Money Matters
tigerfighter
member
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
School
I am currently working on my bachelor's degree part time and took the semester off due to the divorce (H works at school and so I was going for free). I was originally hoping to be back in fall. But doing more thinking about it I am not sure how MM it would be. My school does offer LOC financing for part time students, but if I have the my MC paid down I can just put it on there. Or wait another semester to save up the $3k I need a semester in tuition. I take 2 classes a semester at $1.5k a class. What does MM think? Would it be wise to just finance it here and there and pay off and save up for future semesters at the same time or to wait and pay cash in full? I also need/want to start my IRA and not sure how to begin? I think BOA has a $5k min to open.
Re: School
Is there a way that you could go to school more than just 2 classes a semester? I was a non-traditional student who could take 10 credit hours a semester while working 40 to 60 hour weeks. You just end up with little life but it is worth it at the end.
However, if you wait another semester to start up again, would you be able to cash flow the tuition each semester? That may be a good way to go. What will this degree do for your job/salary, like PP asked, that may change my answer. If you are going to go from making 25k a year to 75k a year when you finish your degree, then I would probably say take out the loans because you will be able to pay it off easily with your salary increase right away.
I'd recommend sitting down with a financial aid advisor at your college/university to see what financing options are available. When I was finishing my master's (required for my profession) I took out a small amount of student loans to keep me ahead of the game. The loans I qualified for were the type that accrue interest only after the 6-month deferment period is over at the completion of the degree. So I saved up money over the course of the degree and the 6-months after to pay off the loan before it came due (thus paying no interest). I would avoid using the credit card because the interest will be higher than student loans.
I am currently in a similar situation. I am taking two classes per semester while working full time. If I was in your situation, I would probably skip a semester so I could save up the funds for the next semester, rather than borrow. At this point, I am not willing to go into debt in order to get the degree faster.
I pay about 1K at the beginning of each semester, then save up so I have enough for the next semester. I have skipped a semester previously when I didn't have enough extra to pay for it.
If it was crucial to get your bachelor's ASAP in order to further your career, I would say finance it. However, if its not crucial and just something you want to have and can possibly help with job opportunity in the future, I would not finance (and I totally get wanting to have it for the sense of accomplishment--that is why I am working on mine, plus it may provide better career opportunities in the future).
The FAFSA has been completely revamped in recent years and really shouldn't take any longer than 10-15 minutes if you have everything you need right in front of you when you start.
Have you researched the job placement upon graduation for the degree you are pursuing, as well as starting pay?
Do NOT use a credit card.