Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Welcome to Freshman Year (Of My Student Loans)!

Been meaning to look into this for a while...especially since reading Shtinky's post on finally being above water on her student loans. I actually figured out how much money I borrowed for college and when it will be paid back. (I know how much I borrowed for law school since I had to fill out that paperwork myself).

I went to a fairly prestigous liberal arts college which in my humble opinion was worth every dime. I feel fortunate every day for my wonderful four years of education. I knew back when I was applying to colleges that this particular college was very expensive but my parents wanted me to get a great education (having both gone to commuter colleges themselves). And off I went.

I signed some financial aid papers I think but hey it was over ten years ago so my memory is a little fuzzy. Now ten years later I find out what I was on the hook for!

In 1998, my freshman year, the tution, room and board and fees at my college cost $29,450. That seems like a bargain now considering the tuition, room and board now cost over $45k! And according to Aunt Sallie, I only took out $2,625 in student loans to pay for this year. Wow. Remind me to be nicer to my parents!

So you'd think I would be done paying back Freshman Year by now, right? Wrong. Since I ran and hid from Aunt Sallie for 272 days I accrued $4,330.46 in capitalized interest. Meaning my original balance of $$72,735.68 has increased to a current payoff of $76,243.81 (including monthly interest). Thus, in order to pay off freshman year I need to bring my principal loan balance down to $70,110.

Ah Freshman year. Dining hall food, dormcest, R.A.s, everything was new. Hopefully I'll pay you off before I turn 30!

10 comments:

paisley penguin said...

Talk about freshman 15!

Escape Brooklyn said...

Augh, that's so annoying when you calculate it like that!

Anny said...

Hey at least now you know how much you owe!

FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com said...

LOVE the breakdown. AT least you're not running any longer and you have a set number to pay down.

$70k? Piece of cake for you. :)

I have faith!!!

Fabulously Broke in the City

"Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver."

Jim ~ mydebtblog.com said...

I was only able to borrow $700 or so in federal student loan money my freshmen year because I had my savings to pay for 3 semesters worth of expenses. My real borrowing didn't start until later on towards the end of my sophomore and start of junior years. That's also when I thought it would be smart to put school expenses on credit cards rather than take out loans. I'm happy my loans are now under what I borrowed. Yep after 3 years of paying on them, I've only paid off the interest. It's going to take some time to get rid of them.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure you'll be able to do it no sweat. This reminds me how grateful I am that my parents paid my tuition.. :)

Anonymous said...

my mom always said, "well, we can't pay for your college, but you'll feel good as an adult knowing that you don't owe your brain to anyone." and i think i thought that was a crock, but now, when i have paid down something like 2/3 of my loans, i'm starting to believe her... only, ugh, like $14,000 to go! heh. at least i have this here wrinkly brain to show for it :)

i think everyone's right - $70K seems like a snap for you - you're totally on the right track!

Anonymous said...

oh, dormcest...such memories!
:P

and all it takes is to keep on paying! no more hiding!

Sallie's Niece said...

Yeah I'm working on it. Hopefullly freshman year will be paid off in 2009!

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