“I find immense beauty and richness in an old song, an old soul, and old wisdom, just as you do. Old isn’t about being worn out; it’s about being matured, and cultivated by time. Let’s cherish the gift of age and the depth it brings to our lives.” ~ Ting Ma
It really happened!
On July 14th, I received an email from the U.S. Department of Education stating that I was eligible to have my federal student loans forgiven. All I could think was, “What?! Is this real?”
The Supreme Court had just squashed my hopes of student loan forgiveness and everyone was talking about how student loan payments and interest accrual would begin again this fall. I was upset, but thought possibly something might be happening in the background helping me.
Back in April, my new Nelnet account stated that student loan payments would be due September 20, 2024. At least I would have more than another year of breathing room. But then why did people keep saying that payments start again in the fall?
Why did I have a different payment date? Was it just me? Was this because maybe they would be forgiven? Last year, I speculated that astrology could support student loan cancellation. Could this be true?
Well, spring turned to summer and I heard nothing. Until July 14th. The email said people had until August 13th to opt out, but nothing else was needed. So I waited and tried not thinking about it. I hate to wish away precious summer days here in New England!
Needless to say, starting August 14th, I was frantically checking my Nelnet account for a zero balance. It was all still there. Since I realized the process could take a while, I would need to chill out a bit and stop looking so much. I checked the next morning and all still there. But that evening, it was zero and said the loans were all paid in full! Well, alright.
That looked great, but I still had not received a letter stating that it was really forgiven. I didn’t receive all the emails and letters stating it was official until last Saturday. It’s done!
Whew! What a relief!
Coincidentally, I also finally paid off the third of five private student loans last week. Yup. I still have private student loans. But now I can focus on paying down these last two student loans as quickly as possible. Forgiveness only applies to federal student loans, not private.
Student loans are horrible. Especially the interest that accrues. That conservative organizations continue trying to block this relief is appalling.
My student loan debt was forgiven because I was on an income-driven repayment plan (IDR) and paid for more than twenty years. And that was more than enough.
I’ve been blogging for 17 years to the day! This past year has been a lot. My blogging definitely dropped off. And in January, I decided to retire Free Yoga Boston. I did FYB for ten years. It felt like its season came to a natural end. I’m not quite sure how this space will continue.
In general, video seems to have taken over what blogging used to be. I love watching YouTube and have thought about the medium. In the past, I made some videos too. But in general, video isn’t just about filming. From what I can tell, the heart of it seems to be editing. Which at this point, has not proven to be something that I love. Maybe I just haven’t found the right editing tools? Not sure. But for now, writing is my first love, so I’ll keep on with blogging.
And keeping with my annual tradition, today is the day that I choose my word for the year. Here are some obvious hints!
My plan is take myself out for an Artist Date on a regular basis. I had fun with my mom at a paint night, for a mother daughter date. I recently wrote about the surprising due date for federal student loans. A favorite snack is yogurt with my homemade trail mix, which usually includes dates. So sweet and healthy too! I’d also like to meet a nice guy and go on some dates.
The word resonating for this year is DATE!
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Links to posts for past years are below. Thank you for being here!
Talk of the pandemic emergency measures soon ending has grown louder lately. As someone with federal student loans, I have not been looking forward to the end of the student loan payment pause with glee.
So last week when I received an email from Nelnet stating that my student loans were transferred to them from Great Lakes, I was not amused. And rather agitated to be quite honest. This signaled the beginning of the end.
When I registered my account and looked at the inbox, I assumed there would be a letter stating that payments would resume within the next few months. But that was not the case.
From what I saw on my account and pictured above, no payments are due until September 20, 2024. At first I thought it said September 2023. I was happy to have a few months more than I thought to start the payment process again. Then I looked again and saw that it said 2024 not 2023. Huh? 2024?
I must have read the date about twenty times before I believed it. Actually, I’m still not sure I believe it. There must be some very interesting conversations happening behind the scenes for this to be the correct date. Or someone made a very large typo.
Right now, President Biden’s student debt relief plan is still in the hands of the Supreme Court. If the Court strikes down his current plan, then based on the payment due date, maybe he will go in another direction. All I can do is speculate, but that later than expected due date gives me a bit of hope.
If you have a federal student loan, do you have the same payment due date?
