^ This! Congratulations to you and your husband for being responsible adults and doing what was necessary to do the right thing. You sucked it up and did what it took to get by. Most people don't want to sell their car and drive a POS or move back in with parents or in-laws, but if that's what you have to do, that's what you have to do. Congrats again and it looks like you are just around the corner to having all your student loans paid off! You won't know what to do with yourself when you make that last payment and you suddenly have money left over at the end of the month. Hopefully you can go on a vacation and celebrate when that happens.

 

Oh, that's not the end. That was a poignant chapter at the beginning of a long, happy life.

Congratulations on your persistence and hard work! Enjoy your successes!

Thank you for sharing your story.







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Thank you. It wasn't easy, but now that we're able to breathe, it's much better. And yeah- to think that the $1000/month that we spend on loans will be OURS soon instead of the bank's is a huge relief. We will definitely be throwing a huge (inexpensive) party when we're out of debt completely! And then we'll buy a house.

I continue to see people borrowing money and blaming others for being broke. I used to be the same way until my husband talked some sense into me.

I feel for the original poster- the huge loss of income is crappy. But it's no reason to throw in the towel and claim that the debt your accrued is someone else's responsibility because you're broke now and it's not fair.

One more thing- I hope that people don't mistake my post above for bragging, although I will admit that I love to brag about it. My point is that there are a lot of people (especially new pilots) with debt up to their eyeballs in a not-so-great industry. And we can't just write it off. We need to take responsibility for it and move on with our lives the best we can. It might seem hopeless right now, but it's entirely possible to get out of debt.

 

This thread is getting a little a long, and I'm not going to read back through all of it to be honest-BUT

To the original poster-if you aren't in the military in some form, I would join. I swear I've seen commercials where some branches will help with previously existing student loan debt. Call everyone---each service; active, guard, reserve, don't forget the Coast Guard and CG Reserve. Given the situation you are in you could likely use the steady income and health care benefits.

 

Absolutely congrats on dealing with that in a straight-up manner.

A few take-aways from this for noobs...

- Do a reality check on finances before you enter the career. Make realistic assumptions about career progression and the associated pay. There is absolutely no way to predict anything in aviation with any real degree of assurance, but probably safe to assume eight years at a regional (half as an FO).

- Do not load up debt unless you have independent means to pay for it. Regardless of what any lying, worthless, scum-sucking flight school or university con-man/salesman tells you, THIS CAREER WILL NOT SUPPORT LOADS OF STUDENT DEBT. DON'T DO IT.

- It might make sense to get a lower-cost degree at State-U and then enter the non-aviation workforce. Do flight training on the side (nights/weekends), pay as you go and then quit the real job when you can hold full-time aviation employment to build time (probably as a CFI). You could get by by with little or no debt this way. You might sacrifice a couple years as a wide-body CA at the end of your career, but that's a bird in the hand vs. two in a VERY tall bush.

- Go military if you're physically qualified and good enough to get accepted. This is going to get tougher as the wars and defense spending fade away, but they will never stop hiring... unlike airlines, military career progression is an escalator and when you get to the top, you have to get off, so they always need entry-level folks getting on at the bottom. The escalator essentially never stops...during cutbacks they may pull people off the middle, but the guys at the top still get off, and the somebody has to get on at the bottom.

 

Do not join the military for all the free stuff. Sure, there are benefits, but there are also drawbacks. Ask the weekend warriors who joined for the education benefits and suddenly found themselves in a desert a half a world away from their kids. Wow, you mean I might have to risk my life?!?

The only reason you should ever consider joining the military is to serve your country.






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Well, yeah...I think a lot of people join to give their life direction. This person may need the direction. Hopefully if a person looks at the military, they realize the big picture and purpose of the military....and that's another reason I suggest the Coast Guard. Not saying they don't ever end up deployed (I've seen a few myself in both Iraq and Afghanistan, but it's the most "civilian" of the branches.

 

That may have applied in Aug 2001, but anyone joining since then, in any capacity, would have to be totally out of their mind to not realize what they were signing up for...it's on the news every day.

I wouldn't put it that way. You certainly need a willingness to serve (perhaps even a strong desire, but perhaps not). You need to be willing to commit and follow through. But the military does not require, nor expect, monks committed to a life of poverty and hardship (you have to be willing with to put with enough hardship to get the job done). It's OK to desire and consider compensation, including various benefits, in your decision process. I'll caveat that by saying that aviation, along with other "high-end" military specialties will require more motivation than the average mil job.

 

ORDCRJ, I think you said you need some words of wisdom. Besides my advice about joining the military, I think you need to be focusing on small victories. It seems you feel your back is against the wall, and you have no where to turn. Maybe feeling like everyone is against you. I need you to think positively and be in touch with family and friends that support and love you. If you have hard feelings with people in life and on here, see if you can repair those relationships and move forward.

There are many joys in life that free or cheap. You need to believe you have some control over your life and you CAN take positive steps to help yourself. Take care of your health. If you let that go, a number of negative things occur, and your mood will be worse.

As far as your money goes, not sure what your personal spending habits are, but writing a budget, then tracking actual spending will go far if you stick to goals. Lots of small expenditures add up.

Don't lose faith in yourself. Be strong. Work hard. Be courteous. Small steps forward. You can turn this around.

 

What troubles me is that there are those out there that would and do lie to people to get them to take on this much debt. Although those that are in debt should pay and make every effort to do so, would everyone here be as forgiving of the person/process locking them in if it was your grandma being swindled out of her life savings? Would we be patting the person that swindled her on the back as much?