Quitting a job at the college?

[EconPop]

@2plustrio

To be clear, I love both of my jobs. Honestly. I work with amazing people at both places. I’m just to the point where I can no longer physically or mentally work 2 jobs. I have to choose one. Both have pros and cons and I feel the biggest pro at the college is the potential reduced tuition for my youngest 2 kids. Im not sure the pros at the college outweigh the pros at the other job though.

I have been divorced for a decade. While married we both contributed to a college fund for the kids that my ex now “owns”. My ex has chosen to not contribute to our oldest sons college tuition at all so its up to me and FAFSA (long story which involves his new wife of 9 years and my oldest not getting along and a very recent 2 year court case where my ex tried to get full custody of the kids and in fact lost placement time instead).
My ex makes a substantial salary (triple what I make) but I can’t guarantee he will assist the kids with college tuition based on what hes done with our oldest. However, our middle son is my ex’s “golden child” so Im hoping ex would help with tuition for him at least.

There are a few decent in state options S23 would possibly consider.

Thanks for letting me ramble. I am very fortunate to be passionate about what I do. Im just physically and mentally tapped out like most moms of teens! I want to be home more, not less.

@2plustrio , I am also a single parent to three kids and I understand your desire to free up more time to be with your children. And honestly, more time for yourself to feel less jumbled. This is a very personal decision and I am loathe to try to tell you what makes sense for your family. But I’ll proceed with the caveat of, “if it were me.”

If it were me, and the decision to give up one job had already been made, I wouldn’t let the FACHEX issue be a big factor in the decision. That includes a good group of options, but you can’t guarantee your son will choose to attend one, much less be admitted into one of those schools. That, coupled with the uncertain financial contribution from the other parent creates too much doubt to use the FACHEX as a factor. The simple truth is your son may be financially forced to attend an in-state public, which seems to be his preference anyway.

If it were me, I would make the job decision based on a combination of those other factors you mentioned. But I’d definitely cut one job loose. I reduced my outside the home obligations a year ago. This past year has been great for the kids and me. Having the extra time (and less mental wear and tear) has been a boon to our family. It would always be better to have a little more money, but EVERYTHING is better since I eliminated that extra work. As long as you can afford it, you should leave one job ASAP.

If it were me, and the ex will not provide definitive answers regarding how much he will contribute to your children’s education, I would assume he will contribute nothing. That assumption would be more certain if he has children to support with his new wife, and grow more certain with each additional child they have. If it were me, I’d make college decisions based on what I could afford myself. If your ex helps, I could consider it “found money”, but I would not assume help is on the way.

If it were me, I would start helping my child decide which in-state public is the best option for him. I’d start ensuring he does what he needs to academically to get accepted at the target instate publics. I would assume that is his most likely best suited financial option.

You’re a great mom and you’ve done a great job with your kids. I’m sure that whatever you decide to do will likely be the best option for you and your children. You didn’t get this far by making bad choices. Keep up the good work!