Student Loan Debt

[Hannathy]

we pinched pennies and saved for a long time to get to do that, and my family helped us. However, I do not think I have to explain myself.

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And every penny of that should have went to your loans! Why is that so hard to understand? if you could save for a cruise you could save for your loans. Again it comes down to when you WANT to do something with your money you can but when you SHOULD do something with your money you can't.

And uh yeah when you are using tax payer money and not paying it back then yeah you kinda do have to explain yourself.

And driving 35 minutes isn't exactly a long commute! I would bet the majority of people on the boards drive that far.

 

[MSLRAC]

Thanks for all of your advice. I have thought about working at night, but as I said before, its really hard for my family to do because my husband is gone a lot for his job at night and on the weekends, and I do not have family around to watch my children. If it really comes down to it and I find a decent job, I will not turn it down though.

I also live in a very small town, we have one grocery store. A lot of you have suggested working at Kohl's or Target, we have nothing like that here. That is one of the reasons why I am still unemployed is because there are not a lot of jobs where I live. I have thought about getting a job in the nearest city, but its about 35 minutes away, and it has to be worth it to pay a babysitter and gas money.

I also wanted to say that I am not trying to get out of paying my student loans or complaining about them. I just wanted some advice because I have a lot of student loans and I am very worried because I have been unemployed for so long. When I went to school I was thinking I would have been able to find a job, but its very disappointing to be in my situation and owe as much money as I do and not be any better than I was before I went to school, but to actually be in a worse position.

Finally, I want to say that I have never spent 7k or 10k on a vacation! My husband would not agree with that on one income. Yes, we did go on a cruise last October, and no, it did not cost us anywhere near that. We also did not fly, and we also did not do excursions and we pinched pennies and saved for a long time to get to do that, and my family helped us. However, I do not think I have to explain myself.

Anyway, thanks again for all of the helpful advice.

Here's the thing, if you are so worried about your student loans and you admittedly will not be able to pay them on just your husband's income, then you don't penny pinch and save for vacations. You do it to pay your student loans. No matter how you cut it, Disney cruises are not cheap. You say that your husband would not agree with an expensive vacation on one income so I don't see how he is OK with vacationing at all with your loans looming over you and no means to pay them.

It's time for you to sit down with your DH and figure out what needs to happen to get your loans paid when the time comes. He either needs to make more or be home for your kids during set hours so you can go to work during that time. And if you have to drive 35 minutes for work then you do it. That is not that bad of a commute.

I can promise you that the the people here have been a whole lot nicer and understanding than the government will be when it comes time to collect these loans.

 

[supersnoop]

Thanks for all of your advice. I have thought about working at night, but as I said before, its really hard for my family to do because my husband is gone a lot for his job at night and on the weekends, and I do not have family around to watch my children. If it really comes down to it and I find a decent job, I will not turn it down though.

I also live in a very small town, we have one grocery store. A lot of you have suggested working at Kohl's or Target, we have nothing like that here. That is one of the reasons why I am still unemployed is because there are not a lot of jobs where I live. I have thought about getting a job in the nearest city, but its about 35 minutes away, and it has to be worth it to pay a babysitter and gas money.

I also wanted to say that I am not trying to get out of paying my student loans or complaining about them. I just wanted some advice because I have a lot of student loans and I am very worried because I have been unemployed for so long. When I went to school I was thinking I would have been able to find a job, but its very disappointing to be in my situation and owe as much money as I do and not be any better than I was before I went to school, but to actually be in a worse position.

Finally, I want to say that I have never spent 7k or 10k on a vacation! My husband would not agree with that on one income. Yes, we did go on a cruise last October, and no, it did not cost us anywhere near that. We also did not fly, and we also did not do excursions and we pinched pennies and saved for a long time to get to do that, and my family helped us. However, I do not think I have to explain myself.

Anyway, thanks again for all of the helpful advice.

First, 35 minutes use to get me half-way to work. In most cities, the mean commute time (half are shorter; half are longer) is 25 minutes. That's just what it takes to work.

Second, $60k seems a lot of money. It's about twice the "average" student loan debt. But there are lots of people with more debt than that. My wife graduates with her doctorate on Saturday, and all her friends have six-figure debt. Yes, it will take a while to pay it all off, but other people do it every day.

Finally, you addressed last year's cruise, but didn't say anything about this year's, nor your Hilton Head trip in June, or the Spring Break plans from last month. The penny pinching doesn't just apply to vacations.

 

[JanaDee]

Thanks for all of your advice. I have thought about working at night, but as I said before, its really hard for my family to do because my husband is gone a lot for his job at night and on the weekends, and I do not have family around to watch my children. If it really comes down to it and I find a decent job, I will not turn it down though.

I also live in a very small town, we have one grocery store. A lot of you have suggested working at Kohl's or Target, we have nothing like that here. That is one of the reasons why I am still unemployed is because there are not a lot of jobs where I live. I have thought about getting a job in the nearest city, but its about 35 minutes away, and it has to be worth it to pay a babysitter and gas money.

I also wanted to say that I am not trying to get out of paying my student loans or complaining about them. I just wanted some advice because I have a lot of student loans and I am very worried because I have been unemployed for so long. When I went to school I was thinking I would have been able to find a job, but its very disappointing to be in my situation and owe as much money as I do and not be any better than I was before I went to school, but to actually be in a worse position.

Finally, I want to say that I have never spent 7k or 10k on a vacation! My husband would not agree with that on one income. Yes, we did go on a cruise last October, and no, it did not cost us anywhere near that. We also did not fly, and we also did not do excursions and we pinched pennies and saved for a long time to get to do that, and my family helped us. However, I do not think I have to explain myself.

Anyway, thanks again for all of the helpful advice.

Seriously? Yeah, when you talk about walking away from your marriage and family so they aren't saddled with *your* debt, but then spend thousands of dollars on multiple cruises? Yeah, you kinda do have to explain yourself.

Most people here are well aware of how expensive Disney cruises are, regardless of whether you did excursions or not.

Maybe you should have spent that money on your loans instead of going on very expensive, unnecessary vacations. Maybe instead of talking about walking away from your marriage and family, you should have put that money towards repaying a debt you owe.

 

[MSLRAC]

Seriously? Yeah, when you talk about walking away from your marriage and family so they aren't saddled with *your* debt, but then spend thousands of dollars on multiple cruises? Yeah, you kinda do have to explain yourself.

Most people here are well aware of how expensive Disney cruises are, regardless of whether you did excursions or not.

Maybe you should have spent that money on your loans instead of going on very expensive, unnecessary vacations. Maybe instead of talking about walking away from your marriage and family, you should have put that money towards repaying a debt you owe.

Agreed!!! The walking away from her family part is what really got me. Who does that over student loans? Especially when she claims she can't work nights because she needs to be there for her kids, two of which are special needs.

 

[Patience]

Wow, OP, it seems that you borrowed heavily for your college education and then made a lot of choices that made it difficult for you to find work to pay off your debt. You only addressed the one cruise last fall but if the other trips you took or have planned are true, you really do have your priorities all out of whack. You need a job and you need to be paying your student loans. A 35 minute commute is very doable. Cancel your upcoming trips, put the money you would have spent towards your $60,000 (and growing!) student loans and drive 35 minutes for a job. Even if you only clear $100 per week after babysitting expenses, that is $100 per week you didn't have before that can be put to pay down debt. Your debt is not going away. Be a grown up and deal with it before your own kids are struggling to pay for college.

 

[mrsklamc]

Op, does your husband know how much debt you have?

 

[Mary*Poppins]

Wow, OP, it seems that you borrowed heavily for your college education and then made a lot of choices that made it difficult for you to find work to pay off your debt. You only addressed the one cruise last fall but if the other trips you took or have planned are true, you really do have your priorities all out of whack. You need a job and you need to be paying your student loans. A 35 minute commute is very doable. Cancel your upcoming trips, put the money you would have spent towards your $60,000 (and growing!) student loans and drive 35 minutes for a job. Even if you only clear $100 per week after babysitting expenses, that is $100 per week you didn't have before that can be put to pay down debt. Your debt is not going away. Be a grown up and deal with it before your own kids are struggling to pay for college.

 

[Cincychic]

To the person that said I was using taxpayer money, I am not sure how I am doing that? My husband and I get no help from the government whatsoever. We are not on welfare, food stamps, cash assistance, any of that. We do not even get disability for my sons because my husband makes too much money.

Again, about my vacations, I did not take any trip last month. Yes, we thought about going somewhere for a couple of days. However, we did NOT because my husband worked all through my children's spring break. And maybe I do have a trip planned this summer, big deal! My mom is taking my family on a vacation as a treat.. I don't think I need to explain my mothers financial situation. And once again, if my family is taking another cruise sometime in the future I believe we are allowed to. We pay our bills and give our children everything we can, so they are not doing without.

And when I said 35 min, that is for the next biggest town, not really a city. But, if I have to I will drive an hour if that's what it takes.

And as for leaving my husband and abandoning my children, I never said my children would ever be abandoned! I would never just leave my kids and not take care of them. And what I meant from my first post was that if I had to I would leave so that they could not take everything we had if I ever could not pay all of my student loans. This is something that would be last resort.

I really just came on here asking for advice because I didn't know what to do, but instead everyone on here just wants to judge me when they do not know me. Rather then make me feel better now I feel even more stressed, oh well.

Anyway just so you know, I do have every intention of paying my student loans.

 

[JanaDee]

To the person that said I was using taxpayer money, I am not sure how I am doing that? My husband and I get no help from the government whatsoever. We are not on welfare, food stamps, cash assistance, any of that. We do not even get disability for my sons because my husband makes too much money. Again, about my vacations, I did not take any trip last month. Yes, we thought about going somewhere for a couple of days. However, we did NOT because my husband worked all through my children's spring break. And maybe I do have a trip planned this summer, big deal! My mom is taking my family on a vacation as a treat.. I don't think I need to explain my mothers financial situation. And once again, if my family is taking another cruise sometime in the future I believe we are allowed to. We pay our bills and give our children everything we can, so they are not doing without. And when I said 35 min, that is for the next biggest town, not really a city. But, if I have to I will drive an hour if that's what it takes. And as for leaving my husband and abandoning my children, I never said my children would ever be abandoned! I would never just leave my kids and not take care of them. And what I meant from my first post was that if I had to I would leave so that they could not take everything we had if I ever could not pay all of my student loans. This is something that would be last resort. I really just came on here asking for advice because I didn't know what to do, but instead everyone on here just wants to judge me when they do not know me. Rather then make me feel better now I feel even more stressed, oh well. Anyway just so you know, I do have every intention of paying my student loans.

My advice is stop spending money on vacations and start repaying your student loan.

 

[Princess_Nikki]

I shouldn't even bother replying to this thread, and I was about to blow it off until I read the part about the OP considering leaving her husband. If $60 K in student loans is enough to make you ditch your family, OP, you have bigger issues than not being being to find a job or paying back your student loan. My advice: Suck it up, Buttercup!!! Welcome to the world of being a responsible adult. You went to school, got your loans, got married, and brought THREE humans into the world. You're gonna have to be a LOT stronger than you are now to make the most out of this life.

 

[ldo]

no judgments on your life--should you have looked at realistic prospects of jobs where you live prior to spending more money on school-yes, but lots of folks are in the same situation. You are a Mom to 3 kids and a wife. Do the best you can. That means talking to a student loan counselor and finding out your options. Try to pay a set amount each month on your loans. What about running in home daycare-even if it is just 1 child? What about making and selling stuff on vinted (?) or other sites. My 17 yr old made $25 in 2 hrs making bracelets and putting them online. Be the best Mom you can. Ask DH what he feels is the best option to repay the loans. Hang in there.

 

[Hannathy]

To the person that said I was using taxpayer money, I am not sure how I am doing that?

Anyway just so you know, I do have every intention of paying my student loans.

Ahh where do you think the money for the loan came from? These are federal loans we are talking about right? cause if they are private you are even more screwed. Federal loans are taxpayer money.

If you had every intention of paying you would have started instead of vacationing.

 

[supersnoop]

To the person that said I was using taxpayer money, I am not sure how I am doing that? My husband and I get no help from the government whatsoever. We are not on welfare, food stamps, cash assistance, any of that. We do not even get disability for my sons because my husband makes too much money.

Student loans are guaranteed by the government. Walking away from them would be sticking it on the taxpayers. Most people with student loans have some proportion of subsidized loans, which means the government is picking up the interest. If you go on an income-based repayment plan, the extra interest and principal that is forgiven is paid for by taxes.

Again, about my vacations, I did not take any trip last month. Yes, we thought about going somewhere for a couple of days. However, we did NOT because my husband worked all through my children's spring break. And maybe I do have a trip planned this summer, big deal! My mom is taking my family on a vacation as a treat.. I don't think I need to explain my mothers financial situation.

In your other posts, you said you invited your mother to tag along on your trip. Now she's taking you?

And once again, if my family is taking another cruise sometime in the future I believe we are allowed to. We pay our bills and give our children everything we can, so they are not doing without.

But you aren't paying your bills. And you came here asking for ways to get out f them. What did you expect?

And when I said 35 min, that is for the next biggest town, not really a city. But, if I have to I will drive an hour if that's what it takes. And as for leaving my husband and abandoning my children, I never said my children would ever be abandoned! I would never just leave my kids and not take care of them. And what I meant from my first post was that if I had to I would leave so that they could not take everything we had if I ever could not pay all of my student loans. This is something that would be last resort. I really just came on here asking for advice because I didn't know what to do, but instead everyone on here just wants to judge me when they do not know me. Rather then make me feel better now I feel even more stressed, oh well. Anyway just so you know, I do have every intention of paying my student loans.

And the advice you received is to get a job so you make more money, and put together a reasonable budget so you don't blow your loan payments on vacations. Whether you like it or not, that's pretty good advice.

 

[Colleen27]

First, 35 minutes use to get me half-way to work. In most cities, the mean commute time (half are shorter; half are longer) is 25 minutes. That's just what it takes to work.

Second, $60k seems a lot of money. It's about twice the "average" student loan debt. But there are lots of people with more debt than that. My wife graduates with her doctorate on Saturday, and all her friends have six-figure debt. Yes, it will take a while to pay it all off, but other people do it every day.

What sort of commute is reasonable depends on what you're earning... If you're commuting 35 miles to a minimum-wage job, you're spending roughly 2 hours of your take-home pay on gas per shift. Add in childcare, including that extra hour or more of care to cover the commute, and it is very possible that "just what it takes to work" is more than the job pays.

As far as the size of the loan... Between the OP's description of her area, her difficulty finding work, and the size of her debt I'm guessing her masters program was through one of the online, for-profit schools that turn out graduates with more debt than marketability. They can be a great option for people who are already employed and need the "piece of paper" to advance, but they're a lousy choice for a SAHM looking to re-enter the workforce. Employers just don't take them as seriously as brick-and-mortar schools when the degree stands alone without relevant work experience.

OP, does the school you attended have a job placement program? Even our local community college does, and I know quite a few people who found decent, unadvertised positions with local businesses that way.

 

[Colleen27]

What about running in home daycare-even if it is just 1 child?

That's perhaps the best suggestion I've seen on this thread. OP, you have hands-on experience with special needs kids... What is the situation like in your community for childcare for SN children? A friend of mine who was laid off from her parapro position started out providing after school care for one of her former students, and now has several families that rely on her for after school or respite care because in our little town there aren't many childcare options that welcome children with special needs.

 

[Marionnette]

I know that we are all Disney fans and we enjoy vacationing, but am I the only person who noticed that the OP took a 4-day Disney cruise with her family of 5 last October and booked another one for this October? Those cruises set her back a minimum of $7K and probably closer to $10K when airfare and excursions are added in for both vacations.

Don't get me wrong! I sympathize with the OP. I believe that student loan debt has become the indentured servitude of the early 21st century. However, I can't find a lot of sympathy for someone who can find nearly $10,000 to vacation while putting her loans on deferment. OP, my advise would be to stop digging yourself into a hole so you can enjoy the fleeting magic of a Disney cruise. Cancel your October 2014 vacation and use that money to start paying off your debt.

That's seriously messed up when a person is so close to the edge that they consider leaving their family because of the weight of their debts but continues to plan expensive vacations!

Sorry, OP, your priorities are messed up. If you can pay for a cruise, then you can pay on your student loans instead. I'm skeptical of the whole "my mom is paying for it" logic. If your mother were aware of the stress that your loans is causing you, she would help you out with the loans instead of sending you on a luxury cruise. Because that's what a mother does. She puts the well-being of her family ahead of frivolous spending.

 

[OhMari]

When you come to a public discussion board, you are going to be given answers and opinions you may not like. But you are asking for solutions.

If you have a degree in Criminal Justice, you could go to work as a prison guard. Is there any prisons in your area? Or how about your county jail, you could be a guard there too. You will have to go take a test to get into the training school that last a few weeks/months. What about department stores, they are always looking for lost/prevention guards-I know Kohl's is always looking and with Kohl's being open 18 hours a day, 7 days a week, you could probably set your own hours there. Many Criminal Justice people start out as Security Guards in department stores and use it as a stepping stone and experience to get better jobs.

Really you are no different than anyone else that has gone to college in the last 15 years and took out these loans to get a education. You really need to call the lenders or get on line and just start paying them off. The loans are not going to be forgiven.

Believe me, I have 4 kids in their 20's that have loans, including myself and my husband that took out parent loans. I am working on my last loan to pay off and every spare cent I have in my budget goes to that loan. Same with my kids, they are all getting married and starting to have families. But they are all working in their line of work, but they are also working 1 or 2 part time jobs extra to get those loans paid off. You would be shocked what they find to help them pay off.
My son works at the Arena were musical bands, Disney on Ice etc. comes. He works during the day, goes to the Arena 2 or 3 nights or weekends and helps sell the t-shirts, key chains etc. My dd who is a criminal justice major, will do security for various events in her area. She works for the Feds and she has to work 10 more years for her student loans to be dismissed. She said by then, she will have them paid off.

There is no magic bullet that is going to sweep those loans away. It may seem so daughting right now, but you have to take that step and just start paying.

 

[SC Minnie]

OP- When you went to school for the criminal justice degree what kind of job were you planning on getting with that? Think about it and search for those positions. If you have to drive an hour that might be what you have to do. Any job you get will be entry level not making a lot of money because you don't have any job 'experience' in your field. You may have to suck it up for a couple of years until you can get promotions and increases.

If you don't what to look for a job using your degree, look into pre schools or daycare centers. Most will allow children of employees to go there at no charge or reduced charge.

 

[crisi]

Since your mother seems to be in a pretty good financial situation and willing to pay for vacations for you, perhaps if she knew how bad it was, she'd be willing to help out. When my sister was in a bad spot, my parents picked up her cell phone bill and car insurance, my other sister provided a place to live, and I gave her my old car and helped pay for groceries and a few medical bills. We weren't willing to fund vacations, but as long as she was working on getting herself into a better spot, we could make sure she was on firm enough footing for her own bootstraps to be useful. (Five years later, she is healthy, happy, married and employed - and she married a really nice guy with a lot of financial good sense and years of investing - I don't think I'll ever need to give her an old car again - in fact, as a thank you for my parents support during those years, my dad got one hell of a deal on his parents car coming off lease). We did the same for my husband's brother - though quite honestly, he used the money he had not to pay us back or put straps on his boots, but to take his girlfriend to Cabo. Which sort of ended the helping until he got terminal cancer, when we stepped in again.

(There is nothing quite like not being able to afford to take your own kids on vacation because you are keeping a roof over your brother in laws head only to have HIM go on vacation while you pay his bills because he came into a little money and "deserved" vacation.)