As indicated in my Payoff Car Loan Series post, I have determined to payoff my car loan. To that extent, I’ve decided to track my progress here to help keep me motivated and accountable. This is the first of such post. I’m still working on deciding what to call it, but this name, which is subject to change, is as good as any. The goal is to payoff my car loan by May 2022. It’s going to be tough but I can do it. In order to help payoff my car loan, I will be driving for both Uber and Lyft as a side hustle. Every little bit helps. So, without further adieu, let’s see how much extra debt I was able to pay off.
Car Loan Tracker
Note, because I am posting this in the middle of the month, the period I am tracking is from April 15 to May 15. However, only the extra principal payments are being tracked. The minimum monthly payment of $356 is not being tracked. Additionally, for your information, the interest rate is 4.00%.
Now, I want to make a quick point about the credit union I’m paying off my loan through. I was very disappointed at how difficult they make it to make extra payments. I first tried transferring small payments directly from an outside checking account into my loan. Apparently, even though the transfer made a payment, it paid both principal and interest.
To make a long story short, there are exactly TWO ways I can make an extra payment. The first is by increasing my minimum monthly payment amount. Anything extra will go directly to the principal. The problem is that I don’t know how much money I’ll be making with Uber and Lyft and so I don’t know how much money to increase the minimum monthly payment. Additionally, it’s a hard process to increase that as well, but I’ll spare you the details.
The second way is by calling the credit union and have them make a principal only payment. How very inconvenient!!! In my mind, the only reason why the credit union makes it this difficult is to discourage individuals from paying off their car loan early. I can’t wait to be done with this loan. The only reason I’m associated with this credit union is because I got the car loan from them through the car dealership. Anyway, my rant is over.
From April 15 to May 15, I paid an extra $247 towards my car loan. It is broken down as follows:
| NO. | DATE | AMOUNT | REMAINING BALANCE |
| 1 | 5/11/2021 | $247 | $16,702.58 |
Conclusion
There you have it. I didn’t want this to be a long post. I will aim to make these reports in the middle of the month. What’s more is that I am working on driving more so that I can increase the amount of extra payments. I still have to balance driving with my job, but so far so good.
What did you think of this post? Are there any debt you are trying to payoff early? Let me know your thoughts by commenting below.
I was also thinking to try ubering a bit 🙂 for now all my spare time goes for my family. Next in line joining back the military (my hobby).
haha either way good luck p2035. Uber is very flexible even with a full time job. So you do it whenever you have time.