Ok, so I have two confessions…
First is that I went over budget last month and have to reconfigure it a little until I figure out what amount works best.
Second is that the numbers I gave you last time were very late payments (I generally have to pay at the beginning of the month and that time it was at the end, so I actually ended up making a second payment just a few days after that when I got paid.) That said, I`m going to quick list the numbers after that second payment but not dwell on it, (and not officially count it, thus this month is month 2) then move onto this month.
The month I`m not counting, the debt breakdown was as follows:
My substafford loan $2388.92
My advantage loan $8304.52
My discover loan 1 $9261.97
My discover loan 2 $890.72
My consolidation loan $37,217.04
Dad`s consolidation loan $41,568.62
My discover card $2146.79
Total Debt: $101,778.58
While that looks less than month 1, remember that I had just made two payments within two weeks, so the interest didn`t have a chance to build up.
Now, here`s the numbers for this month, as of today:
My substafford loan $2356.72
My advantage loan $8256.24
My discover loan 1 $9247.16
My discover loan 2 $748.24
My consolidation loan $37,334.65
Dad`s consolidation loan $41,722.30
My discover card $2198.54
As you can see, simply due to interest, some of those numbers are higher now, which is scary. I suppose that was to be expected since I`m paying off the smallest amount first rather than the highest interest rate. Even after just a month I have mixed feelings about this, as the interest is clearly piling up.
BUT…look at discover loan 2! In my first month`s post, it was at $990.27. And this month it`s already down to $748.24. Granted there were two months worth of payments (and the website did try to tell me that I was paid ahead for that loan), but I can visibly see the difference, and that makes me happy.
What I`m realizing though, looking at these numbers, is that I won`t really be able to tell whether or not the debt snowball is working until I`ve paid off the first loan and am onto paying off the second. By my calculations, at the current rate I can afford to pay on that loan, it will be 3 or 4 months before that loan is paid off. I`m not sure how much interest will accumulate in that time (when I have next month for comparison as well, I`ll try to figure it out), but one loan will be paid off. Just that will be worth having tried this method, I think.
Month 2 debt = $101,863.85