Sallie Mae tried to keep my 65 cents

Sallie Mae and other student loan companies get a lot of negative flack, but a lot of it is just displaced anger. After all, they don't force students to take out their loans. Students could save or work instead, get a scholarship, wait to go to college, or not go at all if they really can't afford it. They're not twisting anyone's arm. I try to take responsibilty for the student debt I took on. Yes, it's a broken system. But I certainly wasn't a mindless ant marching along unaware of what I was doing when I took out these loans.

But there still remains room for a lot of improvement. This isn't a loan for a LCD TV or a BMW you can't afford. It's for education, "good debt," and something about that for some reason makes it seem like loan companies should be held to a higher standard.

I had a loan with Sallie Mae for $4,000, and it was the first student loan I paid off, because it was the smallest and had the highest interest. But I have a couple gripes with them, both of which I politely told their customer service. I'll share these now, as accurately as I can.

First, when I paid off my loan, I used their 5-day pay off calculator, which they instruct you to do. Turns out, their caculator overestimated the amount, and I overpaid it by 65 cents. My account statement was crystal clear that my account was in the positive by 65 cents. You would assume they would just refund this amount within a reasonable time, right? Well, no. After four weeks waiting for my refund, I finally called them today requesting my money back. But even then they told me it would require an "investigation" (into 65 cents?) and "referral" to another Department and that I should call back. "Call back?" I blurted to them. "I have to call back?" At this point the customer service rep changed her tune and said I could probably expect my refund in 14 business days and I wouldn't have to call back as long as it came through.

I know it's just 65 cents, but think of it this way. Let's assume 100,000 students have a loan with them, which I'm sure is way low-balling their actual customer numbers. Let's assume their loan payoffs all overestimate by just 65 cents. Let's assume no one bothers to wait on hold for 10 minutes like I did to try to clear this up, and just submits to losing 65 cents. After all, who cares about 65 cents? Well, Sallie Mae does, because they just made $65,000. Shady? I think so.

Second, Sallie Mae never sent me any documention my loan was paid in full. In fact online nothing changed at all, other than a zero balance appearing. It still showed due dates and bank account numbers for automatic debit. Everything looked like it was rolling along. Out of an abundance of caution, I cancelled my automatic debit...just in case they try to pull money I don't owe.

As long as your balance is zero who cares? The problem with this is just printing out your statement to try to prove to someone you've paid off your loan may not be enough. This statement might just look like today your balance is zero, but it could change. In reality, this loan is permanently paid off and the account should rightly be closed out as paid in full. And we really should have that documentation as protection in case Sallie Mae ever tries to say I owe anything more.

After a formal request to the customer service rep for documentation of payment in full, she agreed to send me a paid letter in the mail. In 10 business days.

These are little things, but they contribute to companies like this having a bad reputation.

A little Christmas splurg

One reason I wanted to become a lawyer is because I could be doing something I enjoy while making a good living. I wanted to be able to take vacations when I want to, buy things I wanted, and buy other people things they wanted. Little did I know I wouldn't be making the kind of six-figure income everyone thinks lawyers make. But even if I'm doing public interest law I still make a pretty good living, well above the national average income and more than my parents' income combined. I also have a supplemental income.

For now with all my student debt, most of my money is devoted to that. But this year I wanted to get my mom and sister something really nice.

For my mom, I've forked over $225 to get us great seats to her favorite musical that's coming to a neighboring city. She is going to love it, so am I, and the long drive is going to be good bonding time. And for my sister I'm booking us massages at a local spa. The city where she lives is very small and spa prices are much lower than where I am, so I'm going to be able to get a full hour for us for $45 each.

It's a bit of a splurg, but I made a lot of supplemental income this month, and I just got a raise. This is what I wanted to do with my money when I made it--go out there and have fun with the people I love. And I rarely if ever spend any money on anyone, much less myself. One splurg won't set me back in my debt plan all that much. Then it's back to the grindstone pounding out the debt.

Oh and by the way, I found someone to watch my dog! So I won't have to spend money on his ticket. What a relief.

Win one of 10 Free Flip Cameras!

Mr. Credit Card is having a Christmas giveaway that ties in with saving money. Ten Flip video cameras are being given away. These things are so cool, I want one!

To enter, sign up for his blog's newsletter, then reply to his post about the giveaway here sharing your best tip for saving money.

I entered too and my tip is about Christmas soups....I posted it in the comments. Good luck to everyone!

Cost of bringing dog home

It's costing me at least $268 to bring my dog home to my parents for Christmas. $100 one way, $125 the other way (different airlines charge differently). Then I had to go out and buy him a carrier for $43, the absolute cheapest, comfortable carrier I could find. It's an inch over the dimensions they require and I'm just praying they'll let it on. I've read on a lot of forums that as long as you can cram it under your seat they don't care and usually don't even check it.

The carrier is not ideal. He doesn't like it, it's really small, and he's going to be crammed inside there for a long flight. I feel bad for him. This is not a good situation and it's costing me money, too.

When I realized he probably needs some much warmer clothes since my parents live in about the coldest part of the United States you can find, I cringed at the prospect of spending even more money. Dog outfits are expensive and they never fit him right. So....I'm sewing him some new clothes! I found a few old shirts of mine, cut the excess fabric so it fit him, and sewed the pieces together. It actually was pretty easy, didn't take that long, and now he has a couple nice fitted shirts that fit him and keep him toasty warm.

It will be so fun to have him at home even if it stinks I have to spend money on this.

oh my gosh....I got a raise today

I was working with my boss over our blackberrys on an important case today, and at the end of it all, he sent me a text: Oh by the way, we're going to give you a $2,000 raise effective today. Please keep it confidential.

Whhhhat?! I have been thinking recently about asking for a raise, but I wanted to wait for the busy holidays to pass before I sat down and made a formal request. A raise is usually awkward to ask for, but I find it even more awkward to talk about in this economy. Still, I felt it was deserved. I've been working very hard lately and I've won some big cases. I know my firm is pleased with my work because they have told me so. And I recently took on a big pro bono case. I wasn't doing it to brown nose; it's a former client of mine whom I'm very fond of and who because of a bunch of new things that have happened, has a really great case on appeal. But for complicated and boring reasons, she is not entitled to a court-appointed attorney at the trial level, so we're going to take it on. I rarely feel any emotion about clients, but I was going to cry if they didn't let me take her case pro bono. We've become close and I truly believe she has been wronged. I kind of told myself, after this gal, I promise never to get attached again. I've been going through the rollercoaster of her case with her for a year and a half now.

One note about how I approach my job ... I really try hard to keep work at work and enjoy myself when it's time to go home. I try hard to keep this a 9 to 5 job. (We do not do billable hours and I'm only required to be at work 40 hours a week) I never come in on the weekends, and very, very rarely take work home. I work my butt off when I'm at work, but one reason I work so hard is so that everything is done when 5 comes around. Conversely, I work with a heck of a lot of attorneys who feel they need to put in 60 hour weeks or more. I work with a heck of a lot of attorneys who are e-mailing me things on the weekend, even calling. Clearly, many people did not get raises when I did. But this raise is validation to me that you can still be a successful attorney and climb the ladder without selling your soul and any kind of outside life to do it.

Anyway, given what I've been taking on lately I guess this raise is not a shock. But I know with our budget any bit of wiggle room is thought about very carefully, and I so appreciate the bosses for recognizing me in this way. My firm is very smart when it comes to retaining good attorneys, and I think they know full well that I need to have that hope that regular raises are on the table. This is my third in about a year and a half.

I'll probably just snowball this extra money, which after taxes is probably about $100 a month, onto my car loan.

My dog has no home for Christmas

I've written about my dog before, lauding how economical he is mainly because he doesn't eat much and most of the things he needs people have given me, like his toys. I homeschooled his cute self just reading up on training on the Internet.

But my dog's regular Christmas babysitters, close family friends who do it for free, are probably going out of town this year. I've asked around a lot of other friends and no one else is available. Plus, my dog is kind of needy and I'm a doting mommy and not comfortable leaving him with just anyone. One of my options I had to rule out because I'm not confident they would be diligent enough to keep their doors closed so he doesn't run off looking for me. I'm getting desperate!

It would cost me at least $225 to fly him with me for the holidays. And I'd have to get a travel carrier. And if I put him in doggy day care it will cost just as much if not a lot more.

Dogs come with expenses, it's a reality. Once I got a dog I committed to whatever unexpected expenses would come up. This is one of those times where I'm probably going to have to fork over money to make sure he's safe and happy over the holidays. Bummer, but at least I can draw it from my emergency fund.

Monthly debt update--November

Monthly debt update for November: I have a car loan now, but almost all my extra money is being snowballed toward that. My Sallie Mae loan is PAID OFF! Yeah! So that extra $50 a month is devoted to my car loan now. My parents are almost paid off. If I have an extra $300 still available at the end of the month, I'll try to pay them off this month. If not, it should happen by the beginning of the year.

Total Outstanding Debt: $168,386.02

Emergency Fund: $1,606

401(k): $9,105

Debt breakdown, original amount / current balance:

1. Credit card $1,700/$0 PAID IN FULL

2. Money Owed to Parents $2,900/$300

3. Sallie Mae Student Loan $4,194.31/$0 PAID IN FULL

4. Perkin's Loan $12,062.42/$11,168.38

5. Parent Loan $12,760.06/$12,206.24

6. Undergraduate Loan $14,327.03/$14,070.34

7. Car Loan $15,800/$15,196

8. Consolidated Loan $120,499.02/$115,446.00