<p>I am in school full time and I have a part time job. I was working full time, 40+ hours a week but my grades began to suffer really badly and my health took a toll as well. I have since moved back in with my parents to cut costs but I'm still struggling. I pay all of my own bills except rent, since moving in with my parents I do not have a rent payment. But I am still really struggling. I only make about $200 a week. By the time I pay off my car insurance, phone, medications, gas, monthly bills, etc. I barely have any money left over to save and I really need a new car. I thought about trying to find a 2nd job on the weekends, but then again I am back to square one with working too much and trying to balance school. Any advice? I really wish I could be back out on my own again but the cost of living is just too much.</p>
<p>You’re working 40+ hours per week and only earning $200 per week? ???</p>
<p>You need another job that pays better.</p>
<p>My son worked at a nice restaurant as a “to go” waiter (taking orders from those who want restaurant “take out”)…He’d make $150 in one night from tips and wages.</p>
<p>No, sorry I should have said that clearer. I meant I was working 40+ hours and I couldn’t handle it with my school schedule. I now work 20-25, sometimes 30 if I’m lucky enough to get the hours and I make anywhere from $200 to 250. I used to serve but the serving shifts here are difficult. I used to have to work 8-9 hour (sometimes 10-12 hour shifts at a time). Only on friday and saturday nights would I make decent money and my serving job was a 30-45 minute commute away so I wouldn’t get home until about 3 or 4am. With a major like molecular biology that doesn’t exactly work when you’re also trying to balance homework and making it to a 9am test on time.</p>
<p>Well, it still sounds like you need a better paying job. </p>
<p>Anyway…how much is your tuition?</p>
<p>You may have to take one course at a time. That would lower your costs and give you more time. Also, are you going to a community college? It may behoove you to get as many courses as you can under your belt from the least expensive school. Or you may need to take a break for a summer term or a semester to save up and get geared up for school. How many credits have you been carrying? How many hours of school work, in class and out are you doing? Also what school are you attending? Clearly something has to be reduced. Your health and well being comes first.</p>
<p>Well, it still sounds like you need a better paying job. </p>
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<p>Is this really helpful???</p>
<p>I am pretty sure the OP would have a better paying job if he/she could get one.</p>
<p>*Well, it still sounds like you need a better paying job.</p>
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<p>Is this really helpful???*</p>
<p>LOL…I know it seems obvious, but sometimes kids get into a rut and don’t do the obvious. </p>
<p>*I am pretty sure the OP would have a better paying job if he/she could get one. * </p>
<p>That may be so, but I know people who could have better paying jobs (and want better paying jobs), but they don’t even look for them. I know that it doesn’t make sense, but people don’t always do what makes sense.</p>
<p>This student is talking about looking for a “second job.” If possible, he needs to find a different primary job…perhaps a different restaurant where he’s not as far from home, and doesn’t have such late hours.</p>
<p>Exactly, it would be amazing to just find a better paying job but I live in a HUGE college town and jobs are hard to come by. I’m a receptionist and even though the pay is awful the hours work with my school schedule which is something I have been trying to find. There aren’t many serving jobs available that offer decent hours, because its a college town most of them are bars that stay open to 2am every night. I have had countless jobs within the last few years, basically because it is a college town employers want cheap labor and give you crap hours. Because the economy is bad and everyone is desperate for a job I can’t quit in hopes that I find “a better paying job.” The on campus job program is SO overwhelmed by the volume of students that I can’t even get a job on campus if I wanted to. </p>
<p>I’m at a 4 year college so the community college won’t work especially because I have 60 IB/AP credit hours transferred from high school. I have been working 40 hours and carrying a full time school load (12-15 hours a semester). I have switched my major 3 times and I finally figured out where I need to be. I have about 2 years left of school but my federal financial aid limit is approaching. I moved back in with my parents to cut the cost of rent but I feel like I can just never catch up financially. I plan on saving the excess money I have from my loan this semester (because I got an extra need based grant) to pay for next semester but I guess I’m probably just going to have to take out private loans. I pay in state tuition for a state school but tuition isn’t just the problem, the cost of living is ridiculous and I have been trying to help my parents out with bills. My mom is sick and I have a chronically ill sister. I plan on appealing to get the aid I need but because I have so many credits from high school that are essentially useless, it really messed up my fin aid package. Plus I’m a transfer student as well. Taking one class at time is not an option. I know I will never finish that way.</p>
<p>mom2college kid while I appreciate your responses you have no idea what the job situation is like in my area. I have been looking for a better paying job since I quit my full time one. There are no better paying jobs unless I continue to work full time. While its great that your son is doing well and found a job you are sadly disillusioned if you feel like that is the job situation for all college students. I can’t find a job with better primary hours and until then I’m looking for a second job. You have no idea how much effort I put in to job hunting…I’m not a lazy bum that sits around. Handling a full pre professional schedule and a full time job is not the mark of a lazy person.</p>
<p>Do you really need a car? That would save a bunch on insurance, gas money, etc. Pedal power is cheap and effective.</p>
<p>Can you cut back on your phone bill? If you have a smartphone, downgrading the plan to voice-only could save $30-50 a month.</p>
<p>Look for little places like that where you can cut corners. It’ll add up fast.</p>
<p>I have to have a car. i commute to school now (there is really no other transportation besides busses that take hours for routes) and everything where I live is so sprawled out. I need a car to get to work, to get to school and to do pretty much anything because even though my city is big, nothing is in walking distance. </p>
<p>I do have a smart phone, but I cut it down to the cheapest plan possible and I stayed on my family plan, I just pay my parents the money in cash for my phone bill. I’ve been trying to cut costs on things like that…I guess that’s where I’m going to have to be cheap. I hardly go out with my friends anymore anyway. I’m always working or at school.</p>
<p>biologynerd, </p>
<p>Would it help if the college did NOT accept some of your credits? If your year changes (down from junior to soph, for example), the downside would be you would qualify for lower loan limits. The upside might be that you might not hit the max as far as credits attempted/earned. Years ago, I transferred from a cc to a 4year and lost about 2 years worth of ‘useless’ credits. I was annoyed at the time but the advantage was that it qualified me for aid longer. You might be able to ask the dean’s office or the office that evaluated and gave you the credit if that’s possible. It might be hard doing it in retrospect but it might help.</p>
<p>The only other idea I have is to lower household expenses. Any chance your parents could rent out a room to a college student?</p>
<p>Life is a series of tradeoffs. Money spent on your car is money that can’t be spent elsewhere. You might think you have to get a newer car, but what are you willing or able to sacrifice for it? If the answer is “Nothing,” then you have your answer: you can’t afford a newer car right now.</p>
<p>Sometimes living within budgets means being cheap. I spent six months as an AmeriCorps intern, making about $640 per month. (Housing was provided, as was a bus pass.) I went on food stamps, walked/biked/bused everywhere, ate out sparingly and found cheap things to do (hiking, games, etc.). That was how things worked.</p>
<p>* There are no better paying jobs unless I continue to work full time. … I can’t find a job with better primary hours and until then I’m looking for a second job. You have no idea how much effort I put in to job hunting…I’m not a lazy bum that sits around. Handling a full pre professional schedule and a full time job is not the mark of a lazy person. *</p>
<p>Good heavens…nowhere did I even suggest that you’re a lazy bum. Quite the contrary. I commented on the fact that you are looking for a second job. A lazy person wouldn’t even have one job, much less be looking for a second one. </p>
<p>Exactly, it would be amazing to just find a better paying job but I live in a HUGE college town and jobs are hard to come by.</p>
<p>Do you submit FAFSA? Have you ever been given work-study? Do you take out a student loan each year?</p>
<p>Since you live in a “huge college town” (not sure how huge that is), then sometimes timing is everything when it comes to job searches. Does the college have big sports? If so, then sometimes local employers have to hire more employees before the season starts. Many employers also hire prior to the holiday season. </p>
<p>Since you’re a bio student, do any of the bio profs hire lab assts? Does your school hire students to tutor other students?</p>
<p>Biologynerd, I actually do have some understanding of your situation. I’m not sure everyone understands how hard it is for many to find decent jobs right now which “pay better”, at least in certain areas. (A friend recently received 100’s of applications for a simple library job paying around $10 an hour, including several from PhDs and many, many from Masters, all different majors. She was astounded and overwhelmed). </p>
<p>My son as well as other students I work with are in similar situations - large city campus, school mainly hires work-study students (and this school does not give out work study offers to middle class students), and off-campus jobs are either late night in unsafe places or are not accommodating to students who have rigorous schedules with labs and such. My son is no slacker, and he couldn’t find a summer job at school which didn’t require a car or was on a bus route, and he couldn’t find one at home (a combo of the economy and when he gets out of school, which is late - he started looking in February but they wanted summer help to start by late May). Bicycling or walking is great - if the job is relatively close by. </p>
<p>Although it may seem frustrating, you might want to look at reducing from full-time student to part-time. In the past I wouldn’t have suggested that as many students needed to be full-time for health insurance purposes, if that applies to you, but that has changed if you are under 26. It may take you a bit longer, but your finances will be in better shape. I can understand if you haven’t taken loans -I can’t stand it that my son has had to do so, but it was the only way right now. You might consider that also - you do not have to take the full amount offered. Just enough to help you cover.</p>
<p>2collegewego, I have done EVERYTHING to get those blasted things off my transcript and since its already been 2 years since I’ve started at that school, no one can do anything about it. The only thing I can do would be to appeal the financial aid office and hope for the best.</p>
<p>polarscribe, I totally get what you’re saying but my car is falling apart. Its to the point where its unsafe now. Its old and beaten up. I have it for at least a few months but if I don’t start saving now, I will be screwed when it goes. </p>
<p>I do submit a fafsa every year and I already borrow loans. As I stated before I don’t qualify for work study at my school because the program is SO overcrowded they don’t have room for everyone who technically does qualify. If you must know the college has close to 60,000 students…which qualifies as huge in my book. I have looked into the biology lab assistant and tutoring positions and we will see how it goes…until then I’m out of luck. Those jobs barely pay anything anyway.</p>
<p>Thanks friedpasta, I was beginning to lose my mind. People don’t realize it’s not as simple as walking into place and going “hey I need a raise or a better paying job.” Its just not going to happen. As much as I wish it worked that way, it doesn’t. I have to bust my butt to make any decent money and once I start working harder and adding more hours my grades begin to go down. So even if I could get a better paying job what’s the point if its just going to ruin my chances of doing well in college?</p>
<p>Working part time and making $200-250 a week actually doesn’t sound that bad to me. Sounds pretty normal for a part-time college job. I really don’t understand why people are telling you to “just find a better job”. It just doesn’t work that way, especially for college students. You just have to take what you can find find, which usually isn’t much, and be grateful that you’re at least getting $200-250 a week. You’re not really in a position to demand a huge salary, lol. </p>
<p>Is there any way you can compromise with your parents to help pay your medication and bills? If you’re living with your parents and still struggling with those I would try to do everything I could to cut down to just the essentials. </p>
<p>You may have to look into taking out more loans, but ONLY if your career choice is something that’s going to be able to pay those loans back. If not you might have to look into going to a cheaper school. You might also want to look into going part-time and see how this would effect your aid.</p>
<p>October, if you read the entire thread you’ll see the OP stated in post #1 s/he was working 40+ hours/week for $200 (below minimum wage). That is where the “find a new job” advice came from.</p>
<p>OP says:</p>
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<p>I don’t think the job is the problem, the problem is that OP is paying for their own bills, medication, etc. while living at home and while paying for tuition. It’s really great that OP’s parents are letting them live at home rent-free, but maybe they can be understanding enough to help OP with the bills. Otherwise OP might have to look into alternate ways of paying for school, which might include private loans if OP wants to stay full-time.</p>
<p>biologynerd -</p>
<p>Does your university offer reduced tuition for employees? If it does, and you can get yourself a receptionist job on campus, you would have health benefits as well as the option of taking one or two classes each term. I can fully understand that you’d like to finish college in four years, but since money is a big issue for you, working full-time and studying part-time makes sense. Getting your employer to pay most (if not all) of the cost of your classes is an even better deal!</p>