My monthly budget seems REALLY high... It's $33,594 for a year. That's almost more than I made at my old job! (I made $36,000/yr after taxes)
I guess I need to keep in mind that the $450 will drop off after 9 months, and the $370 will drop off in May 2011 (still quite a while away). The visa will take nearly 5 years to pay off if I only make $200 payments every month (this is assuming an $83 finance charge/mo, which I know isn't quite accurate).
So, in 9 mos (Aug '09) my budget will be: $2349/mo
In 2 yrs, 7 mos (May '11): $1917.50
But (and this is a big BUT) in 2 yrs, 1 mo (Nov '10), my student loan payments will begin. They will likely be $1000/mo (they may even be 1400/mo; I will find out for sure soon, but this is something I really don't want to think about now). So, my budget will have to be 3349/mo, and then will decrease to 2979/mo 6 mos later.
That's $35,748/year (an additional 2220 with the 6 mos of car payments, so 37,968 total). In order to survive (barely), I'll need a job that pays $60,0000/yr. (along with that will come health insurance, so at least that will kick down my budget by 100, but I need to factor in clothing; I'll have to buy at least one more suit)
I'm aiming for a job that pays at least $80,000. Otherwise, how utterly depressing to come out of law school and get paid less (or nearly the same) than you did going in! And for more work! Of course, I'll take what I can get, but man will I feel like an idiot. :(
3 hours ago
3 comments:
Yeah, that does sound depressing. :( It's one of the reasons I'm thankful for my husband - After I graduate and get a job, he wants me to knock out my student loans right away so those aren't hanging over "our" heads for too many years... (Really, it's only my head, except for one private loan he cosigned for me... That I want to get rid of before I finish my undergrad stuff though.)
Thanks for the law school advice, if you want to give me more I wouldn't mind. :) I like being pointed in the right direction... I'm thinking of talking to a career counselor at school and seeing if they can help me find a job or an internship or something that might give me an idea of what I'd be in for.
The only thing that gets me is the straight A's, that's not gonna happen. :/ I already have three B's on my transcripts, and I'm looking at maybe another two this semester... If I only get one that would be amazing. (My grades kinda suck right now, the stress is eating me alive and my husband comes back right around midterms... Ugh.)
Other than my chem major, since I think I wanna stay with... (The BA doesn't have a lot of required hours, and I *might* change my mind back to med school, maybe...) Would Finance be a good second major? Just maybe with more speech classes? (Sorry for all the questions! I'm just trying to size up what I might be getting myself into...)
I made (lots ;)) of comments back on your blog! Ask me as many questions as you want! :)
Thanks again for all the advice!
Yeah, languages are great... I guess I took calculus because of the physics, and that for my chem major and for the MCAT, but I'm really leaning towards law instead... Today I realized more than ever that it's hard enough having my husband married to his career, I don't really want to put him through the same thing... Not saying that law is easy, but I'm not stuck working overtime every week. (I hope!)
Not sure how the military will affect my career, though... We're hoping to stay put until I graduate, and I was counting on my Finance degree to supply me with a job if we don't go somewhere with a nearby school for me. Chemistry isn't something I really want to give up per se, because I do enjoy it, but I'll have to see if the stress is worth it... I might go 180 in the other direction and do Finance and Philosophy. (Or maybe Speech? Ugh, I just want something that I enjoy doing and doesn't make me want to rip out my hair... Is that too much to ask?!?)
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