In August 2017, I took out a personal loan for $13,000. Interest is 14.1%, payment plan is $303.25 for 5 years.
When I was looking at my account today, it says I’ve paid $2,528.62 toward the principal. Out of curiosity, I calculated what I’ve paid in total so far. I got $4,245.50. I’ve paid close to $2,000 in interest, which is almost as much as I’ve paid toward the principal. I was of course aware that there would be interest when I got the loan, but, wow.
Basically, I’m looking for a way to throw less money away. I do not have the funds to pay it in full, nor do I want to put my only few thousand in savings toward it. I’ve read that some people use balance credit cards with no interest for the first year to do this, but I was wondering if anyone else has any better suggestions. I also have about $5,000 in credit card debt that I’m working on paying down, as well as student loans totaling about $70,000. My credit score is 710.
I’ve only had a “real” job for about 2 years, and I’m still recovering from the miscellaneous I acquired during grad school. Any advice is appreciated! Bonus points if anyone has any tips about public service loan forgiveness, I’m a speech language pathologist and plan to continue working in public schools for the foreseeable future.
EDIT: I realized my title is inaccurate. Most of my money isn’t going toward interest, just a large amount.
Submitted November 09, 2018 at 08:37AM by Ajholt1113 https://ift.tt/2z1HAr8
