conversation: User (Foltorb): "Hello r/PersonalFinance, hopefully someone can help me figure out how long it will take for me to pay off my student loans. Thanks in advance for any time invested in this. \n\n\nSome info:\nI have 9 student loans that I am currently paying back. I make one payment a month to GreatLakes. The minimum payment is $353.97/month, I currently pay $700/month, and plan to continue to pay 700 a month until I am debt free. The loans are broken up as seen below. \n\n\nLoan Token |Loan Type |Current Balance |Interest rate \n----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------- \n1|	Direct Subsidized Stafford|	$3,014.87|	4.25%\n2|	Direct Unsubsidized Stafford| 	$1,392.93|	6.55%\n3|	Direct Subsidized Stafford|	$2,585.86|	3.15%\n4|	Direct Unsubsidized Stafford|	$1,651.42|	6.55%\n5|	Direct Subsidized Stafford|	$3,243.22|	3.15%\n6|	Direct Unsubsidized Stafford|	$1,751.70|	6.55%\n7|	Direct Unsubsidized Stafford|	$6,973.09|	3.61%\n9|	Direct Subsidized Stafford|	$4,737.62|	4.41%\n0|	Direct Unsubsidized Stafford|	$451.98|	4.41%\n\n\nIf this was just one lump sum of money with one interest rate, it would be fairly easy to calculate, but that's not the case, and thus why I am asking for help.\n\n\nFirst, when I make a payment, the minimum amount ($353.97) is first applied to any accrued interest and the remaining is then applied to the current balance of each loan. I have no idea how this 353.97 minus interest is split up and distributed to each loan, but I think these are important numbers to help determine total payback time. \n\n\nSecond, the extra I pay (700 - 353.97 = 346.03) is then applied to the current balance of the loan(s) with the highest interest. Again, I am not sure how this remaining excess chunk of money is split between the loans with the highest interest (currently 2, 4, and 6). Obviously as time goes on the loans with the highest interest rate change also, which is another hurdle in calculating how long it takes to pay off these loans. \n\nIf anybody can help shed some light on exactly how my payments are being split up and how long it will take me to be debt free, I would be extremely grateful. Let me know if you have any questions, or need more information. Thanks Again. "
  Self: "I copy/pasted your info into a spreadsheet.  I see 10 debts instead of 9 is that right?\n\nYour current debt total is $25,802.69\n\nThe good news is **this month** you are only paying $92.21 in interest thus the other $607.79 is going to principal reduction.  Each month moving forward you pay less in interest and more towards principal.  By the final month nearly everything is going to principal.  \n\nThis could be calculated to the penny using a SS, but it would be a bit tedious and I'm not that excited to do work.\n\nIf we take the median of interest payments half way through paying down this debt that would be $92.21/2 or about $46.10 per month over the life of the loans.  Note this is approximate and not exact.  I'm using a quick and dirty method here.\n\nSo if we take your $700 and assume $653.90 is going to principal reduction and the other $46.10 is interest over the life of the loans you will retire the debt in approximately 39.45 months.  So 40 payments of $700.  That's almost $28k total payments on an original balance of $25,802.69\n\nNow my numbers are not exact because of the way the money is applied and interest accrued, but it is likely within 1 month accuracy.  Plan your debt retirement party 40 months from now!"
  User (Foltorb): "Thanks for the response. Based on your response and a few others I am starting to get the idea of around 3 years to pay off my debt. \n\nThanks for the input and work you did, I was getting caught up on the fact that I didn't know exactly where every dollar was being allocated in my monthly payments. But base on your response and others, I am realizing that generalization and estimations are acceptable when trying to get this answer. Thanks again for the effort. "
  