student loan Archives - Our Bill Pickle

Repaying the student loan: an update

November 25, 2021

Paying off the student loan has been our top financial priority over the last few years. But lately, we have slowed our progress. This is why.

Repaying the student loan has been our top financial priority for the last few years.

Like many others, we started our adult lives in the red. Our $65K-ish starting debt wasn’t entirely student loans. We had a couple small credit cards, a car loan and a credit line balance from a previous vehicle, too.

But the majority of that $65K — close to $48K — came in the form of student loans.

While I can’t deny student loans made it possible to finance an education that has opened a lot of doors for us, I also won’t pretend they are not the actual bane of my existence.

I want these loans gone. And we’ve put a lot of work (and money) into making that happen.

Until recently.

Lately, we’re less focused on the student loan. In fact, for the better part of 2021, we’ve only made minimum payments. This has slowed down our progress significantly.

But it’s OK. And today, I want to talk about why.

Four reasons we’re increasing our emergency fund

January 19, 2021

In 2021, we're planning on increasing our emergency fund from $5K to $10K. Here's why (and where we plan to store it).

Increasing our emergency fund is one of our main financial goals for 2021.

That feels weird to write. For at least the last two years, our financial priorities have revolved heavily on paying down our debt. We’ve made a lot of progress, shrinking our debt from $65K to less than $20K.

Becoming debt-free is still a priority for us but it’s not our only financial goal.

This is why we’re increasing our emergency fund (and how where we’re choosing to store it helps us add to the account without any work on our part).

Note: This post contains a referral link for EQ Bank. It’s clearly indicated. If you sign up using my referral link, I’ll receive a bonus at no cost to you.

Why we’re slowing down our student loan repayment

January 14, 2021

We’re slowing down our student loan repayment in 2021.

After a year that saw us shave close to $10K off the principal balance of the student loan, we set a goal for 2021 that will see the balance shrink by less than half that amount — about $3.5K.

Considering how paying back the student loan has been a key focus for us over the last two years, this represents a big shift.

But there are a few factors that make me feel good about the decision.

Why we stopped making payments on our student loan

May 7, 2020

Why we stopped making payments during the Canada Student Loan suspension

The last time we made a regular payment on our Canada Student Loan was March 6, 2020.

That day, we sent $150 toward the loan. It was the second of four planned payments for the month.

Eleven days later, the government announced an interest-free suspension of Canada Student Loan payments until September in response to COVID-19.

And even though we have the option (and ability) to continue making payments, we decided against it.

I’ve mentioned it a couple times since, but today, I wanted to share a little more about the thought process.

So…here we go.

Three reasons I support student loan forgiveness (even if it won’t help us)

February 18, 2020

Reasons I support student loan forgiveness (even if it won't benefit us)

Student loan forgiveness isn’t a big topic of discussion in Canada right now but it certainly is in the United States.

The term “student debt crisis” is used a lot when talking about student debt in the United States. Considering Americans hold more than $1.5 trillion in student debt…well, it feels appropriate.

But student loan debt is not just an American problem.

As of 2018, Canadians owed $28 billion in student debt to all levels of government — $19 billion of which is owed to the federal government.

As one of the hundreds of thousands of Canadian borrowers contributing to that total, I wish I could say that surprises me, but it doesn’t.

It does, however, strengthen my belief that student loan forgiveness is a great idea.