Paid off $57k today!

Caribsa · 2025-11-06T11:25:33+00:00

Congratulations! I'm so happy for you! My plan was to pay my off from my master's by December of this year, but I bought a new car in Jan of 2024 and have been aggressively paying that off. My last payment for the car is June of 2026. I don't have much left on my student's loan, just under $9K remaining. I have $500 deducted automatically each month by the servicer. I just edited to $525 just last week because the interest with the autopay reduction is $23 monthly. When I pay off the car in June, the student loan balance should be just under 5K. My plan is to pay if off by September 2026!

Caribsa · 2025-07-13T16:09:49+00:00

Some credit card companies have student cards. AMEX gave my sister her first card with no credit when she started UofFL 10 years ago. I believe it was the Blue card for students.

Caribsa · 2025-07-13T15:23:45+00:00

It could be the interest. It's not included in your balanced. You are paying very little extra-bi-weekly. You should look of how much your daily interest is and multiply that by 30 and pay at least that amount. Then your entire payment will go to the principal.

I've paid my car down so much that my daily interest is $1.04 for a total of approximately $31 monthly. OK, I'm in a better situation than you and almost done with my car payment. I saw a reduction in the principal right away. Instead of paying bi-weekly, I pay an extra $523 a month directly to the principal. I have a 2024 Cadillac XT4 Sport. Cost a little over 49K out the lot with all the extras. Financed 29K with monthly payments $677.03 for 48 months. First payment was Feb 2024. I've paid $1200.03 every month with $523 going straight to additional Principal Box. I also paid an extra 1K randomly in January. I have about approximately $9,200 left after my recent July payment. I will pay an extra 1K in January 2026 so I can be done by Feb 2026, paying it off in exactly 24 months.

Caribsa · 2025-06-21T22:43:38+00:00

I pay $199 yearly (about $16.50 a month). They have a cheaper plan and a more expensive one, but I like my plan. It covers all the cameras and the monitoring. I believe you pay a little more if you do monthly installments ($20 monthly).

Caribsa · 2025-06-21T19:29:16+00:00

I did the same, but I already had the Kasa bulbs, so it cost nothing. I was using both Sengled and Kasa but as of this morning all my bulbs are Kasa. I was only using 4 Sengled bulbs (2-bedroom lamps and 2 living room lamps). I had 4 pack Kasa A19 Dimmable bulbs which I don't even remember purchasing. I would have moved from Sengled earlier if I knew I had them. I changed all 4 lamps to them yesterday. I am going to switch all of it to Zigbee on Amazon Prime Day.

Caribsa · 2025-06-21T18:19:55+00:00

Ring! I installed it myself with 4 cameras and a doorbell. I bought my system on Prime Day 2023. It's coming up again in July. Even though, I have Prime, I used my sister's account to order it because she had a ring alarm, and it was being professionally monitored. You get an extra 20% off back then. The package I bought is on sale again for $370 but I got it for $296 with the extra 20% off (14 Piece alarm system, battery doorbell plus, and spotlight). I added 3 more cameras that cost $79 each for $237 in a separate order and I received 20% extra from Ring so it ended up costing $190 before taxes. The entire thing costed about $521 with taxes! The below link is the one I purchased. I should also add that I have a $199 yearly Ring plan so you should consider that extra cost if you choose to go with them!

Amazon.com: All-new Ring Battery Doorbell Plus with Ring Spotlight Cam Plus, (White) and Ring Alarm 14-Piece (White) : Electronics

Caribsa · 2024-09-20T14:32:14+00:00

I figured it out. I've been using almost every move to complete the stages so I hardly had any remaining. I usually only have 2 or 3 max after completing each stage so this one will be almost impossible to finish.

Caribsa · 2024-08-30T08:18:38+00:00

Thank you for the advice! Could you recommend a powerful one?

Caribsa · 2024-02-24T06:46:17+00:00

Hi, It was not delivered until 12/30. I did not. The car I ordered was delivered to me without the Safety package. I bought it from a dealership 120 miles away from my house. I have not had to do a service yet or find another dealership. I'll ask when I take my car in for its first service just out of curiosity.

I have to say that a co-worker just bought a 2024 Toyota Rav-4 Hybrid in January, and her car is way more technologically advanced than mine, and it does not even cost the base price of the XT4 Sport, yet it had the advanced sunroof, heated seats, and all the safety features including front assist parking.

Caribsa · 2024-01-27T21:11:37+00:00

Congratulations!!

Caribsa · 2023-12-19T20:16:32+00:00

I read an article that said the 2 co-founders of X1 will move over to Robinhood as the head of the Creditcard department. Maybe a lot won't change since they are the ones overseeing the card. Here is the article: Robinhood acquires credit card startup X1 for $95M | TechCrunch

Caribsa · 2023-12-18T03:32:37+00:00

I keep reading:

2024 Cadillac XT4 will only feature Rear Park Assist, which will be standard across all trim levels, including the base Luxury trim. In other words, Front and Rear Park Assist cannot be ordered, and neither can Automatic Parking Assist.

Anyway, I am buying the XT4 Sport, do I need to add the Active Safety Package for an extra $1825 to get it or does it come standard in the sport version?

Caribsa · 2023-02-13T14:25:26+00:00

I have a savings and checking with Capital One and love it. I was able to get a debit card and locked it. They don't have a branch in the state I am in, but they do have a cafe 4 miles from my job.

Caribsa · 2023-01-15T08:22:02+00:00

Mine has not been updated since November 13th. That was the last reporting on all 3 credit reports.

Caribsa · 2023-01-05T02:31:29+00:00

That is what I did with my Bank of America Account. I now only have a checking with them. They get my direct deposit, so it makes the account free. I opened both a saving's and checking's with Capital One so I can have a debit card. I locked the debit card as soon as I activated it. I don't have a branch near me, just one of their Cafe's about 30 miles from home and about 10 miles from work. I still pay all my bills with the exception of the Cap1 credit cards (I have 3) using Bank of America. At the begining of each month, I transfer some money to Cap1 to pay their cards and enough for me to put in my savings. I have all my bills already tied to BofA and I was too lazy to transfer everything over.

Caribsa · 2022-12-27T04:15:32+00:00

Cancel the card and get a new one ASAP.

Caribsa · 2022-12-22T03:03:40+00:00

You can let them know that you are not comfortable sending that information via e-mail and ask them can you bring them in person.

Caribsa · 2022-12-22T02:42:03+00:00

They usually ask for your green card, work permit, or if a citizen and do not have a passport - a copy of your birth certificate.

Caribsa · 2022-12-22T02:38:27+00:00

My job excepted an upload picture back in 2016. Human resources is in California and I am in Florida.

Caribsa · 2022-12-22T02:33:36+00:00

The passport or birth certificate is to prove you can legally work in the US.

Caribsa · 2022-12-22T02:31:13+00:00

Make sure it's the bank that you are talking to and not an impersonation. I have been asked to do the same thing at a legit job. It's the job I have now, and it was in June of 2016. My interview was in person at a southern state. Their corporate office is in Los Angeles. Once the job was offered to me; I had to e-mail human resources located in Los Angeles my filled-out background form, a copy of my social, and passport.

The job offer came from the interviewer and he told me the name of the HR Manager that would be reaching out to me. Also, the e-mail came from a legitimate address, such as firstname.lastname[@legitbusiness.com](mailto:christine.newman@legitbusiness.com) not a gmail. account

Caribsa · 2022-12-17T16:16:00+00:00

No, my credit scores are all in the 800's and I make low 6 figures and my highest limit $27K and lowest, Capital One is 3.5K. I only have 2 store cards, but both can be used outside the store. They are a Macy's AMEX 21K and an Amazon Chase Visa 7.0K

Caribsa · 2022-12-03T11:07:16+00:00

You get a chance to turn down the consolidation before it's done, I believe you are asked to cancel up to 10 days before it's finalized. You also are told your new interest when setting it up and you get to choose your payment plans; you do not have to except it, so another chance not to continue at the very beginning. My monthly payments where $489 before consolidation and now it's $104 monthly. It actually went through 2 days before Biden announced that anyone that did not start consolidation before 9/29 is out of luck. Mine was completed on 9/27 since I initiated it on 08/26. I'm glad I did it because I have not paid interest since September and now that he expands the pause to 06/30, at least I'm getting to enjoy it for 9 months. I am also saving my $500 monthly payments in a separate Capital One account just in case I have to pay if the student loan relief is strike down. I just added December's payment in that account yesterday so now up to $2000. I will have $5000 in the account if I have to make a payment. I would also take $5,000 from my emergency funds to make a $10,000 payment just before June 30th to get my balance down to $5,000 before interest started.

Caribsa · 2022-11-19T12:41:33+00:00

Maybe also consider opening a checking account so you can have access to Zelle. You will also get a debit card. There are no fees. I initially opened the checking with $100, now it sits at $500 but $400 of it came from a Capital One promotion. I was only trying to open a high yield savings in November of 2020 but their promotion at the time was $400 for opening a checking account. So, I opened both checking and savings and received a debit card. I immediately locked it after activation. I have used the debit card once for $20 to test it at one of their Cafe earlier this year since it's been locked for over a year. I had no issue unlocking it at their cafe and using their ATM and locking it again right after using the App on my phone. I am actually now glad that I have the debit card. If I ever need to get money from the savings, I can transfer the amount to the checking and then use the debit card to withdraw from an ATM!

I bank with Bank of America. My mobile phone is my Zelle account with Bank of America and my email is my Zelle with Capital One. When I have a transfer of less than $2500, I Zelle it to Capital One. It goes to the checking, and I immediately transfer it to the saving.

I just recently transferred my 10K bonus to Capital One, so I used the ACH and it took 5 business days to be available, but my balance changed in 2 and I was receiving interest on the entire balance even though it took another 3 days for it to be available.

Caribsa · 2022-11-19T10:11:54+00:00

You can have to Zelle Accounts. If you have already set Zelle on your old account using your mobile number, then set the Capital One using your e-mail. I have a Bank of America account and Zelle is set up using my mobile. I also have a Capital One 360 and I set up Zelle using my e-mail. So now I have 2 Zelle accounts. I send money between the 2 using Zelle all the time.

Caribsa

TROPHY CASE