Back to School

So I'm going to be going back to school very soon, and I'm rather excited and nervous at the same time! I really like preparing for school; knowing what my schedule will be, seeing/buying the books I need before school starts, and just having all the other necessary basic supplies. Whether I actually read all the books and use all the supplies is another matter.

I checked out my scheduled classes for Fall 2011 and I'll be having classes all week long, 3 hours a day, except for Wednesday which will be 6 hours. I'm pondering how many hours I'd have available to work since it would be good to make a little extra money while I'm falling into debt... but at the same time I'm worried about having this hectic course load and being employed at the same time. Work is not recommended while attending school full-time, but it seems manageable if I only work 1-2 days a week and take off time to study when I have exams or projects.

I woke up thinking about what books I needed for school, so I looked up the the required books for my 5 classes. There are 14 required books!! And these textbooks are not cheap... Of course the school book store sells the book at inflated rates in comparison to if you search it out to purchase it on the internet, but I know I'll be spending at least $500 on these book even if I'm purchasing at prices below the school bookstore rate.

All this gets me thinking about school loans and the debt I'll be in after I'm finished... I'm about 10k in debt from my undergrad loans currently, but after I receive my Master's I'll be about 150k in debt. Its absolutely crazy how deep in debt a person can get within a few years! Time to make sure I know how to manage my finances!