Since I’ve been behind in updating my student debt statement, I figured I would put the past 2 months in the same post. In total, I contributed $2,000 in August and September.

Not a lot of changes for both month. I am still very proud of myself for getting in those $1000 payments each month, especially because they were made during my grad intern days when I was only making less than half of my current salary as a pharmacist now.

I’ve been making more payments since I’ve become a pharmacist and those will be reflected in the October statement. I also have some exciting news which I will be able to share on my October statement soon.  So stay tune! 🙂

Seeing my August and September statements, it was especially disheartening when I noticed how my accrued interest went up by almost $1000 in just over a month. I am hoping that I can refinance.

Right now I am looking into different private loans that I can take. However, looking at SoFi and Laurel Road which are the two most popular student loan refinancing companies, their interest rates are just not competitive enough.

I’m seeing rates in the ranges of 5% which to me is not worth losing all the benefits of a federal loan especially when some of my interest rates are actually lower than that.

I am looking into First Republic Bank which has very competitive rates, but I am not sure I am qualified yet as they do need a high FICO score. I hope to refinance before my accrued interest capitalize in December so we will see what ends up happening.