Please help me overcome my loan anxiety

[CourtneyAnn]

Also, come to think of it, overseas English is just as much connected to her undergraduate study and pays just as well as some of the entry level positions Easter Joy has suggested. Also, there’s a good chance of having transportation and housing taken care of for you.

Check this out:

aroundtheworldin80jobs.com/make-money-teaching-english-in-korea/

Thank you for posting this! I’ve been seriously considering doing this. The program I found requires only a bachelor’s degree and English as a first language.

ciee.org/teach/south-korea/abroad/

This would be ideal because it includes living expenses, so I could put my salary toward paying my loans off. By my calculations, I could have my debt paid off after teaching there for three years, assuming I save the majority of my earnings. This also relates to the field I want to go into, because I would love to be a teacher at a Catholic school someday.

 

[Xantippe]

Thank you for posting this! I’ve been seriously considering doing this. The program I found requires only a bachelor’s degree and English as a first language.

ciee.org/teach/south-korea/abroad/

This would be ideal because it includes living expenses, so I could put my salary toward paying my loans off. By my calculations, I could have my debt paid off after teaching there for three years, assuming I save the majority of my earnings. This also relates to the field I want to go into, because I would love to be a teacher at a Catholic school someday.

Very good!

Do be very careful about research and talking to former teachers from the same program–it looks like there are a bunch of different programs. I’ve heard of gotchas–like the teacher was expected to work at two different far flung campuses, which meant they spent huge amounts of time on commuting.

Best wishes!

 

[StGerardMajella]

I have $60000 in student loan debt from my bachelor’s degree program and my payments are $700 a month. I tried talking to my bank but they refuse to go any lower. Unfortunately all of my loans are private because my parents’ income was too high to qualify for government financial aid.

I’ll throw in my two cents. First, you earn far too little to pay back this debt. This seems to me more like an income and employment problem than a debt problem.

My job only pays $1050 a month (after taxes) even though I work 10+ hours a day, but it was the only one I could find and I am lucky to even have that. This area is very economically depressed and there isn’t a lot of opportunity. I have no car so I ride my bicycle to work and live with friends and family as a couch surfer.

We have all bee there, especially right after college.

Straight talk: Don’t worry about your degree being in sociology. Many of the industries in which you will work haven’t even been invented yet. 20 years from now, there will be tons of companies and industries that don’t even exist right now.

Secondly, you need to seriously look at finding job opportunities outside of your state, if at all possible. Texas was mentioned, and jobs are most plentiful there.

Think corporate. A Personal Banker at your local bank earns about $30,000 per year plus a year-end bonus, and doesn’t require any more than a college degree and professionalism. Office Managers at small companies can earn $25,000-$30,000, and would get your foot in the door.

Put on your nicest clothes, and take about 30 resumes and start knocking on doors in-person in industrial and office parks that have small and mid-sized companies.

Be assertive. Even in a bad economy, people still buy furniture, carpeting, cars, and everything under the sun. There are businesses that cater to every kind of unusual niche industry you can imagine. Entrepreneurs are always hiring good people that can help run their business more effectively.

Go for it. Don’t let a bad local economy stop you. Get to the library. Get to your next local Chamber of Commerce function and start passing out resumes. Research. Get on Facebook and LinkedIn and network like crazy. Call recruiters. Call temp agencies.

Get active! There’s a whole world out there.

 

[EasterJoy]

Also, come to think of it, overseas English is just as much connected to her undergraduate study and pays just as well as some of the entry level positions Easter Joy has suggested. Also, there’s a good chance of having transportation and housing taken care of for you.

Check this out:

aroundtheworldin80jobs.com/make-money-teaching-english-in-korea/

This is an excellent idea. I have friends who worked off a good deal of their students loans in this way. They found the experience enriching, very interesting, and a positive addition to their resumes, as well.

 

[EasterJoy]

Very good!

Do be very careful about research and talking to former teachers from the same program–it looks like there are a bunch of different programs. I’ve heard of gotchas–like the teacher was expected to work at two different far flung campuses, which meant they spent huge amounts of time on commuting.

Best wishes!

Also extremely good advice. This has to be a field with extremes in working conditions. It only stands to reason.

 

[Xantippe]

Also extremely good advice. This has to be a field with extremes in working conditions. It only stands to reason.

I’ve worked overseas (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer) and I have to add that there are unique challenges to working in a foreign country–culture shock and so forth.

northeastern.edu/nuin/pdf/gre_stages_culture_shock.pdf

But you can research that in advance and strategize what to do when you feel homesick or blue. (I don’t get Thanksgiving off! Waaah! I can’t find peanut butter! Waaah! People stare at me and point at me in public! Waah!) Fortunately, with the internet, it’s easier than it’s ever been to stay in touch with people back home and very easy to find people in the same situation to chat with.

(I’d recommend Peace Corps, but you need the $$$$ and Peace Corps does not pay $$$$.)

 

[jtauke]

I don’t get paid for all of the hours I work (the time I spend opening/closing the store, or staying late when there are customers), and I definitely don’t get overtime.I normally average 35~ paid hours, although sometimes it is closer to 30 depending on if the store closes early for an event. I do work 5 days a week (most weeks, except when there are holidays). I won’t lie, a lot of the practices of the people who employ me are a bit questionable. There have been times I’ve waited weeks past the day I’m supposed to be paid for a paycheck. This isn’t to say I’m not grateful for my job, because I am, so I hope it doesn’t come across that way. I am still actively looking for another job, but until then I need the money so I can’t justify leaving this one unless I have another lined up.

On days I don’t work I try to do odd jobs for neighbors and friends, such as petsitting and babysitting, but that if often spotty and I can’t rely on it for a steady source of income.

I will try to find ways I can cut my expenses more. Part of the stress I think comes from the fact that my parents cosigned on the private loans for me because I had no credit, so if I end up defaulting on them, then it will go back to my parents. I don’t want them to suffer because I couldn’t get a good enough job to pay my bills. Right now I’m on a 10-year repayment plan, but I’m hoping that if I put extra money toward my loans every month I’ll be able to shorten that. Possibly finding a live-in situation like was discussed previously in the thread could help free up more money to put toward the loans.

You are getting ripped off and abused by this employer. You need out and they need to pony up the back pay and/or overtime that you’re owed…end of story. Their illegal business practices are what’s causing you to come up so short in the income department.

 

[John_Lazarus]

I say BK it.

What does “BK” mean?

I looked it up on the Interpipes, and all I can find is “Burger King”.

So…flip burgers until the loan is paid?

(PS I also googled “BK loan” and I got a link to the Bank of Kigali.

I assume BK may be some shorthand for declaring bankruptcy? But I cannot see how it was derived.

 

[white_sheep]

I don’t see how declaring bankrupcy to get out of your student loans would amount to anything other than theft.

 

[PaulinVA]

I don’t get paid for all of the hours I work (the time I spend opening/closing the store, or staying late when there are customers), and I definitely don’t get overtime.I normally average 35~ paid hours, although sometimes it is closer to 30 depending on if the store closes early for an event. I do work 5 days a week (most weeks, except when there are holidays). I won’t lie, a lot of the practices of the people who employ me are a bit questionable. There have been times I’ve waited weeks past the day I’m supposed to be paid for a paycheck. This isn’t to say I’m not grateful for my job, because I am, so I hope it doesn’t come across that way. I am still actively looking for another job, but until then I need the money so I can’t justify leaving this one unless I have another lined up.

I have to imagine a temp receptionist or something like that would make more money, and would give you a chance to get your foot in the door of a company.

Go to Robert Half or whatever.

 

[pensmama87]

I have to imagine a temp receptionist or something like that would make more money, and would give you a chance to get your foot in the door of a company.

Go to Robert Half or whatever.

Temping gets a bad rep but it doesn’t have to. You build experience and can get good references, plus many places do temp to hire.

I also found wages from temp jobs were a lot higher ($1-$2/hr) than other low wage jobs, even after the agencies took their cut.