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Decision (long)

August 7th, 2011 at 02:57 am

We’ve finally made our decision.

It started with getting letters from the places that my husband interviewed at containing the multiple variations of “no”. Those were the last ones we were waiting on. His eligibility to get this type of job is up soon and since each application process takes 4 to 5 months, we’re pretty much to the limit of his ability to be hired. A year and a half he’s been applying, interviewing, getting to the top of the interview process, and then not getting hired.

So, he’s going to go back to school to get a second degree. His first degree is a liberal arts one that has no real job attached to it. It could be applied to many things, but it doesn’t help him with any specialized skills or job experience. So this one is more … specific, for a lack of better term, and has real job applications with potential for a nice salary.

It is a 4 year degree though, and the only thing his previous degree will help with is that he will most likely not have to do any gen eds or liberal arts electives. He is starting this fall with some of the basic classes at the local tech and will transfer into the university next fall. This will help keep the cost down.

He will be leaving the part-time job that he has the most hours with because they are not flexible with schedule at all. Unfortunately, that knocks our take-home pay in little more than half. He will be keeping his other part-time job, but that’s only one weekend per month without ability to pick up extra hours or shifts. He is planning on getting a student job or other part-time job in-between/after classes, but we don’t know when that will happen.

I have rearranged our budget to survive on my paycheck alone. We have already started this new tight budget for August even though he’s working through the end of it. I want to bank every penny we can before it actually happens. Once his current student loans go into deferment, we will have a little wiggle room, but not much. We will also need to take out more student loans since we don’t have anything saved up for it.

Also, we had the really tough conversation about selling Car 2. It’s his dream car and I love the freedom of having my own car. Yet, we could use the monthly payment for other things and the extra money from selling it could really be used in the EF. I don’t see us being able to put much into savings for the next 4 years. So we will be selling it. He sees the sale as an investment into his future. I see it as a necessity, even though I will end up being the one without a car again.

I have canceled my fall trip, because we no longer have much of a personal allowance or even much of a joint allowance. I know I will need clothes here for winter soon, so my money will be saved for when I feel like I can no longer stretch what little I have. My husband offered to help pay for it out of his personal, but he doesn’t have much saved up and he could use any cushion he has too. It was very sweet of him to offer to help, though.

Let’s see, what else is there to tell.

My husband is really excited about going back to school and the subject matter. It’s not his “dream job” anymore, but it’ll be interesting. Plus, he will have internships that could become a job once he graduates. He also is very happy he won’t have to stay at the part-time job as it can go nowhere promotion-wise, time-wise, benefit-wise, or even raise-wise.

I am growing a little excited. It’s change, even though it’s not much change for me. Plus, I tend to learn things when he’s learning. He loves coming home and telling me about class or what he read.

What I am not excited about is that we will be taking out more student loans. And there is no guarantee for a job at the end of this. And there is no chance for moving out; we won’t be able to afford it for the next four years or even for probably a year or two after that as we dig ourselves out of student loan debt. And we won’t be able to go to Russia for the Olympics; he’ll be full time at school then.

It seems kind of counter-intuitive to go into more debt in order to make money, but we don’t have many other options. Here’s to hoping that the economy gets better in the next 4 years so that when he completes the degree, there will be plenty jobs.

9 Responses to “Decision (long)”

  1. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    1312686507

    It sounds scary, yet it sounds wise.

  2. gingerbell Says:
    1312736743

    I admire the decision to get back to school. I think in this current economy, that is the best thing to do, learn a solid, skill. I hope he gets off to a good start!

  3. Petunia 100 Says:
    1312737100

    What sort of degree is he pursuing that will take 4 years? If it is another BA/BS, it should take 2 years at the most. If he isn't working, he should take more than 12 units at a time. He could easily be done in 1.5 years.

  4. scottish girl Says:
    1312738014

    Wise decision. I hope he ends up with a good salary at the end of it. Good luck penny pinching this month Smile

  5. creditcardfree Says:
    1312747146

    Best wishes!

  6. TarWalker Says:
    1312753725

    Thanks everyone!

    @Petunia 100 - It's such a different degree from what he had done. He will be able to shave off a semester with his previous classes, and he will be taking 16+ credits per semester. Ooo, if they offer summer courses, he might be done within 3 years. :-)

  7. Petunia 100 Says:
    1312776338

    Best of luck to him. May I ask what the new degree is?

  8. TarWalker Says:
    1313111322

    @Petunia 100 - It's an engineering degree. Pretty heavy on the maths and sciences.

  9. scottish girl Says:
    1313133526

    My uncles have engineering degrees, and they both have good jobs. I think they studied electronic engineering.

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