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This is the story of life's financial struggles & victories through the eyes of a young woman up to her eyes in debt. Enjoy :)

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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

So, you should sign this petition...

Tonight I signed a petition to The United States House of Representatives, The United States Senate, and President Barack Obama which says:

"Total outstanding student loan debt in America has passed the $1 Trillion mark.

Exceeding credit card and auto debt, it is the only kind of debt that actually increased during the "Great Recession." And the problem only continues to worsen.

Reclaim the American Dream for more than 37 Million student loan borrowers - Support the Student Loan Fairness Act (H.R. 1330)!"

Our last petitioning efforts didn't produce action like everyone had hoped, but our voices were most definitely heard. Let's make round 2 roar even louder. Will you sign this petition and join the fight? Click here (It only takes about 2.8 seconds to sign):

http://signon.org/sign/support-the-student-loan-6?source=s.icn.em.mt&r_by=899250

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Numbers Don't Lie

The dawn is closing in on what was a beautiful sunny Nashville, Tennessee Saturday so why not take this time to dwell on my private student loans?!

Ha, all joking aside, it really has been a good Saturday (I worked until 3pm) so I won't tear down the whole day with this post, but I wanted to give y'all an update of where I stand. Strictly speaking in numbers.

The total amount of loans that I borrowed for school (in 2007 & 2008) is $68,545.00.
As of TODAY I have paid Sallie Mae a total of $22.510.32 (of which, $875.85 went to my principal).
As of TODAY I still owe $78,950.18.

Is that ringing as loud for you as it is for me?! I only borrowed sixty eight thousand, have paid over twenty two thousand and yet I still owe almost seventy nine thousand dollars. This is where I would insert 2 or 3 demeaning punch words to show how utterly sick it makes me to look at these facts, but I just don't have the words. I can not mentally wrap my mind around the FACT that a company can get away with this. Punch word followed by another punch word ending in a horrific hashtag.

The New York Times

My Mom emailed me a link the other day to check out about people contributing their stories to raise awareness for the unfair private student loan repayment options. They are asking for responses (online or by email) before April 8th, 2013. I sent my thoughts and situation to them via email (studentloanaffordability@cfpb.gov).

I am not sure how far this will get, but everything is worth a try now-a-days. We never know if this is the help we are looking for around the corner.

One of the most eye-opening lines to me:
"Student debt tops $1 trillion, and some policy makers are concerned that it may affect the ability of young people to qualify for other loans, like those for cars and for buying first homes. While the bulk of student debt is made up of federal student loans, more than $8 billion in private loans are in default."

See the original article in The New York Times here.