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I'm a married mom of three young kids and going back to school for the first time since high school. My husband makes decent money, but we have a butt-load of debt, a mortgage, a car payment, 3 kids to feed, etc.... So while it looks like we're financially well off on paper (his income), we're really living paycheck to paycheck and can NOT afford school out of pocket.

I filled out my FAFSA and I'm almost certain I won't qualify for aid. So, where does that leave me? Loans?

Anyone else in a similar situation? How do pay for school?

~Bethany~

I didn't qualify for financial aid because my income was too high, so I was approved for a private SallieMae student loan. SallieMae financed the $20,000 tuition and I didn't have to make payments until I completed school.

Visit www.SallieMae.com for more information on these hassle-free student loans.

How do you like the Sallie Mae loan? I was thinking about applying for that if I don't get any financial aid. (I always get turned down because my dad makes a **** ton...money that I don't get. I wish i was turning 24 this years instead of 23, then I would qualify)

I am fortunate that it's only $70 per credit hour at my school. I won't need to take out any loans. I filled out the FAFSA forms so I could apply for scholarships and was shocked when I ended up with an award letter. $46 whopping dollars. Just enough for my micro book ;). We have four kids and I'm a SAHM too. The thing that's going to hurt is paying for the first semester (uniforms, supplies, books). Thank goodness for all those little tax deductions I have :).

Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.

I started out with student loans. Now that I've been in school three semesters and I've built up a good GPA, I've been able to get a scholarship for tuition. Thank goodness, because tuition is about $270 per credit hour at my school.

How do you like the Sallie Mae loan? I was thinking about applying for that if I don't get any financial aid. (I always get turned down because my dad makes a **** ton...money that I don't get. I wish i was turning 24 this years instead of 23, then I would qualify)

I am in the same boat as you!! As I see you have written this a few months ago, have you found anything since?? Do the Sallie Mae loans require you to send your parents' info?

Yeah, I'm in the same boat unfortunately. I have three kids, I am a single mother. I have applied for the pell grant and it will cover me up until I graduate, however, I don't want to work and go to school with three kids. So that leaves me with no way to support my family. I thought that there would at least be something out there for single parents or something. Sorry about you're problem.

I'm a married mom of three young kids and going back to school for the first time since high school. My husband makes decent money, but we have a butt-load of debt, a mortgage, a car payment, 3 kids to feed, etc.... So while it looks like we're financially well off on paper (his income), we're really living paycheck to paycheck and can NOT afford school out of pocket.

I filled out my FAFSA and I'm almost certain I won't qualify for aid. So, where does that leave me? Loans?

Anyone else in a similar situation? How do pay for school?

~Bethany~

If I didn't know any better, I would have sworn I posted this!! On paper, DH and I make too much as well but you need to try anyway, you might be surprised. Does your school offer scholarships? Here are few things that I am doing now to help pay for school:

Find ways to cut the grocery bill, use coupons, only buy items that are on sale, when it is a good deal - really stock up (esp. items that your family likes or dry goods) You would be surprised how much you can save, put the savings away for school.

Sell unused items around the house on Ebay. It cleans out the house and earns a little extra to put away to pay for school.

Have a garage sale. I will be doing that this summer with stuff that I don't feel would sell good on Ebay.

Talk to your DH about putting a portion of your tax return away to help pay for school expenses. The more you have to pay for tuition out of pocket, the bigger your write off is, so why not let a tax return pay for school?

Any extra money (i.e. birthday, christmas) goes right into the "school fund". This also includes any money that you get that you are not expecting (i.e., you found $20 in the washer).

If your DH is comfortable with it, put his next raise in your school fund. Even if it is only $40 a paycheck, you would be surprised at how fast that adds up (I'm speaking from experience as this is how I have gotten money for school, by saving my last raise).

Finally, student loans. I'll be taking out a few more of those but hopefully we will have planned well and it won't be as much as I think. I won't be going full-time in to NS until the Fall 09 semester, so I'll be working about another year and a half. I won't save all the money I need for NS but every little bit helps.

This takes real discipline though. I have the "school fund" and a "stash" account. I save better in the school account than I do in stash but I'm hoping that stash will help pay other expenses once I'm in school and we lose my income (like daycare for DS). Believe me, it is tough to do but you can do it. Take a small step first, like trying to cut the grocery bill a little. I was amazed at how much I could save once I started making a better effort at slashing that bill. It hasn't been easy to follow my own advice and sometimes I fall off the band wagon which costs me dearly (darn shopping spree and holidays) but as long as I stay focused, I do much better. Good luck to you.

I don't have any problem with getting tuition and books paid for- thanks to pell and hope scholarship (Ga Lottery). However I am in serious trouble paying my living expenses. I am almost out of money and might be living out of my car and going to school. It is that serious for me. What can I do to get help paying rent, food, gas for car etc?

Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.
I don't have any problem with getting tuition and books paid for- thanks to pell and hope scholarship (Ga Lottery). However I am in serious trouble paying my living expenses. I am almost out of money and might be living out of my car and going to school. It is that serious for me. What can I do to get help paying rent, food, gas for car etc?

Student loans and a part-time job!

Specializes in OB/GYN.

Ahh.. yes I could have written this too. I have 3 kids, the house, and mountains of debt. My husband is almost a Lt. Col in USAF (pin on in March) so on paper we make way too much. But I just don't have a spare $ 1500 laying around. ( if i did I would pay Mr. Visa)

I qualified for 0 grants. 0000! Not a damn thing. Not even a token $ 200. Sigh. It sucks to hear how so and so got a pell or this or that grant. But I take a deep breath think well perhaps they need it more than me.

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