I made a bold move last night and decided to transfer $10K from my savings account to my checking account. After much thought, I have decided it’s time… Time to kick Sallie Mae to the curb. That’s right. I’m going to be aggressively paying down my debt so I will be debt free by the time I get married.
I currently have just under $24,000 in my savings accounts. They are broken up in to three subsections. A $10K emergency fund, a $10K extra savings, and a $4K wedding fund. I had been hoarding cash and saving as much as I possibly could because I was scared of the unknown.
I knew I had more money in savings than I needed, but seeing my bank account grow every month really gave me a peace of mind. While there is definitely security in having a large sum of cash easily accessible, there is also security in being debt free. Beginning my marriage with no financial obligations to anyone (but me and the wifey) will be an incredible feeling. Furthermore, I have a responsibility in this relationship to not be a burden. Girl Ninja is debt free, and I truly believe I owe that to her as well. She doesn’t care if I pay the loan off or hold on to the cash, but I think two years from now, she will be appreciate, and understand, that this was the right decision.
By making this lump sum payment, my student loan balance should fall just below the $5,000 mark. Do you realize what this means? It means the interest I’ll be paying towards this loan is going to drop from $84/month to $29/month. That makes for a $55/month savings. Booya for savings!
I’m not going to lie and pretend like it wont suck to depart with such a big chunk of change (I mean, I worked really really hard for that money), but in the end I know it’s the right decision. And if for some reason the crap hits the fan, I’ll still have my $10,000 emergency fund as a first line of defense.
It’s going to feel SOOOOO good to be done with Sallie Mae in just a few short months. I can’t wait!!!!