Background:
- 30 Years Old
- Male
- Worked as a bartender/waiter for the past 10 years. Want out, want a better life despite decent pay.
- Going back to college next month for MIS (computer business degree) after the first run of college at 18 years old led to nothing (completed 2 semesters). I wasn't an adult yet ready to adult. Am now.
- Living in Arkansas
What's the deal?
- My grandmother unfortunately passed and left me an inheritance of $30,000. Full tuition to graduate with what I have left (91 hours) is $27,000. Figure I just use that inheritance for just that and get "free" tuition. But....should I look into buying a house as well? I'm stuck here for another 3 years. But, I was talking about moving in with my girlfriend and her 3 year old in 6 months when my current lease is up.
Need some financial advice.
>---------------DETAILS-------------->
So, I'm 30 years old and have been doing this bartending gig for the longest while. But, I just can't stand the thought of staying in this industry. I only got in it because of the boost in pay I was used to and I got to work with my closest friends. I was used to $18k a year. Started making close to $40k a year and put life in neutral for my 20's. Had a lot of fun, but over it now. Long done with the night life, hardly even touch alcohol and nothing else. Ready to have a day job and set up a future family life
- Had a run at college when I was 18 years old. But, didn't know what the hell I was going for. Just went to college because my friends did cause I was a stupid teenager and proceeded to screw up and only get 2 semesters worth of credit in 4 semesters.
Fast forward to now, I've got a gameplan with getting a computer business degree in MIS. I've always been neck deep in tech for the past 20 years, only makes sense to go that route. I was going to go Computer Science originally, but I'm thinking the business classes are more suited to my skill set than all of the substantially advanced math classes. Career trajectory is nearly the same, pay is nearly the same, lots of stream crossing with those degrees as they get hired for the same jobs.
Now, noteworthy, the field is growing in Arkansas quite a bit despite the general consensus that you must go to Silicon Valley, New York, Cali, Chicago, etc. Arkansas's cost of living is very low and this place is awesome. Now, granted, when I graduate, I gotta chase the job wherever it's at. But, I would take less to live here because of friends/family and most importantly, the cost of living is dirt cheap.
> ---------------FINANCIAL ADVICE TIME------------------>
I am confident that I'll be making $60k at the least walking off of that podium in 3 years in that field as that is generally the entry level pay. Nightmare scenario is $50k, but that's still more than I make now ($35k-$40k). So, I'm not messed up about taking out max student loans as I go. I view it as an investment into my future.
I will be working my current bartender job still as I go back to school. I figure a year or so down the line, I'll be taking up a shitty paid internship. But, do what you gotta do to get where you need to get. But, I will be scaling the hours back of my current job or adjusting them accordingly to work load. I've got a schedule worked out where I:
Class Day Schedule: - 9:30AM-10:40AM - 12:15PM-1:30PM - 2:40PM-3:55PM MON: Off TUE: Class Day Schedule WED: 3PM-5PM Lab THU: Class Day Schedule & Work @ 9PM-3AM FRI: Work either Double or 8PM-3AM SAT: Work either Double or 8PM-3AM SUN: Work 8PM-3AM
I'm taking 3 classes this semester to ease myself back in.
Working Thursday may not be needed, would probably be a little rough as well. Fellow bartenders tend to be hungry for shifts, so I'm confident I can get shifts covered from time to time to help with the study/project load.
>------------Work Earnings------------>
- With those 4 days of working, I should be able to pull $600-$700 a week.
- Knock off one night and move it to 3 days of working, $500-$600 a week.
>------------Utilities/Life Cost----------->-
My rent is around $550 a month after utilities splitting a 1,500 square foot home with 2 roommates. Being older and having experience with having up to 7 roommates at the same time, I just can't do more than 2. Preferably, I'd be by myself, but the world is not perfect. Oh, and I'm a 5 minute drive away from campus.
- Food cost is around $400ish as I also do some bodybuilding and the occasional dates with the lady.
- The rest of my bills between health insurance, phone bill, gym, netflix, Adobe Suite (sidework), etc is about $430 a month. Sooooo..
- Bills + Rent/Utilities + Food = roughly $1,400 a month
- Working 4 days with stacking one work night a week on class schedule, I should be able to roughly expect $2,400 a month.
Leaves $1,000 aside for anything in the world that could happen. Life shit. I also have a girlfriend. She is very supportive and awesome and is more frugally minded anyways. So, we can have just as good of a time hanging out at home vs. going out often. Then there's the occasional video game or etc.
>------------But, Student Loans------------->
I'm expecting to be able to get grants and possibly scholarships next semester in the fall after I get my GPA up and I have this time of the year to apply.
-
I can get 2 loans with my university. Subsidized which will cover my tuition this semester ($3,100). Along with an unsubsidized loan for $5,300. I obviously need the subsidized loan so I can have my tuition covered. The unsub I'm wrestling around with.
-
In all honesty, I'm not too concerned about getting into debt with student loans, because I will be increasing my earnings from $40k a year max full time before college (which, the timeline left on that job is probably only 2 years max and I do not want to continue that line of work) to starting at $60k a year. Possibly up to $80k a year and then with some years of working, I could get up to over $100k easily.
So, $40k-$50k in student loan debt seems more of a Spend Money to Make Money situation to me.
-
If I took both the sub & unsub loans. That would also allow me to not worry about work. Be able to give shifts up when I need to for extra studying/project time. As, it has been 10 years since I've been in school. Now, I'm serious about it and want to be at the top of my class in every class. This is my future in my hands.
-
Taking the $5,300 unsub loan would give an extra $1,000+ a month during school that could be used to cover all of my living expenses.
Then, the money I make at work? I save.
- Obviously, I'm taking on debt. So, I'm not exactly saving. But, I save that money until I graduate, then I can put an immediate HUGE dent into my student loans. And, I also have the money for anything that comes up, such as moving into a new place. Car breaking down. Etc, etc. Which brings me toooooo...
>--------------Should I Buy a House for the Next 3 Years of School?------------>
I currently live in a rent house. It's $1,150 a month before utilities that I split with 2 other roommates. I've already lived in the same city for 10 years. And with school, I'm locked in for another 3 years.
- My credit score is 717
Of course, that's before the loans. That's right now. After rent and utlities (I pay more for the bigger room with its own bathroom), I'm averaging $550 a month. Sometimes a little lower, sometimes a little higher. I could see me and my girlfriend eventually wanting to move in together next summer.
- My lease is up in May and then it moves to month to month.
My current situation is fine. But, staying here for school the next 3 years, rent minus utilities....just rent, is gonna cost me $15,000+.
- Perhaps I should buy a house instead? I could get something decent for around $110k-$140k. That's 1,200-1,500 square foot, 3 beds & 2 bathrooms usually. I could still have a roommate/my girlfriend pay me rent so I'm not eating the whole thing. If I need to move after graduating, I could just make it a rent house.
Example Zillow house available locally now: http://ift.tt/2BU8KPH
>--------------But, Then This $30,000 Inheritance, wtf------------------------------>
I haven't had much more than $5,000 to my name at once. Only in the past year have I gotten my finances in order that I can save a little each month. So, receiving $30k soon, is mind blowing. Which is why I'm here. To plan for it.
I figured I'd use all of the $30,000 for my tuition. Which would cover all of it until I graduate.
But, what if instead..
I used most of it for my tuition, and then the rest for .....down payment on a house?
My thing is, it’s likely I’ll have to move after I graduate. Maybe not, but it’s just depends on the opportunities i have post graduation.
What should I do?
Do I have the right idea about some of this? I thought I had an idea, then that $30k inheritance threw a nice monkey wrench through a very unfortunate situation. But, make the best of a situation, you know
Submitted December 11, 2017 at 04:26AM by Pearcenator http://ift.tt/2B06xFc
