I’d like to make a brief update to note that my husband and I are still on track with our goals, and things are going well. My husband is more than halfway through his graduate degree, and is receiving a lot of high praise from his professors. The major hurdle right now is obtaining an internship for next year, and while he’s has some excellent leads and interviews, nothing has materialized yet. We are both hoping this works itself out soon so we have a better sense of what his schedule will look like for fall/spring semesters.
We are still planning to pay directly for his tuition without student loans. We discussed maybe taking out a loan for one semester (maybe his very last), but he only qualifies for unsubsidized loans and so interest would accrue and origination fees also are a bummer, so we’ve decided this isn’t a good option.
We also have another big trip planned for the spring. Details and a budget will be shared when we return.
It’s also the anniversary of the Affordable Care Act being signed into law, and I just want to note that this has literally saved us thousands of dollars since I was able to sign up for health insurance via our state exchange. My employer’s coverage was a fairly expensive HDHP, and via the state exchange, MNsure, I was able to get a much lower cost plan and put my benefit dollars into retirement savings instead. It’s also a huge relief for people like my diabetic sister who can rest easy knowing they won’t reach some ridiculous lifetime maximum or be denied coverage due to a preexisting condition.