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Student Loan Update and $805 in Extra Income

BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 60 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Student Loan Update and $805 in Extra IncomeHey everyone! Happy Monday. I'm still dreaming of my trip to St. Thomas and wish we were both still there!

Last week I was super sick. Not sure what happened but I was pretty much just crying in pain for 5 days straight. Of course it was a perfect weekend with awesome weather and I had to miss most of that because I didn't start to feel better until Sunday afternoon! Oh well, just glad that I'm feeling better.

Yesterday was W's mom's birthday and we had a BBQ and it was a lot of fun. And tomorrow is my birthday 🙂

We would love to buy a house in his parents' historic neighborhood, but they never go for sale. The house to the left went up for sale the other day and we have been seriously thinking about it. We drove by and took this picture and can't stop looking at it. It's over 100 years old but completely renovated on the inside and looks very nice. Oh if only we were ready to buy right now… Our current house is still awesome and we don't feel like going through the process of selling it right now.

I announced the winner to my Novica giveaway but never heard from her. I announced a new winner and already sent her the certificate code. Congrats to Cat at Budget Blonde!

Student Loan Update

I know, I know, around a month ago, I said that my student loans would be done in either April or May. Then recently I said May for sure. Well, it looks like the official date will be June. We have the money saved, but it would drain our emergency fund, so we have decided not to. We don't want to touch any retirement accounts or drain our EF.

Why will we not reach the May goal? Well, we came across some good investment opportunities and dived into that. W has been wanting to start a side hustle for quite some time, but I've always said no and that we need to SAVE SAVE SAVE. Well, that's not very fair of me, so the other day he took some cash and started a side hustle with his dad in an area where they have expertise. I think it'll work out great! The return is higher than what my interest rates on my student loans are, so I figured it was still a good value.

Have you slowed any debt repayment to take advantage of something like this? A good investment, a new house purchase, etc.? Tell me all about it!

Spending

We did some spending last week. I spent around $100 on clothes (hey, I need some summer clothes!) and W spent around $150 because he needed new work slacks. He must be growing because his pants have all become high-waters. So yes, we spent around $250 on clothes. Other than that, I don't believe we spent any money.

Student Loan Update and $805 in Extra Income

Extra Income (does not include income from our main jobs)

Extra income was a little low last week (but I'm not complaining!) mainly because I was playing catch up after my vacation and I was sick for 5 days last week. UGH that's what sickness does to you! Still though, $805 (not including my office job) is still a good week. I have a lot of playing catch up this week since I didn't get much done last week. I'm expecting a couple of payments this week also which will make up for it.

Affiliate income is still doing great but I'm thinking about getting into more areas so that I can ramp this up. I have been thinking about my extra income a lot lately and where I want to take it. I would like to keep diversifying so that I can rely on my side hustle income more and maybe even dive into self-employment entirely. Any tips?

Posts from my blog:

  1. St. Thomas and $3,038 in Extra Income – Extra income was still up even though I was on vacation. That's always nice to know!
  2. St. Thomas Pictures – SUP, Parasailing, Relaxation! – In this post there are some pictures from our vacation. It was a great time!
  3. My Minimalist Confessions – I'm not always a minimalist – I always love Jordann's minimalism posts, and here's another great one. She collects other items, and isn't always a minimalist!
  4. 12 Facts about Student Loan Debt that will make Your Hair Stand on End – How much do YOU owe in student loans? There are some crazy stats in this post.

 

Link Love

  1. How much money do you need to make online to be happy? Yakezie – For me, I think the number is lower, just as it says in the article. I love everything that I do online, so it doesn't exactly seem like a “job” to me.
  2. I Quit My Job Club Thrifty – WOOHOO! This post makes me oh so happy.
  3. Fort Building Kit for Adults Unique Gifter – Love this idea!
  4. Dos and Don'ts of applying for a staff writing job My Multiple Incomes – Here is a great post for those of you who are looking for staff writing jobs.
  5. Dear Parents, Charge Your Kids Rent Broke Millennial – I would definitely charge my kids rent, depending on the situation of course too though.
  6. Why I shut down my profitable online business Debt Roundup – I would have done the same!
  7. Taking the Plunge: Freedom Without Boundaries is Enslavement Frugal Rules – This is another great post relating to self-employment. You probably get the idea of where I am heading.
  8. Best 0% Balance Transfer Credit Cards of Summer 2013 Money Life and More – Good post for those who are looking.

 

 

Being healthy

I have not been doing the best with this in the past week. I was very sick last week, and could hardly eat anything. I definitely plan on changing that this week! Also, I didn't work out at all since I was sick. Even just sitting down felt like I was killing myself!

Have you been doing well with your extra income, spending and being healthy?

 

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About Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Michelle is the founder of Making Sense of Cents, a blog about personal finance and traveling. She discusses how her business has evolved in her side income series. She paid off $40,000 in student loans by the age of 24 mainly due to her freelancing side hustles. Click here to learn more about starting a blog!

Comments

  4. DC@Young Adult Money says

    May 20, 2013 at 6:16 am

    Happy (early) Bday! I think delaying some student loan repayment can be a good choice. If we waited until we had ours completely paid off to buy a house, we wouldn't have had a house for five+ years while now we are able to have one that we can put sweat equity into, build some equity through mortgage repayment, and have a go at being a landlord with our basement rental. I'm happy with the choice : )
    My recent post How to Prepare for a Garage Sale: Garage Sale To-Do List [With Download]

    Reply

  5. John S @ Frugal Rules says

    May 20, 2013 at 6:30 am

    Thanks so much for the mention Michelle, I really appreciate it! I say that with the way you're rocking the side income you should totally consider taking the leap. Of course…I am not the most objective person when it comes to that. 😉 Happy early Birthday!

    Reply

  7. @moneyperk says

    May 20, 2013 at 7:36 am

    The student loans (apart from the mortgage and the credit card) was the last thing that got paid off in our pursuit of financial independence. It was SO EASY to just let it sit on the side, gradually accruing interest – as they don't go away, and I found that you can't bargain to get them paid down. I'm sorry about your being sick – I'm hoping that everything gets better, but I think that you're doing pretty spiff if you have some passive income side hustles going. 🙂
    My recent post Using a Gift as Part of Your Down Payment + MORE

    Reply

  15. Kyle@DebtFreeDiaries says

    May 20, 2013 at 10:05 am

    Glad you're feeling a bit better, and happy early birthday! Leslie and I have put off paying debts a couple times in order to invest in something else we felt was more important. Mainly having to do with our side business. So far what we've gotten out of our investments have been totally worth it.
    My recent post The “Official” Spilling of the Beans

    Reply

  18. Ree Klein says

    May 20, 2013 at 10:07 am

    Hi Michelle ~ Being a little off on meeting your financial goals isn't as important as HAVING financial goals. Cheers to you in advance for being so close to torching your student debt! As for the house, my motherly advice would be to wait until you had enough for a sufficient down payment to avoid having to pay MI; however, that's not what I did when I purchased my home. I bought my small single-family home 20 years ago when the market was down. I've lived in it all this time and paid it off in 15 years. I had debt, stretched my finances to the limit and worried that I might lose my job and then lose the house. While that didn't happen, it could have. We live in a very different time now so being careful and not putting yourself in a high-risk position is important.
    My recent post Visual Cues Matter

    Reply

    • MakingSenseofCents says

      May 20, 2013 at 10:09 am

      Hi Ree! Thanks for stopping by my blog today 🙂

      Thanks for the advice. We definitely plan on waiting. We aren't really in a rush since we already have a house (and a mortgage!) and don't feel like going through the process of selling it right now.

      Reply

  20. Jake Erickson says

    May 20, 2013 at 10:20 am

    Happy Early Birthday! Sounds like you had another great week. As for the student loans, at least you're still really close and they'll be gone before you know it. It sounds like the investment is a good idea. I wouldn't ever invest in the stock market before paying off loans, but I would think about investing in a side hustle which is what you guys are doing. Have a great birthday!
    My recent post How to Buy a Bike

    Reply

  21. Tina@MyShinyPennies says

    May 20, 2013 at 11:08 am

    The house in the picture is exactly what my dream house looks like but they tend to be out of my price range. I think it makes sense to put student loan payoff on a hold if there's an opportunity that brings in a higher return than the interest. I'm putting off making extra payments towards my mortgage and putting the money in the stock market instead.
    My recent post Simple Things That Make Me Smile

    Reply

  23. Keren says

    May 20, 2013 at 12:05 pm

    Gorgeous House! Although, I would have made the same decision. We live in a perma-fixer-upper that was built in the mid 1800's. It's not a house you would dream of, but if the Mr. or I would lose our job, we could still afford the payments. That's important to us. With every choice, there is a trade-off.

    Oh, and happy almost birthday! I used to just celebrate my birthday on that day, but it's turned into more of a birthday week! 🙂
    My recent post Fifty Free Things To Do With Your Kids This Summer

    Reply

  27. Canadianbudgetbinder says

    May 20, 2013 at 2:31 pm

    Sure, we've put off buying a house so I could go back to school that way we weren't forced to worry about a mortgage and me finding a job. I can probably think of many things but at the end of it all, there was a plan. Even if we don't pay something off by a goal date as long as there is a plan in place and an understanding as to why we came to that decision we are happy with that. We are the only judges of our finances, no one else. Glad you are better mate.
    My recent post What are Realistic Investment Returns

    Reply

  28. cashrebel says

    May 20, 2013 at 5:17 pm

    For a while my parents kept padding their savings account instead of paying off their mortgage early. They had more than plenty in their saving account, but they just didn't feel like paying down the mortgage early. In that case, I advised then to just pay off the mortgage.
    My recent post Do You Work For Passion or Money?

    Reply

  30. Anne - Unique Gifter says

    May 21, 2013 at 9:43 am

    Boo sickness!! I hope that you are feeling a lot better this week. That's one of the scary parts about being self-employed, often the dollars are 100% tied to your own health.
    Thanks so much for the link 🙂
    We've put off things before, like we reduced our mortgage overpayments so that we could pay cash for our share of the wedding costs. We recently delayed paying the mortgage off by two or three months so that we could take advantage of a really low stock price on something we wanted to buy.

    Reply

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