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?