Good-Bye, Student Loan

Before attending graduate school at Utah State University in 2001, I was able to pay for college and the necessities by working full time. Once I started grad school, the pressures of more expensive tuition caused me to look for additional funding to make it through the rest of my education.

My wife and I took out $14,500 in student loans over the course of those two years. I continued to work and attend grad school full time while supporting my wife and new baby, and the loans meant we could still afford to drive our car, put food on the table and pay tuition.

Once I graduated, loan rates were excellent. I consolidated the two loans (each loan had an interest rate of 2.170%) into one loan, at an excellent rate of 0.625%, after dropping a point or so for signing up for automatic payments. We paid the $99 per month for nearly a year after I finished school. Off and on we would pay more than the $99 each month, but never with the intention of paying it off completely.

After attending Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover Live event on 5/17/2008, my wife and I talked and decided to step up and get rid of this student's debt. Today, 5/22/2008, we transferred the money out of savings and paid off the last $4,382 on the debt. What a relief!

Details from our lender's website. Notice the status in red:

Loan	Group ID: B Status: PAID IN FULL
School Name:CONSOLIDATION LOANS - NOT A SCHOOL
Lender Name:UTAH HIGHER EDUCATION ASSIS. AUTHORITY
Current Balance:	$0.00	Accrued Interest:	$0.00
Interest Rate:	0.625	Loan Type:	CONSOLIDATION
1st Disbursement Date:	10/28/2003	Total Amount Disbursed:	$14,500.00
Est Graduation Date:	10/28/2003	Convert to Repay Date:	10/28/2003
		Next Payment Due Date:	07/17/2016

Next, we'll be throwing any extra cash at our only remaining non-mortgage debt, our car loan. We plan on paying it off in the next 12 or so months (Dave Ramsey's baby step #2 from his book The Total Money Makeover).

Any of you have a debt payoff success story? Share it below.