There is a huge stigma these days against people without a job and no one will believe that you quit of your own free will with the job market the way it is, so if you want out, find a replacement job FIRST.

Just say you are leaving because you want more challenge and want to focus on a different type of organization/industry. Don’t slam the old job in any way.

Good luck.

At least consider that experiences vary.

Then consider whether making generalized, blanket, and frankly insulting statements about the parenting and parents of people whose lives you have no idea about other than your own conceptions is really a reasonable thing to do.

I agree to some degree. Your skills, work ethic, personality, etc. are more important than the college degree.

But the name of the college DOES matter in many ways. Its not just Ivy League versus everyone else. Honestly : would you rather hire someone from Eastern Idaho Technical College or Georgia Tech? (sorry EITC grads.)

To be blunt: If you went to the University of Phoenix or NorthbyNorthwest Mississippi Agricultural U. then that does NOT carry nearly as much weight as a well known, respected university. College degrees are a filter for qualified candidates and quality colleges win out over unknown or uncompetitive colleges. Of course a applicant with great experience, work ethic etc from U Phoenix might be a great worker and could get hired but U Phoenix may get their resume put in the discard pile in stage one. Id certainly rather have a respected university name on my diploma.

“Being a parent means making time for your kids, no matter what else is going on in your life. It doesn’t mean giving up everything else that’s going on in your life.”

Not giving up everything, but many things. I see it this way: The choice to become a parent is a full-time job in itself. It’s very hard to have two full-time jobs and do both well. Some people pull it off rather well, but not without a lot of stress. At least one parent needs to be home more than the other (i.e., working only part time). There are only so many hours in a day…

My family was raised on the “save first, spend later” old school system. However, one family member never learned how to fully measure credit and got into a terrible overspending situation that blew up. While my parents did do well to teach us about savings, they just assumed and neglected to discuss the credit side.

And I’m sorry to tick off any parents, but as I read over and over about student debt, there comes a time when you have to put your foot down and tell your child they are paying for an education, not vacation. Sending your child “out of state” to another state school is ridiculous if the same education can be achieved in state.

Community college to 4 year school is also cheaper but parents don’t want to put their feet down or people feel a “stigma” about community college. Then, here’s the kicker, the only people who put value on the name on the college degree are those looking for the Ivy leagues. Sad to say but true, and I do hiring at my job. If you HAVE PASSION and/or EXPERIENCE, I don’t care where you to went to school. I’ve met more than enough dopes who went to a “highly regarded” name brand school for a non-specific major and can’t speak in an interview to save their life.

But what do I know. I’m just offering my opinions. You can disagree, and I’ll disagree, and then we’ll do nothing together.

I never felt that I was being raised by someone else. Yes, I went to daycare and after-school care until middle school. But I and my two siblings have always had close relationships with my parents because they made the time. Band concert? At least one parent there. During-school family event? Yup, I wasn’t alone. Saturday soccer practice? Check.

Mom teaching me to cook? Indeed. Dad teaching me to bake? Also true. Mom teaching me to sew? Dad teaching me to shoot hoops and woodwork? Some of my favorite times were spent at the YMCA learning how to do layups.

Being a parent means making time for your kids, no matter what else is going on in your life. It doesn’t mean giving up everything else that’s going on in your life.

Personally I think we need to crack down on private lenders mostly. There isn’t a significant problem related to government student loans. The real problem comes from the private lenders. I think the private lenders should have a lot more rules and requirements in order to do student loans OR they should just let it be forgiven in bankruptcy. Right now the system is screwed up. The private lenders basically get to charge high rates and then own the borrower for life plus get government backing on it all.

With government loans we already have the income based repayment plan which I think is good deal and really should cover the people real difficulty paying those. Maybe we should force the private lenders to do that too?

But on the other side of the coin I really think we shouldn’t let students borrow $100k to take 6 years to get a BA in generic studies at obscure uncompetitive private U.

Q8: wondering if the sis is seriously serious about going back to school or if the family wants her to and is doing the thinking/soul searching for her. That said, 35 is young! I know people who have started careers in their 40′s/50′s and gotten jobs because they were excited about the prospects of working in a field they loved.

Johanna: how do you feel about the current rumblings for student loan defaults and forgiveness for that? This is not meant to be confrontational at all…currently student loans are the one thing that can not be forgiven in a bankruptcy.

Q9 Sharon : I would build some medical costs into your budget that would handle an amount above your known/expected costs. If you have ongoing health issues then you’re going to have health costs so you should budget something for it. You don’t know what the costs will be but you could at least set some money aside every month to help handle whatever comes up. Look back at your past couple years of spending and figure out the average monthly cost and then budget at least that amount. An emergency fund is of course a good idea in general too. But every unplanned medical purchase shouldn’t be an emergency fund item especially if you have some ongoing medical issues. You also don’t want to be emptying your emergency fund every other month for your up and own medical bills.

Yeah. Unfortunately that could be the case. Some people never learn. But then at that point I’d really blame the banks. If someone defaults once and then a bank turn around and lend that person money then the bank knows EXACTLY what they are doing. Thats a calculated risk on the part of the bank. I mean if your friend never paid you back and you kept lending them money then whos’ the fool?

@ Johanna
I’m fine with taking action to clear the slate once the situation has gotten to a certain point (bankruptcy, default, settlement, etc.). Thankfully, our society is set up to allow people to do this. It may all be water under the bridge, but if a person hasn’t learned from their financial missteps, the whole situation is going to repeat itself.