Title says it all. I've been meaning to post here for some time, but I saw that someone with a similar amount posted and it pushed it to do it. Long story short, I have a stupid poli sci PhD, and I have a lot of debt that grew from interest since undergrad. I don't blame anyone but myself, but I wish I had parents that were a little tougher on me, but they are immigrants, and really believed in education. Had no idea what I was doing. I was told, go to XXXXX school, it will pay off in the end. You're more than welcome to call me stupid, because I deserve it. I'm literally on the verge of killing myself over my debt. This is not a joke. This is a bit of a throwaway account due to this.
I have both federal and private. I am on a rate reduction program with Navient paying around $600 dollars a month. My take home pay is around 1.5K biweekly after everything. I haven't started paying back my federal loans yet. Last year, made only 15K a year working part-time. Now, I have a great job in research administration, working for the state at 52K a year. My coworkers are great and the benefits are amazing, but no way in hell I can pay off this debt with the interest on 52K a year. I paid off all my credit cards, set up a retirement fund with my job. I moved back with my parents. Do not pay rent, but I offer to pay other expenses when needed. it is not much. I don't have a car payment, I only pay for gas, as I drive a hand-me-down. I rarely go out to eat, and have been storing money away to start paying back high interest rate loans after I paid off credit cards and put a small emergency fund. The only expenses I have are gym, pool, and now a boxing class which is the only thing that gives me sanity. The gym is less than 25 dollars a month, the pool is about $100 for the whole year (and I go weekly), the boxing classes will be less than $100 for four months. I always try to see if I can do something cheaper (i.e. change a logic board on mac and upgrade the OS instead of buying a new computer, learning how to take care of my car myself instead of paying ungodly amounts to a mechanic, etc). I bring my own lunch, coffee, ect. Doing as much as I can. Trying to be a little kind to myself seeing that I brought my salary from 17K at a shit job to 52K at a much better place in less than one year. But, the reality is that my job, as great as it is, might not give me much room to grow in the long run.
The other option I have is to move to another state that will pay more, but my expenses might be more. Since I'm in political science, DC might be a lot better, but it can get expensive. Started to teach college classes on the side, but they pay less than 3K per class for the whole semester. It's a lot of work for little pay, though I love it.
I thought about freelancing, but I'm not sure how much I can rake in. Was wondering if anyone here made some decent extra income with freelancing?
I feel like I'm screwed forever to the point I don't want anyone to marry me to carry this burden. Sorry, but thanks for listening. All I can think of this Christmas is how screwed I am, and I really don't blame anyone but myself as I mentioned. If I ever have kids, I will try to teach them proper financial management.
I follow this thread with another username, and you all have been great. Open to any and all (brutal advice). Cheers.
Submitted December 25, 2018 at 01:41PM by BusinessTruth http://bit.ly/2rTh6UP
