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My One Year Student Loan Payoff Update

  January 28, 2022 marked my one year anniversary of paying off my student loans . Reflecting back on choosing to pay off my student loans leaves me with several take a ways that I want to share with you! In September 2020 I decided to become debt free by utilizing the debt snowball method to pay off all my debt. Before this I had struggled to save and really understand basic financial principles. As a first-generation college student, I received a scholarship to attend undergrad for free, but the scholarship did not cover summers. During the summers I took out student loans to cover costs without paying interest rates or how much I was taking out. By the end of undergrad I had amassed a little under $17K. Fast forward to graduate school I received another scholarship that covered my education. At the time I was a teacher in a new very expensive city and I had missed the cutoff to have my paycheck last me throughout the summer. So, I decided to take out a loan for two summers to ...
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I Got A Refund! What Should I Do With It?

 

I got a refund! When I got the email notification that I would be receiving a refund my excitement went through the roof! This is the first time that I have received a refund since undergrad! In case you’re wondering, a refund is the overage from your financial aid that you receive once everything has paid out. With this being the summer semester and funds being limited I was not expecting this at all.

Figure 1: This is a thumbnail of my latest YouTube video on I Got a Refund! What Should I Do With It? Where I am looking excited!


The extra money that I received came from a summer grant and CARES Act funding. Since I had already paid my tuition fees for this semester I was able to receive a total of $632 of FREE money! Free money means that I do not have to pay any of this back and it is mine to use as I please! You’re probably wondering well how did you get a grant when funds are limited during the summer? Did you apply for this? While I did apply for the CARES Act funding, I did not apply for the other summer grant that I received. I assume that it was likely overage from not as many students being enrolled during the summer or from students that did not meet a certain set of stipulations that I just so happened to meet.



Figure 2: This is a photo of a one-hundred dollar bill. 

I plan to use this money to further my debt free journey by pushing it towards my student loans. When you receive any type of refund you want to make sure that it is put towards any goals that you have that will help you to reach your ultimate purpose. Right now, my purpose is to become debt free so that I can create a legacy for my future family. So don’t just blow it on a vacation or something that you don’t need! Did you get a summer refund? If so, how are you spending it? What financial goals are you currently working on? Drop down in the comments and let me know and be sure to check out my latest video on the topic!

Figure 3: This is a photo that says "Dream Big, Set Goals, Take Action".



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My One Year Student Loan Payoff Update

  January 28, 2022 marked my one year anniversary of paying off my student loans . Reflecting back on choosing to pay off my student loans leaves me with several take a ways that I want to share with you! In September 2020 I decided to become debt free by utilizing the debt snowball method to pay off all my debt. Before this I had struggled to save and really understand basic financial principles. As a first-generation college student, I received a scholarship to attend undergrad for free, but the scholarship did not cover summers. During the summers I took out student loans to cover costs without paying interest rates or how much I was taking out. By the end of undergrad I had amassed a little under $17K. Fast forward to graduate school I received another scholarship that covered my education. At the time I was a teacher in a new very expensive city and I had missed the cutoff to have my paycheck last me throughout the summer. So, I decided to take out a loan for two summers to ...
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