We Spotted A Couple Loansharks Swimming Nearby...
Had one of those phone calls today that just plain broke my heart.When I went back to school in the fall of 1998, I was lucky enough to get half of my tuition funded at the Minneapolis College of Art + Design with a hefty scholarship and some grants and shit. The rest of the balance was covered with student loans. The loans covered my remaining tuition, big city rent and some "general living expenses." I signed on the dotted line and with a little sweat, got myself a big ol' hi-falutin' design degree.When I graduated a couple years later, my balance was $26,430. A hefty amount for any 27-year-old. I started paying right away on it, and in not time "consolidated" the thing down to a 20 year, $180 a month deal. I mean, shit, I had no choice. I got offered a much better rate and jumped at it.Okay, so now fast forward to 2005, some five years later. I've been a good customer. My little payment gets deducteed every month without so much as a whisper, and well, I pay $200 a month, just to throw a little extra cake at it, in hopes of reducing the long haul of payments.Today I thought I'd check in, and "see where I was at" in the overall scheme of things.I'm sad to say, that after five long years of paying the man, some $2400 bucks a year, on time and faithfully, my balance is at a disheartening $21, 905.My heart broke in two. I wanted to call it quits for a split second.So that means, I've paid $12,000 to "pay off" $4,500 of the balance.Awesome.I mean, shit, I knew what I was getting into, and, heard the horror stories, as well as a handful of, "best loan you'll ever get" shit from colleagues.Fuck it. Fuck the payments. I'm just gonna work extra hard to pay the sonofabitch off, and fast. I'm getting nowhere, real fast, and man, drastic measures have to be taken to do some damage to that balance.Why I write this is, on some fleeting level, is that I hope to humanize the racket that this interest game is from my little corner of the Portland undergrowth. We all know it is, but, ya just "get busy living" and fall in with it, and get comfy, and well, just kinda live with it. I played by the rules, and feel so blindsided, or something. (I'm sure those reading this are doing a, "Ya should have known better." headshake right now, and, so be it if ya are.)So, I'm gonna get busy paying this shit off once and for all. No more Mr. Dumbshit.Thought I'd share this with you.Got some insight on this one? Solutions? Tips? Tricks? War stories? Share 'em in the comments section below, and hell, maybe they'll help some of our "younger, eager readers," before they get old and fucked like me. Maybe they'll soothe my pain. Maybe not.