I was checking my AES mobile app once every thirty minutes after 5:30PM EST hoping to see a $0.00 balance when at 9:30PM I was suddenly no longer able to log in. Say what? Apparently, you are only able to use the mobile app when you have a balance. Which is fine because…I DON’T HAVE A BALANCE ANYMORE!
Yea. I did that. And while you all are usually the first and only folks I tell about my debt repayment successes, today the first person I told was actually my dad. It felt good.
Private Student Loan 4 Payment Recap
The story of PSL4 has really been a story of making extra money through gig apps and part-time jobs. There is no way that I would have been able to pay off PSL4 in four and a half months without the extra income earned through hustling and leading a rather bland life. Some days it REALLY sucked and I regretted signing up for a Qwick shift or agreeing to work my schedule part-time hours but ultimately, it made paying off this loan, this year, possible.
Minimum Payment: $245.40
-$9,103.61 – Balance on August 5, 2021 when I began targeting it for repayment.
-$8,611.30 – September 1, 2021 balance
-$6,231.87 – October 1, 2021 balance
-$3,999.98 – November 1, 2021 balance
-$2,558.63 – December 1, 2021 balance
$0.00 – December 16, 2021 balance; will be reflected in my student loan balance update on January 1, 2022.
Within the span of two weeks I have celebrated making it under $90,000.00 in student loan debt AND paying off PSL4. And while that has been beyond amazing, I actually have bigger news to share tomorrow. Until then…THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for all of the support.
Ms. Afro Penny 
wow! and…bigger news? don’t leave us hanging!!!
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I would never… 😉
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You told your Dad….and you have another loan paid off? So awesome.
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I told him about this loan because as a cosigner he had access to that account and apparently has been checking in on my balances more than I knew. This was the last student loan for which my parents were cosigners so it is also nice for that chapter to be over as well. Thank you for the support, Blissful.
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📚 chapter closed. Onward and forward!
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Congratulations! You really took that thing down, and in so little time. And I’m happy you told your dad. I bet he’s proud of you. I can’t wait to hear your even bigger news!
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Thank you, Ellen! So much has happened in the past couple of weeks that I don’t think I will realize the enormity of the change in my financial circumstances until early next year. He was proud of me and very happy for me.
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What an exciting way to end the year 😊. So proud of you and the way you set your mind on this goal and really went for it. It definitely makes all the struggle and exhaustion from the gig and part time jobs worth it.
Now, what are you planning to do to celebrate??? 🥳
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Thank you so much! The perspective on my debt in terms of how I think about it now is perhaps even more significant than when I got under $100K. There is only a $10K difference between there and now but…IDK, there is so much less shame for me. Like, while it is unlikely to happen, I think I could tell someone about my current debt load without feeling totally ashamed. I know it would still freak most people out but, IDK…maybe it’s because I feel like I have more company at the current amount? There were definitely some rough Monday mornings from gig work weekends but I am so happy I made the sacrifices when I did.
Honestly, I probably didn’t celebrate this one like I should have. Because this happened on the same day as the offer for my new job, my mind was otherwise occupied. I think this will set in more at the end of the year when I am assessing how I did with my financial goals.
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