Planning Financially to Return to School

In 2002, I graduated from a large state university with a Bachelor of Science in Human Biology and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. I began working for a small medical device company and aggressively paid off the student loans I had accumulated. Luckily, had I received some help from family and was able to work as well in undergrad, keeping my need for loan money at bay.

After working for about five years, I decided to go to graduate school. Becoming an attorney was something I always wanted to do, but, admittedly, I was afraid of being out of the workplace for three years and accumulating a sizable pile of debt. Law school, like many graduate programs, is not cheap by any means. Ultimately, after looking at my financial situation at that time and in the future, I decided that the education would be worth the risk.

Since I was working full-time, and living with out much debt, I began to do what most in that situation find themselves doing and began using my disposable income to better my lifestyle. I took out a mortgage on home. I took on a car payment. I ordered a more expensive cable package. These were the fruits of my labor but I knew they would be unsustainable when I was back in school.

Saving Before School

Based on the recommendations of others that gone back to school, I did not wait until my first day of law school to start shedding these extra non-necessities to save money. Instead, as soon as I made the decision to start applying for law schools, I began to shed as much of these extra expenses as possible, saving the money instead. I cut the cable plan and the extra dinners out. I found renters to live with me as roommates and help soften the blow of a monthly mortgage payment. I sold my car and leased a much less expensive vehicle. The extra money that I saved by making these difficult choices over a year before beginning school left me with enough savings to get through the difficult financial times while school.

Budgeting

We often hear people talk about the importance of budgeting in everyday life. In my opinion, budgeting is even more crucial as you plan a return to school. I was able to plan a detailed budget so that I knew exactly how short I would be on a month-to-month basis in trying to support myself. I was unable to supplement the difference using student loans at low interest rate.

The advantage of budgeting allowed me to borrow only exactly what I needed. Some of my peers borrowed the maximum planning to pay back the excess funds that were not needed. As one can imagine, the "excess funds" became part of their disposable income and significantly increased their debt loads.

Financial Impact

Needless to say, the three years while I was in law school were difficult in that my disposable income was basically zero. It was difficult to make mortgage payments and keep up on other expenses that had been locked in prior to my decision to go back to school.

However, since graduating a few years ago, I have been able to gradually increase the amount of disposable income I leave myself while at the same time chipping away at my student loans. Well the chipping process will be going on for years to come, the added value that law school afforded my career will, hopefully, greatly outweigh the costs and sacrifices.