Thanks Michael!

I got the idea for this blog by reading the hundreds of other financial blogs out there. Shortly after I started this, I read one post about blogging your way out of debt. It did a good job of putting into words the reasons that I am doing this. The blogger (Michael) also said that he would like to know if anyone is doing what I am doing, so I emailed him and told him about my blog.

He replied with this email (hopefully the pictures are legible):

Eric,

Using ExcelGeek’s Rapid Payoff Calculator (http://www.mdmproofing.com/iym/products/debt-snowball/ ) spreadsheet on your debts, I come up with a suggested payoff order of:

The spreadsheet sorts by shortest- to longest-payoff. With a $400 extra monthly payment, it would have you paid off in 37 months, having paid $7,061 in interest. If it were me, I’d probably flip-flop the order of the Auto #1 loan and the Personal Loan (that 18% rate just eats at me, you know?). In any case, it could be a lot worse! A little more info:

Not that you asked for any of this, but I love watching the numbers play out. I’m just a dork that way.



Regards,
Michael
It's Your Money!
It's Your Money: Money Musings
Debtspiration

Pretty cool, huh? Check out his blogs.

I'm still working on getting more info about my wife's student loans together. As a rough estimate, they are over $240,000, so it will be a challenge.