There Is Something I’ve Been Meaning To Tell You
This all started about a year ago.
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Everything has changed. Yet nothing had.
My wife and I had both just earned our MBA degrees through Colorado Technical University’s Online Program and had taken a trip to Denver to walk in the Graduation ceremony.
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It was a great moment!
A true “mountian top” experience!
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And as much fun as that was, and it was fun!, there was something else that had been set into motion.
We had taken out loans to pay for our education and while we were actively enrolled we did not have to make any payments.
Now that we had graduated, well...
The clock started ticking!
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Mind you that none of this caught us by surprise.
We had been dealing with student loan payments for a few years after we had got our undergraduate degrees.
Balancing the payments with our other financial needs was tricky.
The thing about it was that it wouldn’t have been so bad but when I graduated with my B.A. the year was 2008.
I took my degree with a smile and hit the streets looking for what I thought would be a sure thing because I wanted to be a teacher.
“And we always need teachers.”
Or so they said.
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By the time the above comic came out in 2014, I identified with it immediately!
The job hunt had not gone well, I was not “America’s Next Top Teacher”, and instead I had been working day-to-day as a substitute in the school system trying to get an in.
Not working a full-time job meant several things for my finances.
I had a paycheck to paycheck life, which wasn’t new, but it was hoped that I wouldn’t have to do that anymore once I went to college.
Then there was also the issue of not having health insurance so I never went to the doctor or dentist.
I was unable to save for my future and soon there were college loans to pay back with an already limited budget.
We were doing all that we could to stay afloat.
By 2012, four years after I first graduated, I landed my first full-time position.
Yet the economic description for it would be underemployement.
I had a college degree for a job that didn’t require one.
This means I wasn’t getting paid the anticipate rates or amounts that would be necessary to make the cost of college worth it.
I continued to have dismal results in getting a higher paying job that was supposed to be the light at the end of the tunnel.
Finally, I decided to do something about it.
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I thought, “If I can’t get a better job with this degree, maybe I should go back to school and get a Masters...”
Then so I did and then I got the Third Degree.
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Anyways I said all that to say this, there is something I’ve been meaning to tell you about.
You may have noticed that at the end of my posts I include my Credible Referral link.
I thought I should explain why I put it there and why it might be of interest to you.
You see the thing is about that clock ticking earlier?
Well now our time had run out.
We were going to owe several hundred dollars a month each on both my wife’s loans and my own.
The student loan payments were going to be so high that we had to do something.
Calls were made.
Other income-based repayment plans were researched.
Nothing was going to help us get them low enough.
Our budget was already strectched to the limit!
We had to make a drastic change!
So we did.
We sold our home and lived with a friend for about 7 months as we searched for something with a lower mortgage payment.
We also found Credible.
This service allowed us to consolidate and restructure our student loans in order to lower the payments to something we could afford each month.
Without this service we would have fallen into financial ruin.
That is why I want to share my Credible Referral link with you and do so at the end of each post.
That way if you are looking for a place to help you get your financial life in order, they can help you and it can be “win-win” for both of us.
Right now if you “successfully refinance a student loan over $20,000, you and your friend (that’d be me) will receive $250!”
So when you see that referral spot at the end of my blog, know that it is not just another ad, but something that means a lot to me and hopefully something that can be of a help to you too!
Stay tuned. Stay interesting. Stay Strange.
See the latest adventures and creations from my wife Sarah on steemit!
Also Check Out Some of My Previous Post:
Do you want to take out a loan to consolidate debt?
If you use my Credible Referral link, you can get a special offer if you take out a loan.
If you use my Credible Referral link, you can get a special offer if you take out a loan.
Great post and nice to share your story with others that might be in the same boat.
Thanks and I hope it helps!
I sometimes think about going back to get my bachelor's --- but what's the point? At this time in the world, knowledge IS ACTUALLY free! If only the job scene would realize this!
I am glad you guys figured out how to make it to where you can at least LIVE with your finances. Thankfully I paid mine off (okay, husband paid them) and now I don't have any school debt. But my debt was nothing compared to someone with a bachelor's or master's.
Congratulations on getting those degrees though! This biggest thing a degree says about someone is DEDICATION.
Yes, the point of a degree is limited especially as the average income stagnates and is possible decreasing.
Skills to get things done are more important than just head knowledge and so college is not as necessary as it is made out to be.
Anyways, getting them was an accomplishment, but it came with a price.
Now my job is to make it worth it!
Thanks!
Thanks for the inspiration. Resilience and never stopping to search for your zone is really key. I am very happy for you and your wife. To your continued success!
Cheers,
@steemitph
Much thanks and I hope the best for you as well!