Financial Advice

Marry a chick with a job.

 

getting out of debt is about mind over matter. you have to change your mindset about priorities and materialism. if you can't get a better paying job, your only option is to reduce expenses. you'll have to forgo expensive dinners, night out drinking with your boys, cut your cable, find a cheaper phone plan, etc.

it's a long road to debt freedom but well worth it.

i recommend reading http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/

 

Will that education lead you to a career you will enjoy and one that will keep you employed? If so, that $40K is well worth it. If not, I'd eject.

 

What school is this?
Do you have a job lined up and what's the salary for this career?


That is a lot of money

 

It's simple really. Will that $40k lead you to a steady job and a sufficient bump in pay over the course of your lifetime while doing something you can at least tolerate? Find some potential occupations and look up the salary low/mid/high points. If that $40k education is going to earn you, say an extra $10k on average per year vs what you could do without it, then it's worth it (esp if it's something you enjoy doing).

I know nothing about that specific field but I think there is a common perception that psychology is not an extremely in demand field with a job waiting for you when you get out the door. You need to do research on that.

Another key is your financial discipline. If you spend all of your income while you're in debt, well, you're not going to get out of debt. It's going to take some work to get rid of it but in the long haul you'll be better off with a good, steady job that pays more than whatever field you are in now as long as you are disciplined with your money.

 

Great advice in this thread already. Don't put money into something (higher education) unless it'll pay off for you in the future. Also, dont put yourself through something that will lead you to be unhappy for the long haul (i.e. a career you wont like). You're still relatively young. Managing your income to where you can save/payoff your debt is ideal.

 

What school?

 

+1 for http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/ and other personal finance blogs that stress cutting spending. Reduce spending, pay off debt, and save.

Also check out http://jlcollinsnh.com/ .

 

Marry a chick with a really good job.

 

I work for a bank and do loans, mortgages, etc. Analyzing credit reports is a big part of my job.

Best way to improve credit score is to, first of all, always make your loan payments. Late or missed payments can cause a big drop. Secondly, regularly use a revolving credit facility (I.e. a credit card) but be sure never to carry a balance greater than 50% of your credit limit, and if possible, pay if off in full every month. At the very least never miss making your minimum payment. Thirdly, close out any excess revolving credit products. Just keep one credit card (plus maybe one personal line of credit if you have one) and use it all the time, being sure to pay it off regularly.

I have seen credit scores improve substantially in as little as 3 months by people taking these steps.

 

One step further DO NOT marry one who doesn't have even a decent job. You'll never get ahead and find yourself in the downward debt spiral.

As a single guy you can couch surf while working three jobs and take out all your debt quickly and still have money saved for retirement and house downpayment.

The key is it's not what you make it's what you spend.

 

If you made 27k last year, you may want to look for a second job. Back when I was younger and worked at a grocery store there were quite a few people in their late 20's early 30's there about 15 hrs a week just trying to pay off student loans working nights and weekends.

I know that's not a part of your question but if you do jump out, I'd suggest doing that to get ahead. ~$500 to $700 extra a month to pay down the current debt you have could help until your primary job nets you more. Cashiers make like 12/14 an hour at HEB from what I know.

 

As others already mentioned, make sure that masters degree will do something for you. Don't do it just because it's a masters and you figure it's the next step up. Does it guarantee a specific job for you if you get it? And does that job pay that much more? Also, does that job require that degree? Sometimes a job has a preference for the degree but you could still get it with some experience instead. You might be better off working another 3 years in that field you need and then can get that same job you spent $40k to get.

 

Any advice on trying to get my credit score about 800? I'm around 760-780 right now but have been this for years. Maybe I have too many credit cards (about 6)? But I was told you should not close out credit cards if you've had them a long time and mine are all 8+ years with 10-20k credit lines. I thought that was supposed to be good.

 

Return on Investment or ROI.

What do you expect the return to be once you get this $40K degree. In other words, what do you expect your salary to be once you graduate with this degree.

If it's going to be around the same and does not add much value to you, then ditch it. If it's going to even put you at $35K, it is probably worth in the long run

 

All student loan payments are deferred while you're attending; even grad school or a second bachelors. IOP sounds like it could translate to HR, training management, corporate counseling and all kinds of Powerpoint jobs that big corps have nowadays. If you got into the University's overall grad program rather than just an individualized admissions process for IOP, maybe think about transferring to MBA, MA Mathematics/Math Instruction, MS/MA Accounting, Master's in MIS/CompSci or PhD Psychology. Truthfully, though, just about any non-arts, non-humanities grad degree will garner better than $27k.