Hey all, throwaway here.
I'm currently in my 4th year at school for mechanical engineering and I'm realizing I really don't like it.
However, I currently have zero student loans because I live at home and worked a couple of well paid internships and saved the money for school. I've had scholarships out of high school so my semesters cost about $3700 which is very manageable.
Unfortunately I went into school (like many others) undecided so I didn't get to jump into the engineering curriculum and I'm a bit behind. My scholarships will run out and I will be paying full price ($5500-$6000/ semester). I can only manage this for about 3 semesters with my savings.
School has overall been a drag for me since I've been working and going to school since I was 16 (I'm 22 now). Not a whole lot of fun or social life, just grinding away to try and get out of school without any debt and enough income to get out of my parents house.
I have a few major hobbies to keep moral high while dealing with school and unfortunately one of them is cars... I grew tired of hating my life so I figured since I spend a lot of time commuting I might as well enjoy it. So I bought a new car (I know roast me..).
So why am I telling you this?
Back to not being thrilled with engineering...I'm worried that I won't be able to grind through the rest of curriculum and come out with that decent paying job and start my life off right. I don't want to drop out of school I'm just unsure with my path and I don't want to screw myself over financially by changing paths or taking risks.
Because of this I'm considering selling my car (value $19k-$20k, I owe $11.5k). And buying a cheap reliable $8k car to get me to a point in life where I am stable.
Over time I've really come to prefer living debt free, because the monthly payments stay in the back of my mind anytime I may go out with friends or want to plan a trip or something
The debt feels like a burden since it is my only debt at this time. It's also my only major monthly payment at $195/month.
I guess what I'm looking for is anyone who had a remotely similar experience and how you handled it? Or any other advice really. My main friends are also car guys so bringing up selling my car never ends well with them so I figured I'd get some more opinions.
If you took the time to read all of this and even respond I appreciate you greatly.
Submitted June 26, 2017 at 10:44PM by MoneyTAway http://ift.tt/2tf0Vn5
