The Poor House vs. Debtor’s Prison

These are basically my two choices. Like a lot of people seeking to improve their station through education, I am put in a precarious position. I have to spend money to make money. I have to take money to give it back. I have to borrow money from the bank so that I can get a degree that will earn me just enough money to be able to pay my student loan debt. Well, okay, I’ll do a little better than that, but it’s the principle. It comes down to one of two situations: 1. borrow the money and don’t look back; 2. borrow just enough to put food in your mouth about half as often as you would like; or 3. don’t borrow any money at all in the hopes that everything will work itself out somehow. So that was three. There’s a bonus in there for you. And as to that bonus, it isn’t completely out of the question. Husband got a new job which pays a little more, the exorbitant amount of money I have been sending monthly to the credit cad people is about to be paid off, and I can do without a few things here and there, no problem. That just leaves the figuring out of how to pay for school. It’s not actually all that much. It’s a Junior College for goodness sake (oh, but a really good one – don’t think those thoughts when I say Junior College). The math almost works out, which means we really could try it without too much risk. I’m willing to live in the Poor House for a couple of years to avoid Debtor’s Prison for ten.

But what works out in theory, on paper, and especially with my meager math skills, isn’t always what happens in real life. Crap comes up, and you have to deal with it and pay for it when it happens, which usually means you end up paying for it long after that as well. So maybe Debtor’s Prison isn’t so bad in exchange for peace of mind while I’m in school. I’m going to have enough stress as it is (seriously, it’s a really tough program. You have to believe me. I should never have said Junior College). I could borrow enough to be comfortable, put it aside for just in case, and then pay it back when I start making some major RN cash! I know there’s nothing wrong with borrowing money for school, it’s probably the most noble of debts, really. But I just can’t help from conjuring up visions of Dickens-like incarcerations a la Masterpiece Theatre’s Little Dorit.

And I know what some of you are thinking (there is more than one person reading this, right? Okay, then mom, I know what you’re thinking): why don’t you get off your lazy seat cushions and apply for some scholarships! You can’t hear me laughing right now, but it is a terrible, almost cruel laugh and it is more at my expense than yours. Scholarships I will address in another episode, when I have more energy and a less Christian vocabulary.