So the numbers below are shockingly more positive…because I made a correction in March and didn’t account for how it affected the numbers. Okay, to the numbers…
March 2020 – Student Loan Balance(s): -$126,657.92
April 2020 – Student Loan Balance(s): -$125,192.33
Difference: $1,465.59
Right?!? So in my March 2020 – Student Loan Balance(s) Update post, I lamented how much interest sucks. And it does. It really sucks. But, that is pretty much a common theme with me but I lamented specifically that, I paid $2,231.17 this month in loan payments for a principal reduction of $605.68 which means I paid $1,625.49 in interest. *figuratively dies* So that statement is only kinda sorta accurate. Actually, not really at all…because I’m an idiot.
So, when I was calculating my March student loan update, I realized that the student loan balance I had been using for all of my federal student loans was the “principal balance” and did not include “accrued interest.” So for the March updated I reported the “outstanding balance” which included the “principal balance” AND “accrued interest.” What this meant, is that the balance I reported on March 1st were significantly higher than the February 1st balances (I probably, would have realized this much sooner if it wasn’t early in the year and the outstanding interest wasn’t relatively low), which made my progress seem significantly less. That is, my significant payment was offset by the significant increase in the federal student loan balances.
However, I made similar payments in March as I did in February and the balance decreased much more meaningfully. That was because I was now comparing apples to apples (April 1st to March 1st), which both reflected the reporting of the federal student loan outstanding balance. I am an idiot and should have realized that a mistake had been made since in previous months, my less significant payments made more of a dent than a month in which I made significantly more payments but…Woosa!
Interest will also suck a little less in the future because the executive order freezing interest rates for 60 days beginning March 13th has yet to be applied/retroactively applied to my balance which means the numbers that the numbers that I am reporting today still include about ~$200.00 of interest that will later be removed. (Yes, I visited my federal student loan servicer’s website and my loans qualify for the temporary freeze.) Woot!
Ugh. Happy to be an idiot. I was really discouraged last month so recognizing the error and seeing the balance drop so significantly is motivation to keep make the short term sacrifices I need to make to get this paid off. I know not a ton of folks read this, but thank you to the kind folks who read and especially to the ones who take a moment to comment.
Ms. Afro Penny 
that's just extremely good news! I thought of you immediately when I heard about the federal interest freeze. I really hope your job is stable/secure and that you can therefore make some good progress during that hiatus! Stay safe above all though.
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Awe 🙂 Thank you so much for thinking of me. I am professional staff at a large private university; for the moment, my jobs seems secure as long as the university is in business. (And for that, I am very, very, very grateful as I recognize that is not the position in which everyone finds themselves.)At the moment, as I am receiving my regular salary, I am planning to move forward with debt payment/reduction as planned through the payoff of the balance transfer associated with Private Student Loan 1. After that, I \”may\” start shuffling a bit more money each month to savings. I had previously adhered to the Dave Ramsey emergency fund has about $1,000.00 in it, however, this present moment reminds me that it probably makes more sense to have more saved. Thank you so much for your continued support! I hope you and your loved ones remain healthy and safe.
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