How do you go back to school with a family? - Page 2

[JudiAU]

I worked full time and supported our family. I spent the first six months on maternity leave and then we hired a nanny when I went back to work. We live on my salary and his investment income. It wasn't what I wanted to do (be a SAHM) but it what was needed. We needed at least one stable source of income and health insurance. Also, I've managed to sock away a lot of money for retirement which will cushion the blow to my retirement savings when the time comes. He choose the school that offerred him a full scholarship, even though it was not his preference. It saved us about $100,000 of debt. When he finds another job/I have another kid, hopefully I'll be able to stay home for awhile.

[USAmma]

I think the frugal thing to do is get a second job and try to pay off those loans before adding more debt, esp. in this economy. Maybe dh could take one class each semester if you can afford to pay cash for it. 

I just finished nursing school and we are on a single income. I took my prerequisites at the community college one class at a time. It took 3 years but allowed us to not go into debt over it, and it was not so crazy that I couldn't spend time raising my kids in the process. Then I got into nursing school and that was crazy because it was the fast track program. The great part was I managed to get a full scholarship through a local hospital in exchange for working for them for three years. If I had not been able to get that scholarship, plan B was to get the degree through community college to save $ even though nursing school does require full time classes (unlike the prereq's).

I will need to get my Bachelors in Nursing soon as the state requirements are changing. Hoping to get my employer to pay for it, otherwise I will take an online program. I just absolutely refuse to go into debt that I cannot pay off within a month or so. Also, you never know what might come up unexpectedly that will blow your pay-off-debt plan right out of the water such as a major car repair, a hospital bill, etc. 

My dh is working towards a second degree too. He is taking on-line classes through a state college, not the one we live in but he found one that does not require out of state tuition for on-line classes. He is able to do it on his time while working full time for our family. At some point he may have to attend classes, but by then I'll be working as a nurse and can support us.

Right now we absolutely do not want to go into debt. The point of getting a new career/job is to increase our family's income, not get further into the hole.

Good luck! And at all costs, avoid those private schools with the highly inflated tuition!!