Continue living with on my own or move back in with parents to pay down student loans?

Submitted by jhunter2015 t3_11ec2c8 in personalfinance

Have 28k federal student loan debt.

Job: Public Accounting.

44k salary after taxes(51k before taxes). Expect to get to 60k within 5 years

Have 7k in savings for e-fund. no retirement saved nor anything else. Good credit. Will have to pay for upcoming braces (6k) via payments

pay roughly 2k in living expenses monthly (including all bills to live. rent+food+insurance etc+internet+utilities)

No cc debt or car payment. Currently driving a 2014 Scion Xb expect to get at least another 5 years out of it. Has (150k miles). No problems. I do travel alot for work though.

My only gripe with moving back in is that I won't be able to date and I'll be ashamed of living with my folks meanwhile most of my female peers are on their own, even if they are financially irresponsible.

Would you recommend I move back in with folks for a year or just live more frugally on my own ? I know staying on my own will delay me buying a house by a couple years

Are the social life impacts worth it?

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Comments

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veganvisions t1_jad8m54 wrote

I'm of the opinion that staying with the parents for the year is the best choice. Paying down those debts and focusing on excellence at the work place so you can advance faster may be more worthwhile. Getting rid of the debt will allow you more freedom financially in the future to be more flexible.

I'm personally living with my parents and grossing 80k a year. It sucks for the dating life but I'll be more comfortable in the future with a good financial support structure behind me.

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jhunter2015 OP t1_jadarun wrote

Yea really I wouldn't have to do this if I graduated in 4 years and saved more while I was in school. I can't make up for the time I wasted.

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electroghost t1_jad4cvz wrote

Talk to other employees about yours and their income. Maybe they are paying you well under equal people because you never asked. It's not illegal to talk about. Would you rather keep working with that pay not knowing the new person they hired is already making 60k.

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jhunter2015 OP t1_jad8sim wrote

See ive only been working here 8 months plus I dont have my masters which made me less competitive. I will have to thug it out

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SpiritualCatch6757 t1_jadb0v3 wrote

Stay with parents and it's not easy to date. Don't stay with parents and you have no money and you're not good marriage material.

Would I recommend you move back in with your parents? Yes. And I did. Yes, dating was a little more difficult. However, our first day of marriage, we lived in a home that we bought together. I would not have been able to do that if I still had debt from paying $2000 a month rent.

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jhunter2015 OP t1_jadp3cs wrote

But yea I've kinda accepted I won't be able to date either way man lol.

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SpiritualCatch6757 t1_jadve9t wrote

Hey hey hey! None of that talk now. You know, my then SO said it was a demerit that I was living with my parents. But then it was a huge positive that I had no student loans, owned my car outright, and debt free. My spouse had zero intentions of paying off my debt.

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jhunter2015 OP t1_jadchih wrote

My rent is actually 850 a month. 2k was my total living expenses monthly

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TrueTangerinePeel t1_jaewdu5 wrote

Most people miss this, but there really only can be one priority at a time in life. If your goal is to date and find your life partner now, then living with folks is not conducive. If clearing out your 28k student loan, then living with your folks, is helpful, only if you have a good relationship with them; they are agreeable to the situation; and you intend to do your share of chores in the home.

With that, you should work as much as possible to pay off that debt and start saving for retirement. Since you are not going to date, just work. Treat this year like a project, with the goal to clear 28k. No dating, just jobs and school.

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Werewolfdad t1_jad3g2y wrote

>Job: Public Accounting.

>44k salary after taxes(51k before taxes). Expect to get to 60k within 5 years

If you're in Public, why is your income so low?

Fixing that makes more sense than staying at whatever poorly-paying firm you're at

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jhunter2015 OP t1_jad3znl wrote

Its a small local firm. Im not a cpa. Plus Im in a small city

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Werewolfdad t1_jad5b8x wrote

> Im not a cpa.

Why not?

>Plus Im in a small city

Larger cities have more opportunities.

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jhunter2015 OP t1_jad8f16 wrote

I am considering doing that but I will have to save prolly 13k before I move. I have to take 7 extra classes along with passing the cpa exam( different from most accounting students who have a masters) .dont have the masters

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Werewolfdad t1_jad8r7s wrote

Depending on your state of licensure, you may just need “credits” to hit the 150 if your accounting bachelors covers the core competencies required. That means you can just take throwaway classes at a community college.

Get that CPA

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