Originally Posted by newpilot
Hello averyone! I was just wondering how hard is it to pay back your loan during the first year in the regionals? I'm single, no kids(I guess thats good) with a 60k loan. I only have 5 months to start paying for it. How did you did it?
Any advise would be good, Thanks
If totally depends on a few factors how much $$ you'll end up making at a regional.
Honestly, I would base ALL of your figures off assuming you are on reserve, and don't ever fly. Min guarantee x pay rate = gross pay. Subtract a few bucks (around $65/month or so) for medical/dental insurance, uniform deduction $50/month), etc and taxes, on my gross salary of $1785 my take home was around $1,300/month. This was at regional that started us at $24/hr. Most are around the $19-$21/hr range, so they'll be a little less. One thing skyhawg didn't mention was that there are a few other deductions to go out of your pay, so keep those in mind.
Skyhawg had an excellent post. To reiterate, I would call your loan company and ask exactly what the monthly payments will be. Some people have the option of paying "interest only", I would NOT recommend that unless you absolutely could not cover the payment, however it is an option of last resort.
If his figure of $610/month is close (seems to be, I pay around $100/$10000 loaned) structure your budget to live on that $$ left over. We're talking around $600-$700/month here in TOTAL living expenses. Can it be done? Yes; hopefully you don't have a car payment, don't mind living with several roommates, don't mind eating pasta noddles EVERY DAY, and don't mind living where you are based, because you will want to live in domicile so you can pick up any open time possible. The other option is to live with your parents, but then you'll have to buy a crashpad anyway at domcilie so it would be a wash.
Keep in mind, unless you work for a sh!tty company, you will get 10-12 days off a month even on reserve. Use those to your advantage and get a part time job. You will know your schedule a month in advance so that should help your employer schedule your hours.
Once I got off reserve, my monthly paychecks ended up $1,600 net with another $400 in tax free per diem on first year pay. I do not purchase food on overnights, I pack my own cooler that I bring with me, so I keep that per diem. Other people spend it. If I was in your shoes, I would be packing food as well.
PS Sounds like you did ATP's pay for flight time program? I thought their basic course was around $40k, and you spent $60k. Hmmm, I guess working as a CFI for a few months just wasn't worth it, huh? LOL.