Screwed! Well, not totally, yet, but I sure feel like it. I am realizing that I can't use my 401k for the kids' college costs because withdrawals go against my income, so I would qualify for no financial aid at all if I do that. And I can't borrow the whole thing, especially for 7 years in a row. And to make a sad story even sadder, it looks like my FICO score went down recently after I had to refinance some expiring 0% debt to a promotional 1.99%. BoA juggled the credit limits on three CC accounts I had with them. They said it wouldn't adversely affect my FICO score, but something sure did last month - not sure how much lag time is involved, it could also have been financing $10k of college costs on a credit card back in January.
So if anyone can see any bright lights at the end of the tunnel for me that isn't a train, please let me know! Thanks.
My current financial state...
April 1st, 2008 at 08:33 pm
April 1st, 2008 at 08:48 pm 1207082890
April 1st, 2008 at 08:57 pm 1207083429
April 1st, 2008 at 09:25 pm 1207085121
The real issue I think is that your financial foundation is crumbling and the price of college is putting further strain on that.
I think you need to start cleaning up the CC and paying them off and start getting an EF together. This will also help your FICO score, where you might be able to start getting low cost loans to help with college, but I won't recommend this.
I feel that you need to get your financial house in order, you will be better able to help your family. If you don't get your house in order, I feel your going to be killing yourself trying to keep afloat.
Also, you don't want to be a burden on your kids when you retire and I feel that's more important then paying for school.
Those are my thoughts. Best of luck but you can do it. It just prioritizing the most important things in your life. Mine are needs (shelter, transportation, electricity, etc.), not being a burden on people (debt, retirement, emergency fund), paying education, charity, and lastly building wealth.
April 1st, 2008 at 10:53 pm 1207090409
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:19 am 1207095543
April 2nd, 2008 at 02:54 am 1207104843
Surely it's worth another visit there to explain the situation, including the fact that she may have to transfer to a lower-cost public school. They may be able to help identify some other sources of funds such as grants, work-study options, or programs with partial tuition waivers.
Perhaps you have already appealed to them, but this is a ray of light I see in the tunnel.
April 2nd, 2008 at 02:58 am 1207105114
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:03 am 1207130596
She only qualified for a $3500 Stafford loan that was part of the college's "financial aid" package, a pretty bogus practice on their part. davera, I can try, but I doubt that I'll get far.