How Are YOU Paying For School?

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I am just about ready to go back to school but the problem I am facing is money. We live paycheck to paycheck and when I applied for the FASA, it came back offering me nothing :o

We owe alot of money from our equity line loan but very little credit card debt.

Any suggestions? I am a SAHM to 4 kids, so getting a part time job is not an option since my DH works from 7am to 10pm 6 days a week.

A good amount of my pre reqs can be done online and mu hope is once my baby is in 1st grade then i will be ready to start NS.

So back to my question...how are YOU paying for school? and do you have any suggestions for my situation?

Thanks

Cheryl

Let me just say I am blessed to have the opportunity to go to RN school. I am very blessed. As my credit was not all that great, I was only able to get one loan. But that one loan has helped me get off the ground, and it will see me through to next semester. I already have a degree so I am going back to get a second degree (BSN) and all of my previous Biology, Ped Med classes have transferred over so I am starting out as an upper level RN student. I have only about 2 years to go and I am OUT! Yahoo!! Not bad to get a BSN. I am VERY LUCKY that my first degree was completely paid for. I do not have big debt.. in fact, hardly any debt. BUT the college I am attending for the BSN is a private one and is quite expensive. Loans are the only way I could go. For health reasons, I cannot work AND go to school. The loan pays for me to live, eat, and go to school. So I worry about having to take out loans on a regular basis, but my husband tries to put it into prespective for me. He says "Ok.. you may owe X amount when you get out, but look at me.. I have a mortgage payment I have to pay every month for the next 30 years!!! He says look at it like an investment in yourself!" That helps some, but it still feels like a weight around my neck. :( I did not qualify for anything on the FASHA. I am dedicating one weekend day soon just to doing scholarship searching. Scholarships and loans are my way. It's that way or no way and hopefully with around 2 years to go... it won't cost that much.

CRNASOMEDAY25- how do you CANCEL a loan???

Caliotter3- you are right, anything can happen at any time. So we have life insurances, mortgage disability coverage and are checking into disabilty insurance. You try to be as covered as you can... but you just have to live life. Something COULD happen and maybe it WON'T happen.. you just have to go for it within reason.

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Another option: Instead of getting a student loan (which I did for my first degree) I took out a home equity loan for school. It is tax deductible and the interest was lower than the student loan. You are given a checkbook so it makes paying for tuition, books and supplies very easy. The only downside is it is not all a deferred payment and you have to start paying on it right away. The payment is small but for some may be too much. Once you are working try really hard to plunk as much money down as you can on it by living below your means and not just making the minimum payment. It is worth it eventually.

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I liked turtlesoup's term "weathly poor," and I think it describes much of middle class America, myself included! Often, even when we are living at our means and going into debt, we still do not qualify for assistance anywhere. When it comes to being a student, purely from a financial perspective, it is better to be "dirt poor."

When I finished my BA I was an unemployed single-parent. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying life was easy, but I was eligible for many free services. I got a BA from UC for free, free money through FASFA, completely subsidized childcare, social services, ect, ect. At the time, I thought things couldn't get harder.

Now that I am married to a husband that has a decent salary (and we live in one of the most expensive parts of the country) we are just getting by. I am definitely nervous about going back to school more than I was before. I know we are going to go into major debt.

I think it is important to weigh all options and make a list of "what ifs" so you can properly prepare for any fork in the road. Not having back up plans is like getting into a car without brakes.

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Another option: Instead of getting a student loan (which I did for my first degree) I took out a home equity loan for school. It is tax deductible and the interest was lower than the student loan. You are given a checkbook so it makes paying for tuition, books and supplies very easy. The only downside is it is not all a deferred payment and you have to start paying on it right away. The payment is small but for some may be too much. Once you are working try really hard to plunk as much money down as you can on it by living below your means and not just making the minimum payment. It is worth it eventually.

If you look at the original post you will see they already tapped out their home equity line of credit. And if they are living paycheck to paycheck, how will they add yet another payment?

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Cardiac, ICU.

Perkins loans can be cancelled if you are a nurse or teacher.

There are many programs, including the military that will pay off loans for you.

The VA hospitals add a few hundred dollars to your paycheck to assist with repayment.

In my area, one hospital gives you a $250 a month to assist with loan payback after you pass NCLEX.

Heck, you can work an extra shift and take thousands off repayment by just adding $50.0 a payment.

Are you guys, serious that you didn't know about these opportunities?

People pay $1,000's for a mortgage for 30 years and then turn around and get a home equity loan, so what is the difference?

A degree is an investment in you.

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