<p>Ok. I just turned 26 and I am dead set on enrolling in college this year and finishing up. I also am very VERY ready to get my own apartment. I want to go to school full time so I can finish as quickly as possible. Is it a good decision to get a student loan to cover the majority of my rent and utilities? I plan to only have a part time job so there is enough time for studying. The part time job will serve to cover some of my rent and cost of living to lower the the amount of debt I will rack up. Which loans does everyone recommend for this? Does this seem like a feasible plan? Any other suggestions?</p>
<p>How much would you need to borrow each year and total? Do you already have loans from prior enrollment and if so, how much? Depending on what year you are in school, as an independent student the most you can borrow each year is $9,500-$12,500 without a cosigner.</p>
<p>Are you living with your parents now? If so and you can continue to do so that may be a much better plan financially.</p>
<p>What is your major?</p>
<p>I will be majoring in Dietetics. Fafsa says I may qualify for the full $12,500. I owe just over 1,000 in loans right now. I am a sophomore now. I just need my own place because I am too dang old to be living at home and I feel just suffocated. I may qualify for that Direct Stafford loan. I’m just wondering is that the best loan to go with. I am currently doing my research, but still looking for feedback on here :)</p>
<p>That is likely the only loan you will have access to. You will do your future self a favor if you can suck it up for a couple of years and live at home while you finish. You may feel less suffocated when you are fully busy and spending most time at school. It will make such a difference to you when you don’t have a chunk of your salary going to that loan repayment. </p>
<p>25,000 loan will be 300.00 for 10 years. There will be 9,000 interest so total P&I will be 34,000
37,000 loan will be 425.00 for 10 years. There will be 14,000 interest so total P&I will be 51,000</p>
<p>I get the drag of living at home, but if you have a free place to live, minimizing your student debt is better choice. (I.e.- don’t borrow for rent/utilities and instead live at home.)</p>
<p>You will otherwise be in your 40s before you pay off the loans, which will limit your ability to own a home, have kids, save for their college…</p>
<p>Use the fact that you are living at home to jump fully into college without the distraction of additional bills.</p>
<p>I get wanting to move out but as others are saying, minimizing debt is so very important. I don’t know what the market is for dietetics majors or what normal starting salaries are. Consider if you have trouble finding a job or finding one without enough salary that when loan repayment kicks in, you may have to move back with your parents at an even older age and stay longer. That possibility would be worse to me. If your relationship with your parents is decent I would recommend staying put if at all possible. </p>
<p>You are trying to borrow too much. You’ll need a grad degree as well in order to make a decent salary.</p>
<p>Live at home, study at school, work your job, and only be at home for sleeping.</p>
<p>How much is tuition, fees, books, insurance, etc?? How will that get paid? How about your other bills…cell phone, car, gas, car insurance, etc?</p>
<p>Here’s the thing: yes, it’s a drag to live at home, and it will be even more of a drag the older you get. What a lot of students do is that they borrow to live at school or on their own, and then have to live at home to pay those loans back. School full time will mean 2-5 years if you set your goals and stick to them, and depends upon the degree. You can owe the money for a very long time. Much longer than that. Believe me, it’s like old fish, these loans, they stink more as time goes on.</p>
<p>The other thing is if you decide you want to take a grad course of study, with loans already there, it can be a real impediment. It took my son’s SO till now to decide what she wants to do, in her 30s and thank goodness she has no loans, as she is taking them now to get her masters to give her entry to a good paying job. It’s still going to be tight, but with loans from undergrad too? Not doable. The numbers would be crazy. Oh, and she’s living with mom now so rent and some other expenses are under the home umbrella. Just 14 months to go and if she can find a job right away at the stated rates for her field, she can afford to pay back this loan AND get her own place. </p>
<p><<<
What a lot of students do is that they borrow to live at school or on their own, and then have to live at home to pay those loans back.
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<p>this is true, and it’s what you’d likely be facing if you borrow to “live away”. It will become even worse if you have to borrow for grad school.</p>
<p>How much do you think you’ll be earning once you’re done with school? And then you’ll be over 30. Do you want to live at home from age 30-35+ because your loan payments are so big that you can’t afford your living expenses and loan payments.</p>
<p>^the most sensible solution is for you to leave at 8 or 8:30 every day, spend the entire day at school (in class, in the library, in a favorite spot, in a lab, at office hours, working for a professor, whatever, maximize that time) and only return between 10 or 11pm every day. As someone said upthread: only for sleeping. </p>