Next Year
a shot of my work-from-home desk at my parents' house
Each year, I think about where my blog is going and where I want it to go. It’s almost completely influenced by what my goals are for each year. When I started this blog, I had just started my career, and I wanted to dress in a way that was professional and made me look older than I was. To be taken seriously. I think this year, that was definitely accomplished, despite not have written about it. I have silhouettes that I stick to, I know what materials and shapes and colors I like.For the next 3 years, my primary goal is to save as much money as possible to pay for an MBA. In 3 years, I’ll be 26 and have 5 years of experience under my belt in marketing and advertising, and I’m considering it as finishing school on the way toward a leadership position in the far future. Of course, this all requires money, so I’ll be pulling back a lot of spending in different areas of my life - basically food and clothes. I’ll have a lot less to write about - not zero! - but a lot less.
So the point of this is that in the coming year, the posts here on dorigamii will be a little bit different. A lot less revolved around consumption, and a lot more revolved around a real life - loving the clothes I already have, and carefully saving up for the few things that I want.
It's really great that you're committed to saving up money for your MBA, especially after you've been so good about your undergrad loans! I really do wish I could have learned to be so responsible much earlier on
ReplyDeleteIf you don't mind my being exceedingly nosy (and definitely no pressure to answer, I'm just really curious about what the situation looks like for other professional school attendees), do you anticipate being able to save enough to cover your entire cost of attendance? One tiny factor that probably influenced me in not being as frugal as I should before law school was that it felt "hopeless" - I was actually saving 50% of my (somewhat low) income and even if I amped up that number significantly, I wouldn't have made that large a dent in my ultimate cost of attendance.
Happy new year!
I definitely won't be able to save enough for the entire cost of attendance, but I certainly don't feel hopeless either. Total tuition for the program I'd like to enter (Northwestern Kellogg) is between $93k and $124k, which is a disgusting amount of money to drop. Realistically, I'll be able to put away $75K cash in 3 years, without compromising my retirement accounts or emergency fund. I'm using a 529 college savings account, where I can invest my money in a few funds the state has set up. It typically gains around 2-3% a year, so it helps! Hopefully I'll have some raises or a promotion during the next 3 years as well, which will up my savings rate a little as well!
DeleteFortunately, business school is just a 2 year program, if you do it full time. I haven't decided either if I want to do full or part time. Part time would definitely ease the financial burden, since I'd be working all the while! If part time ends up being the case, then the cash base will be helpful in making payments, without sacrificing my entire paycheck to tuition.
Thank you for satisfying my curiosity. Although I know some of the general facts about business school from friends who are considering it, I'm largely clueless about how feasible it is for them to save a large chunk of tuition prior to matriculating. It sounds like you'll be able to save a very solid percentage of the cost of attendance, which is super fantastic! I forgot about the 529 option (I was so clueless about financial matters when I was planning for law school).
DeleteAnyway, it sounds like you have a very solid start to your career and finances, which is great. I'll definitely be reading along as you write :].