Would You Go $50,000 In Debt on Purpose?? - UPDATE IN THE OP - Page 3

[KaraBoo]

Can I ask why you are making this plan with your friend's input rather than your husband's? What does he think of this? Is he sympathetic to your feelings of missing your child's young years? Can you cut back on a great many things in order to keep from racking up 50K?

[treqi]

Originally Posted by karina5

Also, someone asked about healthcare costs, but the money we are estimating includes health insurance. Catastrophic, but health insurance nonetheless. We would pay out of pocket for regular dr. visits. There are no pre-existing or serious medical conditions on the part of me, DH or DS.

Can you get medicaid for DS?

[savannah smiles]

Boy, that's a tough decision. I think I would try to find a Plan C that would allow you to bring in either a bit of money or some type of benefits. I graduated college with $14,000 in loans and it's only been recently (11 years later) that I've paid them all off so I'd be reluctant to go into so much debt.

[GoodWillHunter]

Well, if it's educational loans, then I'd do it in a second. There ar some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's Educational loans. Just kidding. Sweets, if you are having such a difficult time with working, then I'd quit. I would. It's not worth it to you or your family for you to suffer so. Do what is best for you, inevitably it will be best for your family.

Making yourself calm and peaceful is worth everything in th world as it will affect your whole family. I've learnd this recently and it's worth it's weight in gold.

[nummies]

Haven't read all the replies....

but I would in a heartbeat. If it meant being able to SAH with my son. We went into debt by $15,000 (on top of both of our school loans) to pay for our IVF cycle and now we have a beautiful son. But money has never been very important to me. And I know that we will be able to pay it off soon because I am a nurse and DH has a high paid job. Good luck with your choice mama!

[DandeCobb]

it depends, what kind of nursing is your DH thinking of going into? with a BSN he certainly does have a huge income potential but more so if he is interested in going into ciritical care and is okay with off shifts (2nd or 3rd shift) if that is the case, then i say yeah go for it. if he will be looking for a daytime job like an office or small hospital's medsurg unit where his income potential would be good but not nearly as high as it could, i'd say wait it out. good luck, this is a tough decision

[earthgirl]

Nope. It took us a really long time and lots of financial sacrifices to pay off less than $20,000. We have vowed to never go into debt again (unless of an emergency, of course) and so far we've stuck to it. I wouldn't stay in a job that made me miserable, though. I think you definitely need to come up w/ a plan, just not one that requires you to go into so much debt. Good luck figuring it all out! Sounds like a tough situation to be in.

[onlyboys]

Yep. I would have done it.

We went into debt a bit for me to stay home anyway, but it was worth it.

Around here nurses make very good money.

[EFmom]

No, never. I would look for a different job. But I would never go into debt for anything like that.

[Dragonfly]

Originally Posted by Iris' Mom

I took on much, much more to go to law school. I think for education it is very much worth it. But, of course there are risks involved, so it makes sense to be looking into other jobs. You could also consider something like babysitting/child care that might allow you to earn some money and eliminate child care expenses.

I took out a whole lot more to get through law school. I could have taken out less, but it gave me time at home with my son until he started elementary school (though I did supplement some with flexible employment that I could either do mostly for home or take him with me.) It was so worth it - and I can say that now, even though I'm currently paying them back.

The situation isn't black and white. How much will you be saving in expenses? What could you do to supplement that wouldn't incur more expense? Are these Stafford loans or private loans? What would your interest rate be and how able would you be to pay it off relatively quickly? As another person said, would your being home enable your husband to accelerate his program? Are you in the type of industry that you could go back to in a few years without much penalty to your marketability?

If the debt you incur now is going to sink your family for years to come then, of course, you shouldn't do it. If the payments on the back end will be manageable, then, personally, I would do it in a second.

One more thing: Aren't there programs that employ nurses and pay off their student loans when they make a commitment? I'm pretty sure I've heard of those programs. That would be something to look into, as well, even though it could very well mean moving.

[A&A]

A big fat NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I certainly wouldn't risk being without health insurance on purpose.

[SleeplessMommy]

If you can get *any* job at your husband's college, you will probably get tuition discount/waver. Look into this!

Don't quit your job. Get laid off. You could try *volunteering* to be laid off, or other complicated strategies, but laid off is the way to go. Then, you get 6-12 mo. of unemployment.

Can you transfered to a different boss?

I am concerned about the job quitting, and taking on 2 years living expenses with no income. You can get loans for college tuition, probably, but not personal loans to pay living expenses. If you can, the interest rate will be like credit cards. If you had friends/relatives to stay with, it might be a different matter.

best wishes!

[NYCVeg]

Originally Posted by crayolaab

I might, depending on the type of loans they were. If you qualify for something like a subsidized stafford loan and maybe perkins loans (also subsidized), then YES.

I firmly believe educational loans (WITHIN REASON!) are okay debt to have, and it sounds like it would be beneficial to all of you.

I agree with this. Educational loans are so different from, say, credit card debt. Virtually everyone we know came out of grad/professional school with considerable debt--but, b/c of the knowledge of a job at the end of it, it wasn't really a big deal for anyone. Dh and I lived off of savings and student loans for part of the time he was in law school and I was in college--we're in excellent financial shape, and just bought a house, despite the student loan debt, which we have no problem paying down every month now that he's at work. We do not have, and have never had, any credit card debt--we pay in full every month and we also have always had good health insurance, so no medical debt either.

So I think the issue isn't only "would you go X amount of dollars into debt", but what kind of debt will it be, what is your time frame for paying it off, what kind of interest are we talking about, etc.

[neetling]

I would do it. We've really considered this scenario as well. We have 3 kids and childcare would break us and I am more willing to be on the poorer side and be home, than work FT and be miserable and have my kids in child care.

We've thought about having my DH work PT, go to school FT and supplement with student loans.

We're not entirely certain what path we'll take, but it is certainly on the table.

[karina5]

Originally Posted by A&A

A big fat NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I certainly wouldn't risk being without health insurance on purpose.

We would have H.I though. Just not as good.

[ameliabedelia]

No way would I do that. It sounds as though you would just be trading one kind of stress (job stress) for another (financial stress). Plus, with 50K in debt, I think both YOU and YOUR dh would likely have to work once you have to start paying on those loans. A huge debt like that can make a big difference between being able to survive as a 1 or 2-income family. Sure, you could be a SAHM for the next 2 years, but you may hvae to be a working mom for the next 5 or 10. It takes a long longer to pay off the loans than it does to accumulate them.

I also disagree that studen loan debt it always worth it. I think it really depends. Personally, I went to college and grad school totally tuition-free, paid on scholarships and fellowships. Therefore, I had no debt (the money my parents saved up for college was put towards living expenses). If I had graduated with student loan debt, I don't know that I would have been able to be a SAHM when I had children.

Plus, your dh is ALREADY in college working towards the nursing degree. It is not as though you NEED those loans for him to get his degree. He will get it regardless. IMO, it is much, much, much better for him to graduate w/o the debt.

I definitely believe in the importance of an education, however I plan to teach my children that getting that education as cheaply as possible is ideal. I owuld rather see my children go to state schools and get scholarships than be in huge debt to go to a more expensive private school.

Plus, mone/salary never goes as far as you think it would. Dh is making almost 3x as much now as he did when we first got married, and back then if I thought about him making what he is making now, I thought it was so much money. Funny how it doesn't like so much now that we have it. :LOL All that debt, will really make his salary be a lot less than it would otherwise.

[AngelaB]

I ran a paper route, a bundle hauling route for years and the little ones went with me and slept in the car. It was hard to get the sleeping arrangements worked out at first but We did it and have never had daycare.

A bundle hauling route is where you take the bundles to other little towns and drop them off to the carriers. These are the best because gas is factored into the payment so if you have a car that gets good gas mileage you make more money. We drove festivas. Anyways its something to look into. No boss, drive around at night listening to books on tape or music and drinking coffee with babies bundled in the back....best job I ever had!

we made between 400-700 a week depending on the route we had at the time so then you take out car expense and gas. We were on the medical card for the kids and when I was pregnant. When you do your taxes you can deduct 40 some odd cents a mile that you drive and we always drove enough to cancel out all of our income so we could claim enough income to get the max amount of earned income credit.
Anyways its a cool thing!
Angela

[Tigerchild]

If the economy wasn't in the toilet with a serious likelihood of it getting worse before it gets better...maybe.

But I wouldn't do it in the next 5 years.

DH and I are worried enough that we've sacrificed to pay down the small remaining debt that we have and are living conservatively until we see how things shake out.

Until then, I'd try and find some kind of compromise solution. You don't want to be stuck with 50K in debt, creditors changing their policies about leniency due to financial strife, and then have DH not get a job as quickly as you anticipate.

So yeah, I'd look for a different job with different or less hours, even if it takes you awhile. Sadly, not even in-demand jobs like nursing are a guaranteed good job right out of school, not with outsourcing and importing--unless you're willing to move to wherever the job is.

So I'd look at the big picture. Is the goal to stay where you are now? I wouldn't be too attached to the idea for maximum flexibility--but if you are rooted in place then you need to make more concessions (DH slows down his schedule and/or interns/works part time at a medical corporation or office that is willing to guarantee him a job after graduation, you work part time, and you re-evaluate each semester to see where you are, ect.).

Don't go into that much debt and also rely on the best case scenarios. If you have some flexibility and plans for some of the worst case scenarios, then it may be doable.

[beansricerevolt]

Originally Posted by CaraNicole

I think that there are other options that you can do and be able to not work and stay home with your kids at least part time. You can cut your expenses by down sizing your home, frugal everything you can....no cable, net flix, dial up 'net, no eating out etc.

:

Don't do it. I would check into a plan C.
Are you willing to move? Maybe downsize your home and move to an area with better job opportunities? Of course your DH would have to commute to school but it could still be doable.
Work from home and become as self-sufficient as possible.
Do you have 2 cars? Sell one and put the $ into savings and live off of that for a while. Invest in a bike and bike carrier and use public trans. Maybe your DH could bike to school? Its really not bad. DH bikes to work 25 miles round trip every day.
Get creative! You can quit your job and not go into debt. It is possible.

[Demeter9]

Originally Posted by karina5

Can you elaborate on this part?

If you spend money you don't have today, you still are going to have to pay that money forward with interest. Quite a bit of interest probably.

You have too look at the big picture. Will this make it difficult for your children to play sports or join the swim team? Will you take your money now, and not have money for your child's post-secondary? Or if they have an accident?

Every dollar is a dollar less that you own your home. A dollar and a six cents from next year. Every dollar you spend in debt is a dollar that won't go to food, education, health.

If you will need to spend their preteens working your kester off to pay for their preschool years. Will they actually appreciate that? Will you?

Then you need to think about familial weath. The difference for your children and your grandchildren, if you can help them get education. A loan on their house down payment. A medical problem. Fertility treatments. A bad year. This is the difference between the family that has pulled itself up and just makes it and the family that is middle class but doesn't struggle every day to stay there. Could YOU and your husband be that turning point for your family? The turning point where a bad year won't mean a lifetime of pain for your grandchildren?

That is what I mean.