Hi Moms, this is both to vent and to ask advice. I got my MBA last year but unexpectedly got pregnant in my last year. I had the baby a month after graduation and since then, have been working at a job that doesnt utilize my degree (thanks to the economy). The thing is, once the economy does pick up, my son will be entering pre-school and then kindergarden and so forth and I belatedly realize that no job (especially no MBA level job) will have me home by the time school gets out. This is so obvious to me now but for some stupid reason, I didn't factor in how much I would want to be a stay at home mom once I have kids (or at least a mom who only works part-time while the kids are at school). But of course now I'm under a truckload of student debt. What should I do?? I don't think there really is an answer except to suck it up and work but... sigh. I really want to be home for my kids after-school. I'm just hoping one of you will have a great suggestion for what I could do to pay my massive student loans down while still being home for my kids by the time they get back from school. Plus, I just want it to be heard by everyone how much I regret getting my advanced degree. Argh! Im trying to have a positive attitude but it has seriously been the worst, most expensive, most irreversible decision I have made to this day. Sigh. Thanks in advance,
Are you qualified to teach at a college level or through an online college? Maybe you don't want to teach, but if you schedule the classes right, you could make the money to pay the loans back AND be home for your kids. I feel the same way (although I just went to a pricey college for my undergrad, so it has put me in debt forever with just that). I never expected to be a stay at home mom or even want to be a stay at home mom, in fact, I figured it would be the farthest thing from what I would want! Now, I cannot imagine not being there for my son! Crazy how life turns out...I figure that everything happens for a reason though, and somehow or another, you will end up paying off your loans and your degree will be worthwhile or used. Good luck!
Look, life happens. It rarely happens the way we plan it. I don't understand how anyone could regret furthering their education. You may not use it THIS year, but that doesn't mean it won't be good to have down the road. All I can suggest is that you look for flexible work you can do from home, look into the idea of after-school care if you think you might want to go back FT, and bang out that student loan as fast as you can--double up on the payments if you can and find other ways to cut back elsewhere. You accrued this debt and now you've gotta wear the big girl pants and pay it! LOL
Look into Dave Ramsay's book for practical step-by-step suggestions for cutting costs and saving money then pile it on this debt. You may have to get a lower level job to be home when the kids get home. If there's one thing I know (worked FT, SAHM and now PT because life happened to me, too!) you can learn and manage to live on whatever you make! Good luck!
Wow, you're really scaring me. I just finished my associates and am continuing on for my bachelors in accounting and maybe a CPA. I am not necessarily career driven. That's why I'm just now (after 3 kids) going back to school. My goal is to earn more so that I can work less. Like you, my family is my priority. I want to be able to work part-time or be able to work at least one day from home. I don't want to think about the student loans. Debt is an unfortunate part of life. There's no way around it. We're always going to owe for one thing or another.
With your skill-set I think you should be able to find a new job and negotiate a schedule that works for you. You have your experience and your degree to offer, now what do they have to offer you? Think of yourself as an asset and your degree is a negotiating tool. I am very lucky. After my older son started school, my boss allowed me to change my schedule so that I work 6:30am-3pm. I have a sitter come to my house so that I don't have to wake the kids and pack them up. She puts my older son on the school bus and I'm home right before the bus arrives.
Eventually, my boss stepped down from her full-time supervisory position to work part-time in our internal audit department. These are just a few ideas that hopefully will help you. Good luck :)
Not sure what your MBA is focusing on but how about teaching at a college/university OR look into teaching online. My friend teaches two eniglish courses online and loves it because she will be having a child in May but still will be able to teach from home since it is all done over the internet :) Something to look into if you have not already.
As a couple other moms wisely suggested, teach night school. With an MBA you can get on with Pheonix U or any of the other private colleges to teach basic business or a class in your emphasis.
One of my friends has a couple advanced degrees and chose to teach and be a quasi SAHM. It works really, really well for her. It's not what she envisioned when she got her degrees either, but it works :) GL!!
S-
Can I first say, "no education is a waste of time." I think you should be very proud of your accomplishments, whether in the class room or the womb. I have been unemployed for a very long time, actively seeking a job and have found not having an MBA is the issue. It's just really tough right now. I know of a woman who just paid her minimums on her school loans until she could work again, then when she started working even if it was part time she used her full pay check to pay off the loan. Basically, still living on her spouse's check. When her children graduated high school she then went out and got a job indicative of her degrees and uses that money to pay her children's college expenses; still living on one pay check, but now her children won't be harboring loans.
Good luck and be proud of some amazing accomplishments!
Sandy
I agree with the teaching idea - you may also want to consider looking at consulting firms with possible "mommy track" positions.
I'm still paying for my grad school loan . . . 10 years later (almost done). Not only did I NOT realize that I would want to stay home very badly, but later I also really wanted to homeschool (!).
So, I feel your pain. Stay creative with your income ideas. Possibly consider asking for a forbearance on your loan until you get your situation figured out.
Good luck.
My cousin is a teacher and she just went back to work and is job-sharing. She works part-time and the other person works part-time and together they work a full- time job. you could probably find something like that in you career field. Or what about finding a job where you can be at home part of the week or day.
Good Luck.
Substitute teaching will have you home more or less when your kids are, especially if you sub at their school. In Ohio you just have to have a bachelor's degree, in anything (and I mean ANYTHING) to sub.
(I sub but do not have a teaching certificate, and am contemplating going back to school to get it, so I read your letter with especial interest. )
If you sub at other schools and you won't get home exactly when your kids do, a child care option is a must--e.g., go to the Smith's house until Mom is home, or have Grandma meet the bus at your house, or....you get the idea. Ditto for the a.m. if you must leave earlier than your kids. (I bless my neighbors for waking up as I banged their door at 6:50 a.m. so Philip could catch the bus at 8:15 with their son!)
The good things are that you can say "no" if your kid is sick, or you want to chaperone the field trip. And you are not stuck with a horrible class day after day if you don't want to be. If you hate routine, you'll love subbing because every day is a new adventure!
The downside is that it is not steady work, you never know how many days a week you will work. But if you have a part time job a couple evenings, or part of a weekend (think "Daddy-kid bonding time" here), you could throw all your subbing wages at your debt in addition to the "regular" part-time stuff. Whoever said double up payments has the right idea (but you probably knew that already! even if you just pay a little extra, it helps, assuming there is no pre-payment penalty)
Could you start your own business and work out of your home? Would you be comfortable doing in-home child care? there is always a need for that.
What about contacting the temp agencies and seeing if there is anything they have that could be done from home on a computer, e.g. data entry? I have heard that there are customer-service people who work from home answering phones, but I don't know how to go about finding more info.
Could you consult? Do party sales (Tupperware, Pampered Chef, etc)?
Make a craft and sell it? Cook or sew for other people? grow and sell fresh veggies?
Sell on ebay? Run an errand-running service for parents who work full-time? Do a garage-sale-shopping service for same? (you get a list of what the person wants, and the max they are willing to pay; if you find it for them they pay you a commission)
There is a company near here called Comfort Keepers, they provide in-home services (cook, clean, shop, errands, companionship) to elderly and disabled. I know of someone who works for a company like this who can only see one client per day because the family only has one car and she has to work around that; so maybe such a company would be willing to let you work "Mom's hours".
Free-lance writer or newspaper columnist? on business topics?
Teach a business course to home-schoolers?
Church secretary? I know a number of churches that only have a person in the office half a day.
For tips on curbing expenses check out the Tightwad Gazette books at your library.
Network, network, network.......let everyone know you what you're looking for, who knows, maybe there is a company who needs your skills/knowledge but can't afford someone full time???
Finally , don't beat yourself up. You make the best decisions you can, with the info you have at the time. I believe that nothing you learn is wasted. It will all work out, probably with a lot of little things adding up rather than with one "magic bullet".
You may not fully utilize your degree until your kids are much older. I say follow your heart and be there when they get home from school---you have your whole life to work, they are only little for a short time. Send me a message if you want to talk some more.
Sorry to run so long, hope some of it helped. Good luck and let us know what happens
Kathy Z.
On a bright note, Student loan interest is a great tax write off. We can never judge exactly how a decision made today will effect us tomorrow. You don't know what the future brings and getting an MBA is a great accomplishment, although an expensive one. Hard to make any suggestions not knowing your area of study. The teaching option may work. Please don't be hard on yourself for making what seemed like the right decision at the time. We are not fortune tellers and who knows what a blessing all your education may be in the future.
Just wanted to sympathize. I graduated with my master's in Education right about the time the economy fell apart. I can't get a job in the school system so am currently making about $20,000 less than I could, no health insurance, and have student loans to pay off. It sucks, I know. Maybe the economy will pick up soon. I feel like you do, getting an advanced degree was a mistake, so was buying a house and being loyal to my employer; all the things we were taught adults do. Really your only options are work, bankruptcy, or go back to school (you don't have to pay student loans if you are in school full time). Be careful about substitute teaching, tons of people are doing that since they can't get other jobs. Unless you are well known in the system you probably won't work much, and some systems don't pay anything (I was offered $50 a day as a certified teacher). Good luck. Hang in there until the economy picks up and maybe you can get the life you want.
I just want to say hang in there. This economy is making everyone hate everything about their jobs. And while you really want to be home when your kids get home from school now, in no time they'll be in middle school and high school and they'll have activities and jobs and etc etc and won't even be home after school at all. And then you'll be in the position of being able to make the most of your degree. Comfort yourself by knowing that in 15 years when many of your friends are freaking out trying to figure out how to pay for college for their kids, you have put yourself in a position to support your family through all stages of life. (This isn't knocking stay at home moms, but hopefully it helps you feel better. There are a lot of ways to be a great mom.)
I can relate to some degree - I completed a graduate school degree when pregnant for the first time, and it was quite a challenge to get everything done. I also have massive student loan debt, but I pay it off slowly, as best I can, and don't worry about it. It's always gonna be there, so why worry? :) I can understand how frustrated you might be, but I hope you can see the benefits of having an MBA. That is truly awesome! My first job after having my baby was teaching GED to high school drop-outs and students from other countries, and believe me, they worked so hard and had it much worse (even without student loans!). Education still matters in this day and age of difficult economic problems. In terms of work, I actually worked part-time when my son was first born, and then gradually increased my hours... the first three years are the most important, in my opinion as a teacher and a mommy, and so if you can find ways to be there for your child at this time, it's great. Beyond that, and your kids actually really enjoy time with friends.
If you can think of a creative way to use your MBA (maybe home business or combine forces with some other moms, and start your own company that suits working moms who want to be at home as much as possible for their kids), brainstorm and generate income, well, I think that is great. And if you have to go out into an office and work, then so be it. Just make the time you do share with your children the best you can make it, and your kids will love you for it.
Best,
Nessa
There are some companies who will help pay off your loans. I would call the school you graduated from and talk to a career counselor. Perhaps you would need to do an internship for six months or a year but then you could move into working from home or with more flexible hours. Especially in LA, aren't there some big companies that would love to have your knowledge? Maybe you just need to prove your worth to them first so they realize your value and let you work around your family. Try female-run organizations, they could be more understanding of the situation as well!
Hey S. S.
Is there a possibility you can do contractual work in your area of expertise at home? It will allow you to earn an income (you'll get to choose how much) while still allowing you to enjoy being at home with your children. Not sure if this is an option, but I thought I'd just throw that out there in case this thought had not been presented yet.
How about trying to find a job within the school system? You could take a couple of classes that are for student teaching and possibly work as a teacher of what your profession was in, for example if you worked in the Accounting field or in Banking...you could integrate your field into the classroom. Or you could even apply at Jr. Colleges, they only require a Master's to work and obtain tenure. You could teach as an Associate (?, not with full standing) Professor in a University setting too. I would look in that direction before ruling out working 8-3, M-F, with school holidays off. Unless you thought about opening a child care center or other business you could set your own hours by hiring staff.
Wow, I hate to hear how you are looking (negatively) at your MBA. It is not a waste...you just have to find the right avenue for it.
Get into a school system, work for a corporation who has job sharing or telecommuting.
An MBA is NOT a waste and to discourage young adults and others from obtaining one is very negative. My husband worked long and hard for his MBA from Duke and it has paid off extremely well. I am ex corporate Frito Lay and MBA was the first thing we looked at on a resume....most especially from a highly reputable school such as Duke, Darden, Cox, etc.
Step back, look at the BIG picture and re-evaluate (what you learned at MBA school) as far as using it well.
Hi S.S.,
I understand your frustration. Many people have been affected by the economy. A possibility is for you to start your own business. Last year, I was able to start my own business, with little overhead, no employees, work out of my home, have time to be with my family, while building a residual income.
I have my own anti-aging franchise.
For more info, you can go to www.nsoverview.com
If you have any questions, please contact me at [email protected] or 213.999.4560.
I'd be more than happy to help you as I have helped so many already.
It may be the worst, most expensive....decision TODAY but when your son is 13 years old and doesn't 'need' you anymore you will have a leg up. When you do decide you want to go back to work you'll have that working for you. There are a lot people men and women who have the same feelings right now. My SIL has a degree from SMU that cost about a zillion dollars and she's working for a cell phone company. The economy is crazy so give it time and you'll feel better about your decision. In the end you'll be glad.