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I call on ye, Hatrackers of honor, to help me figure out how I can keep going to school next year (masters degree #2) and not feel guilty about adding to my loans.
I'd only go to school next year if I could get my tuition taken care of through grants/scholarships/teacher assistantships.
But I'm sure some of you know more than I do about how I could pay my loans off a little faster (or in larger chunks) than the monthly payments.
A friend of mine bought a condo and is renting it out during the school year. The value will go up and he'll probably sell it for more than it's worth. He'll use that chunk of change to help pay off his loans. Is that a feasible plan? Are there others that you've heard of?
posted
When I got a job out of school, we kept our lifestyle the same as though I were still in school. We were able to pay off the school loans very quickly.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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posted
Yeah, I'm planning to live like a student for the rest of my life.
Frankly, my worries are about what could possibly happen. In my mind, when I eventually get married, I want to have kids and stay home with them while they're young. I would feel terrible doing that and saddling my husband with a monstrous loan payment (which might be added on to his OWN loan payment.) This is all hypothetical you see, but I think about it all the same.
Perhaps I'm just borrowing trouble and shouldn't worry about what could possibly happen...? Because, as of right now, I'll seemingly be single for a long while yet.
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You plan on being a stay at home Mom? That does bring up some questions though, do you want to get a job first? As in, do you plan on using this education your paying for to make money, or just for itself? I think either answer is great, but it will change what the right course of action is.
If it's for a job you're getting the second degree, then you should just make sure that it's actually profitable, otherwise the purpose it's fulfilling isn't ... being fullfilled. Keep in mind a likely time-frame here, of course I'm sure you'd love to know when you'll get married, I don't expect you to, but remember that as a potential SAHM you're working career is cut short, so you can't expect the job to last say, 50 years, and only pay for the education then.
If you're getting it just to get it, I think that's great, but if it is too expensive, I would cut it personally. What is too expensive? I don't know, you have to decide, I doubt a master's degree would qualify though. No, the extra loan from the second degree isn't nearly as troublesome as the interest on whatever loans you have now. Are you getting any money back now? In other words, is your profit margin above zero for your current life-style?
If it isn't, this can turn into a serious problem, is this just the single year we're talking about here, or the begining of a whole lot of years? If the former, then once again, I wouldn't sweat it, keep up on your payments and you should be fine. If it's going to lead to lots more of this ... I would suggest trying to make money some other way (I know the main focus of this thread was to figure out what that way should be, all I can say is I do not recommend anything like real estate investment for a struggling student), or the interest can soon get out of hand. Not that you have to pay back the full loan before you move on, but do be weary about the percentage you pay back. I always recommend paying more than the monthly mimium. Student loans aren't so much of a worry, since they tend to to actually be designed with some sort of morals involved, but this is especially big for things like credit cards, where normally the monthly payments are just on the interest, and thus, if you enver pay back more than the minium, you will continue paying money on them for life.
Ohh, and speaking as someone who fully expects to marry a (beautiful) girl with student loans, don't worry about it. I suppose if you were running up thousands of dollars buying perfume or jewelry or whatever it is you kids buy these days ( ) that would be something, but if you're living within your means (so to speak), then any real man would value you and not your debt.
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This daylight savings stuff is freaky, the board can't handle it, I posted after Narnia, but as result of switching off of (the evil) DST mine is time stamped before hers, and the thread isn't bumped to the top of the queue as a result!
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Makes sense Hobbes. (That time thing is weird!) See, the thing is, I'm planning as if I'm going to be single for the rest of my life. And, if I am going to be single for the rest of my life, then I will need this second degree so that I can get to do what will make me happy. Do you see my dilemma? I don't want to work for too long at something I don't enjoy as much as the stuff I could do if I got this other degree. I can't second-guess myself about the stay at home mom thing. I suppose that I just have to plan as though that's not in the cards, because right now, it isn't. ( )
And though it could be (as I very much hope that it IS!) that I'll get married and have kids, I just have to trust that I find a guy that sees my education as worth the price. Right now, I'm having to make that choice that you outlined above Hobbes: is it worth the price to ME right now? I'm thinking that it is, but I still haven't made a final decision yet.
*sigh* I guess this thread is incorrectly named.
Posts: 6415 | Registered: Jul 2000
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I have no real advice to offer you, Cecily, but I empathise with the dilemma. Sucks, eh.
I know you're thinking about it very carefully, but do choose the thing that will make you happy - there's no point having money (or less debt, in your case) and regretting the decision because you miss out on something you may never get another chance at. If this is something you will eventually want to complete (can you see NEVER doing it?), then is it better to do it now or later?
Live as though you'll die tomorrow.
(speaking as someone who regrets making a bad decision in a similar situation)
Posts: 1431 | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
Hobbes is right. No one worth marrying would care about debt, as long as that debt is not a sign of frivolous spending. Someone who considers education frivolous is probably not worth it either.
If you get married, is there any reason you could not stay in the workforce a few years before having kids?
Posts: 281 | Registered: Aug 2004
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If it is for education that you need in order to get the job you know you want, then it is worth it.
Student loans are no joke, though. I wouldn't worry about what a future husband may think of it (although you wouldn't want someone who didn't care about money or debt at all, as that brings a very special set of problems), but if you need it, go for it.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
I have kind of the same quandry - how to pay for grad school - except I'm being a bit of a pansy because I have NO student loans right now, and in a couple of months I will have no debt whatsoever. I hate the thought of aquiring some. Refusing to aquire debt is definitely stalling some of my plans, though.
p.s. C, why on earth don't we know each other better? I have a feeling that if we lived near each other I'd try to make you one of my best friends. Silly internet.
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May I ask what type of program you are thinking of going into? Also how bad are you loans? I always forget that some people can have loans for over 100 thousand dollars. Obviously you don't have to tell the dollar amount, just a really really bad would suffice.
Posts: 872 | Registered: Mar 2002
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posted
sara, it's a music program. I would get my MM in something and hopefully be able to get my DM in conducting a little later on. (or right after if things go well.)
For me, the loans are bad. They probably won't come near 100K, but they're over 30K right now. My brother (who is very pro "Get it done now and make yourself happy") tells me that that's a drop in the bucket. But, I need to keep in mind that my profession, at best, would be a university Music professor and private voice teacher.
So, Kylie, I tend to agree with you about my situation. I want to do what makes me happy. But the logical, frugal side of me feels like I should be happy with my employable self after this year. I'll be perfectly employable, with an MEd and my teacher certification. I can teaching music K-12 and have a private voice studio (to some extent.) So Katie, it's hard for me to be able to say decisively whether I "need" this next degree or not.
But, Kylie, it is something that I definitely want to do at some point. It's something that I worry might not happen if I don't do it now. So, that's another facet of my motivation and quandry.
Thanks for your thoughts. I appreciate them. This is really tough for me. I've been going back and forth on it for a few weeks.
(Katie, I don't KNOW why we're not best buddies. I agree with you about what you said. Maybe I should move to Texas. Oh, and Katie, get to grad school. )
Posts: 6415 | Registered: Jul 2000
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posted
One more word on the issue of potential husband not being happy with debt:
Lead your life as you see fit, if another judges it unworthy of him, then he is pronouncing is own faliure to meet the standards of someone worthy of you.
posted
I'm going to have to agree with Hobbes. If my hypothetical husband had a lot of student loans but was not financially irresponsible, then I would not be concerned about it. Would you reject someone on the basis of their financial situation, especially if it was all done for good reasons and the situation won't be getting worse? If not, then why would anyone reject you?
Do whatever will make you happy. Good luck!
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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I guess I don't worry about rejection...I think I would just feel guilty. I guess it's silly to worry about the guilt I would feel in a future situation that might not even occur.
Yeah. Silly, but the kind of thing I would do.
Posts: 6415 | Registered: Jul 2000
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posted
Would you want to teach K-12? I know that I could not be happy as a K-12 teacher, but I could be very happy as a music professor. I get excited just thinking about it. If you are in a similar boat, and K-12 teaching would just be something to pay the bills, don't drop out.
One of the professors that I may study with next year has a little over 100k in loans. He is a doctoral candidate and just started being a full time professor this year. His wife is perfectly willing to help him pay them off. She was also fine with living very frugally while he finished his degrees. If you find someone worthwhile they will have a similar attitude.
Posts: 1015 | Registered: Aug 2004
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Thank you. I think you summed up how I feel in that first paragraph. It's odd, because I feel like I did the right thing in getting this teacher certification...but yeah. I know I wouldn't be happy for very long teaching K-12, and I would do it just to pay the bills. (and I also get excited at the thought of being a music professor. By the way, I found a Master of Music in Music history and literature at University of Utah. Isn't that a great thought???)
So it seems that I just have to talk myself into it. Posts: 6415 | Registered: Jul 2000
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posted
It is! If I become a professor I have to teach music lit, music appriciation, and music hisory. I would like having students as well, but I would love to teach those classes.
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