Wednesday, September 3, 2008

A Good Bargain, He Says

This past week, my (very generous) parents offered me a deal. If I gave them what I had saved from my student loans, they'd pay off the loan amounts altogether.

*Numbers changed for privacy*
Let's say my outstanding loan amount totaled $30,000. Since I had saved the student loan money I received that did not go to tuition, I actually had half of that amount sitting in some CDs and a money market account. The money was just sitting there, earning VERY small interest, and waiting for me to do something with it.

The idea was to invest some of it in an investment with a higher rate of return than the interest rate on the loan, while keeping some of the money back to actually make the loan payments. Of course, I never did get around to that.

Last week, my parents told me to give them $15,000. Of course, my first reaction was "hell, no!", followed by "what for?" They said that they would match my $15,000 to get my loan paid off. Can you believe that?

So, on Tuesday I trotted off to the bank to withdraw my money and transfer it to my parents. When I told the banker what I was doing with the money, and what my parents were doing, he told me, "now that's a good bargain!" Tomorrow, they are writing a check for the WHOLE AMOUNT to the financial institution, and I will be DEBT FREE save for like $400 in credit card debt!

This is an amazing feeling. Makes me want to buy a house. (HA.)

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