Can you please help me understand my school loans?

sharkfu — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:23:11 -0800

Can you please help me understand my school loans? Boring numbers and interest rates within. I'm embarrassed that I don't understand this stuff but I guess it's better to ask and learn...

I have two loans, a private loan and a Federal loan (which I consolidated several years back from Federal loans with higher interest rates). I have enough money to pay off one in entirety, but I'm not sure which one to do so to save the most money. Loan details below:

Private Loan
Original principal balance: $12,632
Outstanding principal balance: $5,297
Interest rate: 5.0%
months remaining: 59 months (by 5/28/2013)
monthly fee: ~$112
Total amount to be repaid (from this point to end of loan term) $6,563

Federal Student Aid - Direct Subsidized Consolidated Loan, Fixed Interest Rate
Original Balance: $14,203
Principal Paid $10,085
Interest Paid $3,567
Interest Outstanding $9.59
Outstanding principal balance: $4,118
Interest rate: 6.075%
months remaining: 26 (by 10/14/2010)
monthly fee: ~$164

Note: The Federal Student Aid website was much more confusing than the private loan one and I could not find a "Total Amount to be repaid (from this point to end of the loan term)"

Several questions:

1) Which loan should I pay off completely right now to save the most money?

2) Does the interest outstanding amount of $9.59 mean all the interest for the loan was loaded on the front and I'll be repaying capital only from this point forward? Or is that only interest due this month based up the principal remaining?

3) If I'm going to pay off one in entirety, is there a way to put it on credit card (and then immediately pay the credit card) so I can at least earn points/ miles? The only options I see for 10 day payoff on the two sites involves checks/ direct bank transfers.

Thank you for any insight you can provide...

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Can you please help me understand my school loans?