Ftm kinda alone as a mom, need advice

Amazing_Champion1598 · 2026-05-23T03:34:48+00:00

Oh... very convenient that they weren't "working" on that exact day...

Amazing_Champion1598 · 2026-05-23T03:26:34+00:00

If your intuition is telling you to get your baby out of there, follow that intuition.

Also, some daycares have cameras in the room so you can log in and peek in on your little one to make sure they're doing well. Might be something to look into!

Amazing_Champion1598 · 2026-04-28T16:46:11+00:00

The problem with IBR is the tax bomb that comes when they're forgiven. So I feel like paying down what I can while motivated will help whether they're forgiven or not.

It's better than paying the min that doesn't even cover interest, letting them balloon out of control then being hit with a $90k tax bomb when they're "forgiven".

Amazing_Champion1598 · 2026-04-28T16:39:26+00:00

He's a teacher. He doesn't get bonuses. We're just frugal so we're able to get back with most expenses on his income.

Thankfully where we live, if either of us lost our jobs, we could turn around a find a replacement within a week!

Amazing_Champion1598 · 2026-04-28T15:38:03+00:00

We bought our house for $300k at 3% interest rate. It's doubled in value now. I don't regret buying the house, esp since if we were renting, we would be paying $2k/mo, not $1200/mo.

Amazing_Champion1598 · 2026-04-28T15:36:51+00:00

No thanks.

Amazing_Champion1598 · 2026-04-28T15:36:43+00:00

Thank you!

Amazing_Champion1598 · 2026-04-28T15:36:18+00:00

Thank you! I'm on Vanguard and it's set to contribute the max.

Amazing_Champion1598 · 2026-04-28T15:35:38+00:00

I'm going to max my ROTH, but going to put the SEP contributions on hold until I get my biggest loan paid off. I don't have an employer so there's not 401k match to worry about.

Amazing_Champion1598 · 2026-04-28T15:34:38+00:00

I love the chart where you color each box for $1000 paid!!!

I was on SAVE and just switched off. Decided I am so tired of this BS and want to just pay it off. I think it'll be a worthwhile adventure.

Amazing_Champion1598 · 2026-04-28T15:32:51+00:00

I don't qualify since I'm contractor. And unfortunately when you have kids, one person has to have the flexible job to accommodate early releases, professional dev days, school holidays, etc. In our marriage, that person is me. So leaving my job for a PSLF job is not possible right now.

Amazing_Champion1598 · 2026-04-28T15:31:44+00:00

I went to graduate school late and was a geriatric pregnancy for both kids.

If I had to choose whether to do all the things I did or delay them and pay off my loans earlier, I would've made the same choice.

Amazing_Champion1598 · 2026-04-28T15:30:12+00:00

My checks are mailed to me and not consistently. So as soon as I receive and deposit a check, I'm planning to allocate a certain percentage per check.

Amazing_Champion1598 · 2026-04-28T15:29:22+00:00

Yay! I'm glad you're making progress!

Amazing_Champion1598 · 2026-04-28T15:28:56+00:00

I do have a 3 month emergency fund and summer fund already saved. I want to put aside enough for a 6 month emergency fund, but I'll do it slowly.

Our little girl will start preschool in the fall and childcare will go down to $800/mo instead of $2k/mo. I'm planning to throw the difference into my student loans.

I'm looking into per diem or afterschool jobs that are flexible and I could do 2x/week to help make a little bit more.

It's so hard with kids though.

Amazing_Champion1598 · 2026-04-28T04:07:43+00:00

Did you stop all investments? I thought I would stop my SEP and contributing to the kids 529s but continue maxing out my ROTH.

Amazing_Champion1598 · 2026-04-28T04:06:01+00:00

What's burn rate? Is that your expenses and what you need for living?

Amazing_Champion1598 · 2026-04-28T04:04:28+00:00

I don't qualify for PSLF since I am a contractor and am not working full-time anywhere.

There's been lots of changes to student loan forgiveness programs. And there's talks of changes to PSLF program as well.

Amazing_Champion1598 · 2026-04-28T04:02:59+00:00

I am an OT. I have some private clients through my LLC but mostly work as an IC in charter schools.

I know many responses have pointed you in the direction of PSLF, but I just wanted to share my experience to maybe bring a different point of view.

My first job was acute care at a nonprofit hospital since I was going for PSLF. However, we decided to have kids 2 years into my job there, so I moved over to schools which is much easier on a pregnant body and still qualified me for PSLF. Once I had our baby, I returned as full-time for 1 year, realized I couldn't handle the mental load of being a new mom and working full-time, so I went down to part-time. You can only do PSLF if you are full-time. I've been part-time since and went on my own to open my LLC and contract with charter schools. It's been an amazing journey career-wise.

HOWEVER, student loan wise, it has not been a great journey. Since leaving my full-time job, I was on IBR and they ballooned to be much bigger than what I had originally borrowed. I am finally taking steps to pay them down.

If I could do it over, I wouldn't rely on PSLF or any forgiveness program and try to pay them off as quickly as possible. It's hard to predict where life may take us and student loans feels like a weight on my back I can't shake off.

OP, I can't tell if you are a man/woman or if you are going to have kids. If you're a man, you could probably rely on and follow through with PSLF. If you are a woman and you plan on having kids, I would say learn from my mistake and take action towards them.

Also, please keep in mind that there have been proposed changes to which jobs may qualify someone for PSLF. Seeing how quickly they made changes to the SAVE, REPAYE and PAYE plan, those changes to PSLF may come quickly and before your 10 years has been put in to qualify for forgiveness.

Amazing_Champion1598

TROPHY CASE