magicbeans. nothing if not awkward.

just so you know that the rest of life still goes on: i finally pushed through with my student loan consolidation yesterday to get it done by the end of the year. this is what the loan officer at risd told us we needed to do to lock in the lowest interest rates. i think that she suggested shooting for an earlier date to avoid any potential trouble though. i realized today (although i won't go into the details of how) that the rate quoted on my application was the slightly higher, 'consolidated while in repayment' rate. it's an initial difference of about $300 in interest a year. which lessens as you pay of the principal, but still, over a 20 year loan we're talking thousands of dollars.

apparently my first payment was due two days ago, and so i'm no longer in my grace period. but, the lower consolidation rate also applies if your loans are in deferment, and is good for another six months. i'm certainly in a position to defer my loans. so i started that ball rolling and canceled my consolidation application, only to do it all again in a few weeks.