My ambitious plan to blog every day in February was quickly derailed after the realities of working a full-time job and a 20-hour a week part-time job began to take their toll. However, the “Lunar Do-Over” was not for naught as my spending in February was severely curbed and I refocused on my financial and personal goals. To the numbers…
July 1, 2019 – Student Loan Balance(s): -$128,663.26
February 1, 2022 – Student Loan Balance(s): –$88,504.21
March 1, 2022 – Student Loan Balance: -$86,645.29
Total Payments: $2,091.09
Net Difference: $1,858.92
Sorry, ya’ll, I messed up. This week sucks in terms of late afternoon and evening commitments, so I was trying to pay all of my March bills early in the day. Unfortunately, I failed to grab a screenshot of my balance before I made my massive (yea, I said it) March 1st payment so the balance displayed on the main page (the screengrab I usually share with you all) is much lower than it was this morning. So instead of the usual account landing page screengrab, my update this month is just a screengrab of the loan transaction log (my March 1st balance results from me adding the $550.00 payment that was made this morning back to the resulting balance of $86,095.29).
That screengrab screwup aside, February was a much better month in terms of my spending, however, because I pay debt based on the previous month’s income, how financially fruitful February was won’t become apparent until April 1st when my March 1st payments are reflected. I was actually pennies below my February miscellaneous budget until a terrible work one-on-one with my new boss resulted in me buying myself a couple of salad kits and a carton of sorbet for lunch and dinner yesterday ($14.68) in an effort to eat my feelings. This ended up pushing me $14.15 OVER my budget on the last day of the month. I have…few regrets.
Ms. Afro Penny 
Wow, great job paying down debt in February! And salad kits and sorbet seem very innocuous, in terms of eating your feelings. I think you get a pass on that. 🙂
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Awe, thanks Ellen. My February payment was kinda “normal” at this point because my spending in January wasn’t great (it’s what prompted the restart) but you are right, I should appreciate what I was able to do because there was definitely a time when $2,000.00 would have been unthinkable.
Lol, eating your feelings is probably never a good idea but I could have done it in a worse way.
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OK, I for one can’t wait for your April 1 post now 🙂 But good job. and I’m sorry the work thing is difficult 😦
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Yea…April will be one of those months where after that 1st of the month payment I might be celebrating the next day… 👀
As for work…eh. I have AMAZING colleagues so I don’t feel like “I’m alone.” Like, for the first couple of weeks I was thinking, is this me? Did I just make a terrible choice in deciding to leave University B? But then I tentatively reached out to my new colleagues and found out, “No, it’s not you. Before you got here…” They have shown me such appreciation and warmth that I am more than prepared to do what I need to do to get by for a while…
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Hahaha why do I relate so much to the screen grab timing? Honestly sometimes my only motivation to keep up with my monthly numbers on time is so I can match it to the right screenshot.
Timing aside, congrats on a great February! I remember a time when $2000 payment wasn’t the “normal” so I think it’s worth celebrating the fact that you no longer see $2,000 as such a far reaching goal.
$14 to eat your feelings away? I’d say that’s well worth it 😆
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Ha! So type A! You know it I was hunting for every solution possible before I just gave in and admitted I had messed up.
Thanks, Avery 🙂 It wasn’t even that long ago! And it is definitely worth celebrating and being grateful that $2,000.00 is now me doing the minimum if I haven’t wantonly overspent the month before (like I did in December).
It was!
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The great thing is that we are at the beginning of the year so you have a lot of time left. Girl if salad is eating your feelings then it is never wrong. I appreciate the lactose conscious effort with the sorbet 😁
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You’re right…and I am getting ambitious. The idea of getting under $50,000 this year…I feel like that is what I am really working towards despite what my 2022 Financial goal says…
Girl, neva wrong. I appreciate you 🙂
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