Our daily TPS reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale continues (my picks here and here), and there is still a lot of things on sale (and some seem to have more sizes available than they did before). For today’s TPS I like this zigzag sweater jacket — it’s fun but has a tailored look to it as well. I think it looks great styled with purple and black here, but I would add a second color somewhere in the mix — perhaps a yellow brooch or a red cuff. The zigzag sweater jacket is available in regular and petite in XS, S, and M — the price is curently $64.90 but after August 6 it’ll go back to $98. (The sweater is also still available in rust, size M only, and charcoal, XSP only.) Halogen® Sweater Jacket
Seen a great piece you’d like to recommend? Please e-mail [email protected]
(L-5)
Can anyone recommend a nude low heel? I’m entering my eighth month of pregnancy and ready for a lower heel (anything from flat to maybe 2 in.). There are plenty of black options out there, but I haven’t been able to find anything in nude that looks comfortable and has even a bit of style to it. I think I’d prefer a slight heel over a complete flat, as I find that more comfortable on my back. And I’d prefer to spend less than $100 since I’m not sure how much I’ll use this after pregnancy. Thanks for any suggestions!
I don’t know what the color looks like in real life (ordered them this week), but I can say these are comfortable (have them in another color), and they’re on sale for a good price.
http://www.easyspirit.com/Zavanna/52748146,default,pd.html?variantSizeClass=&variantColor=PARFALE&cgid=50438757&prefn1=catalog-id&prefv1=easyspirit-catalog
Yesterday there was a convo about paying ahead on student loans and asking the company to apply extra to principal rather than moving your due date.
I’m loan-dumb. Can someone explain this to me? Why does it matter? As an example, I have one small $5000 loan I am tackling (before I get on to the big $100k boys). I am paying $500 a month instead of $50 a month. I have done this for the last 2 months, and it says I don’t owe anything until April 2013.
Why do I want to specify it be applied to principal? If I don’t, I assumed that if I prepaid the interest already, and pay it off early, then they would be required to pay me back what I overpaid in interest. Am I missing something?
Seconded. We’re paying back my husband’s student loans, and since I don’t have any, I know nothing about them. We’re paying about $700/month instead of the required $100, but I did not realize there was a different set of ways to over-pay.
Annie I have been using google fu since may be too late in the day for the hive. I keep finding sites that recommend doing this (so I am going to do it) but I still have no idea why it matters whether they apply it to my next payment, or my principal?
I’m trying to think of an analogy that would work. But basically the interest rate is calculated against your principal. So if you are just prepaying your interest, putting water into a cup that has a hole in it. By putting it towards the principal, you are going to see headway in how much owe and how quickly you pay it off.
Check to make sure your overpayments aren’t credited to the future interest that will be applied to the principal. In other words, if your min. payment is $100/month but you pay $500 instead, the loan company may calculate it as having a $400 “credit” for your interest. On the other hand, if you apply the remainder towards your principal, then there’s less for them to charge interest on in the first place and you don’t pay as much in interest over time.
As far as I know, the bank wouldn’t pay you back for the overpayment, but it would factor in what you’ve already paid into your payoff amount. So yeah, it would balance out, but you wouldn’t get paid back. But I’m happy to be corrected if I’m wrong! :-)
I think I get it. You would be paying more interest over time because they keep applying it to 15 years worth of interest when you’re going to pay it off in 5.
This is really helpful to know before starting my loan repayments. I have all Stafford loans (subsidized and unsubsidized), and I think the standard loan repayment period is 10 years. I would ideally like to pay off my loans at a quicker rate than that so should I contact the loan company every time I want to make a higher payment and have this apply to to the principal – as in every month? It seems like there should be a way to do this one time, but according to everyone who responded yesterday, the loan companies will just automatically apply to interest first every time?
It depends on what company services your loans. When mine were with Citibank, there was a box to check that said to apply extra to principal. If my minimum payment was 200 and I paid 400 and checked the box, 200 would go directly to principal. When Citibank sold my loans to evil evil Sallie Mae, that option disappeared. Now, I make my minimum monthly payments, and schedule an extra payment for the day after my monthly payment posts. They apply extra payments first to fees, then interest, then principal. By paying it the following day, there has only been a tiny amount of interest accrued so the bulk goes to principal.
Thanks for the information. I’ll have to see what my options will be – I’m guessing whoever the fed. govt. picks will not make it easy :/