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How I handled my Bigger Loan Payment

This afternoon I was a little surprised. I have been trying to get my taxes filed early but it seems this is not to be. Most of the forms that I need are not available from my loans, my job etc. Despite the convenience of the internet, it still isn't getting it done any faster. It will likely be sometime in february before this is all figured out.

The upside was that I found a mistake. This month I prepared my bills online and sent them using my banks bill pay system. However, I saw on my loan's website that my bill was high this month. That seemed strange and I realized that this month was the first month that the new "step" kicked in. So, I have a higher payment than I used to.

It was a bit of a downer since that threw my budget off a little, but good for me since I caught it and didn't end up being late. The other nice thing that I did, and you could consider it to if you have a loan that has a "step" or "graduated" repayment plan. Its just paying an extra 15 or 20 bucks more than the principal. By doing this I pay down the principal a little more than the plan and when the payment goes up, it doesn't feel like such a stretch.
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