Will be back soon!

Hello readers!  Unfortunately, I have been really busy and therefore have not been able to write anything new.  But, while I have a few minutes, I'll let you know of the results of month #1 of the Amazing Loan Race.  Unfortunately, I had $3000 in unexpected expenses this month and therefore could only put $100 towards my loan this month.  Katie, was able to put over $900 this month towards her loan and therefore has won this month (I'll be the one to state this result since she's been sick this week and really hasn't blogged as a result).

So to give you an update about what's going on this month: I'm hopefully not going to have a lot of unexpected expenses this month (outside of Epa's procedure coming up next week) which I already kind of accounted for when making a low payment in for March.

In the meantime, I am also trying to finish two research projects I'm doing (outside of work that is) which both need to be done by late April so that adds a little stress.....Okay more than a little.

Also, my main job's contract is due to end April 30th.  What does that mean?  Well, there's a chance that it may be extended through June 30th but that's it.  If it doesn't get extended, that essentially means that I will lose the majority of my income by not having the job.  Therefore, to add to the stress already, I have to find a new job, preferably in Atlanta because I had to decide whether to renew my lease or not (since it's up in 2 months) and decided to just renew it.  So if I get a job elsewhere and have to move, I have to notify the leasing office 60 days prior to moving AND get slapped with an extra fee equivalent to 2 months rent.  So fingers crossed that I get a job here!

Time to go to work!

The Amazing Loan Race

So remember how I said I entertained the idea of challenging my friend to a loan repayment competition?  Well, she caught wind of it and sent me a challenge.  I accepted.  So now beginning the month of March, we are going to have what I have coined The Amazing Loan Race.

The goal
Pay off as much as our undergrad loan as possible.

The prize
....uh.... we don't really have a prize but I guess the fact that we will have a lot less to pay back is an acceptable prize so we both win there anyways.


Okay so now our makeshift challenge (that was created via texting this morning).

The Challenge
1. The monthly battle:  At the end of the month we total up the amount we each paid towards our undergrad loan.  The person who paid the most, wins that month.  At the end of the year the person who has won the most months, wins.

2. The year battle:  At the end of the year, the person who has paid the greatest monetary amount wins.  Note: this is different from the monthly challenge so one of us may win the overall monthly battle but still could lose the year battle if they didn't pay off the greater amount.

3. The percentage battle: The person who has paid off the greatest percentage of their loan at the end of the year wins.




I'm pretty sure I will lose the percentage battle just because I do owe more but hey, a lot can change in a year.  Plus after reading Katie's blog (the person with whom this challenge is against) it sounds like I may have  a lower interest rate.  If this turns out to be a success, we may redo this challenge with our graduate loans where I will have the $6,000 advantage because to remind you, we took out the same amount for grad school but I'm paying my off now while Katie deferred hers a year.

We decided to start in March since we both make payments throughout the month and since we're already 1/4 through February, Katie already dropped a large payment for this month whereas mine is coming in the next week or two so it'll give us an equal starting point.

So sit back and enjoy watching us battle it out to see who will pay off their loan first!  And for those who are reading this blog for the other topics I said would be in here, have no worries, the loan battle is only going to be one part of this blog.  I will still be posting about other things as well.