Frugaling

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Archives for September 2013

The Goal: Defeating Student Loan Debt

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Student Loans Defeat Debt
Photo: flickr/sniffen

Since I started this site in May of this year, my student loan debt has continued to rise. This could be seen as a failure, but you’d be missing the bigger picture. Amidst this rise is an effort to change everything and get back to zero debt – fast.

Reducing Student Loans

For starters, I’ve only taken out $3,500 this semester for graduate school. I worked hard last year to secure more hours at my on-campus job, and the monthly paycheck is now helping balance my budget. On top of that, I’ve paid back all of the interest gained on my student loans from the very beginning.

Last week, in a matter of two electronic deposits, I paid off $1,000 of my current debt. This leaves me with $32,700 is student loan debt. Now, while this excludes the complication of having a car loan (and the more than $6,000 liability that brings), I believe my student loans are the biggest concern to tackle.

Where I Was Headed

At 6.8%, my student loans gain a little less than $200 in interest every month. I’m lucky, a portion ($8,500) is subsidized by the government and non-interest bearing. Unfortunately, the government stopped subsidizing graduate students’ educations, and now the vast majority of my loans are rapidly accelerating. Compounded interest is truly frightening – sometimes it keeps me up at night.

If I hadn’t redirected my course, I was looking at $70,000-80,000 in student loan debt by the time I graduated. This burden would cripple me for years. I probably wouldn’t be able to pay it all back until my mid-40s. Two decades of interest and principal payments scared me into changing course.

The Goal: Payback

This semester I adjusted my loans down from the nearly $15,000 I was offered to a scant $3,500. But with recent financial successes with this website and smart financial planning, I may be able to pay the bulk of this debt before I graduate.

Even if I can’t pay everything off, I’m looking forward to beating this number. It provides a clear goal to work towards with a regained hope about my future freedom. I’m sick of this large liability and don’t want to owe the government or big banks.

Ever heard of someone paying all their student loan debt in graduate/professional school? Is it possible?

Time, Frugality, and Learning To Say No

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To become frugal with your time - maximizing the important and reducing the clutter - it's important to learn to say, "No."

I’m failing do to everything I want, and I feel like I’m stuttering under the pressure of graduate school. Honestly, I’m struggling.

The day begins with a habitual breakfast meal: eggs and turkey bacon. My coffee brews as the stove top sizzles. The breakfast meal is important for my long days, and I cook a hearty one. But everything takes time, and these days, I’m running out of this precious resource.

As a graduate student, my semesters are demanding. My weeks have a consistent 45 or more hours scheduled between school, work 1, and work 2 – not to mention volunteering, research opportunities, and many necessary extracurriculars. Time management is key, but there’s a fundamental flaw – everything cannot be completed.

But maybe there are tools from the frugal life? For me, living frugally is the voice to cut back on the unnecessary and enjoy the meaningful. Reducing discretionary spending and focusing on what’s most important has great ramifications for time, as well. This article is a combination of reflection and advice for dealing with the conundrum of time management snafus and demands.

Sleep And Mr. Rigor Mortis

Honestly, there are limited hours each day. Even though there are 168 hours in a week, there’s only so much the human body can handle. Many of those hours will be redirected to sleep. This is a basic necessity. This is not an area to sacrifice or “cut back” on.

Reducing sleep is not frugal, it’s dangerous. Sleep is helpful in maintaining normal anxiety and depression. Sleep can energize and leave you feeling refreshed. Sleep helps memory processing, and leads to better encoding.

As the difficult days of graduate school continue, it can be challenging to get enough sleep. Sometimes it feels like I’m shaving years off my life in the process. The reality is that busyness cannot replace your need for sleep. If you’re chronically not sleeping well or enough, something’s got to give.

Time Management Equals Money

We already know the overused maxim that time equals money. It does, but it’s not an accurate measure. Time management and effective use is the key to money. Even though many people work 8-hour days, they often work in short, efficient bursts.

By maximizing those bursts, I can use my time more wisely and condense serious amounts of work into short periods. From there, I either take a short break or switch topics to challenge my brain and keep me thinking critically.

Find Your Focus, Forget The Rest

To become frugal with your time – maximizing the important and reducing the clutter – it’s important to learn to say, “No.” This simple word is often the first out of a toddler’s mouth. It’s time to incorporate it back into your regular repertoire.

No, I can’t commit to another extracurricular.

No, I can’t signup for that project.

No, I won’t be able to meet that deadline.

It’s empowering to say, “no.”

Suddenly, my schedule is busy and full, but I can manage it when I start to say that simple word. You should try it sometime.

Four Months of Frugaling: A Reflection

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Related:  Three Months of Frugaling: A Reflection

This marks the 84th article published in four months of Frugaling.org. Remarkably, this site has led to a reduction in my debt, a restructuring of old financial habits, and long-term goals toward zero dollars in debt. Now, with the largest audience yet, I’ve made shocking amounts of revenue this month.

The site was founded on May 4th, 2013, as the spring semester of graduate school was just wrapping up. I wanted to write about my efforts and find an audience. Since then, nearly 57,000 people have visited the site.

This month brings the most staggering revenue yet! Read below for details.

Major highlights this month:

  • Affiliate Revenue Skyrocketed ($X,XXX)
  • AdSense Revenue decreased from $40 to about $26
    • The decrease in ad revenue was hard to explain, and I’m not sure why it declined like this
  • Google Traffic Grows
    • Across the board, my traffic from Google searches is growing at incredible rates
    • This is an exciting development, and speaks to the use of key terms and longer articles (which have generally been more successful)

This next month, I’m hoping to continue to network with personal finance bloggers and publish one to two articles per week. Because of my graduate school schedule, anything more may wreak havoc to my health.

-S.

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