All,
So when looking at the estimated costs of attendance of the school I will be going to in Fall, the student budget that is given is much lower than I believe I can live on. For instance, the transportation allocation is around $350, and my current vehicle with insurance is well over $500. Even scrimping in some areas I find that I'll be short each month (assuming max Stafford and GradPLUS loans.) Since it is not really feasible to sell my car (although an option, I will still owe money on it if I do), I'm wondering what are some other ways to offset this cost.
The COA seems to allot for a shoestring budget and although I will cut costs significantly I want to ensure I'm able to eat/socialize/etc. I know there are private loans I'm just wondering how many here have gone that route. I don't have a very good credit score (I'd say FICO maybe around 630) so I'm concerned that I'm going to be in trouble when it comes to utilizing private loans. I don't have a problem with working part time I just really hoped to be able to focus on school full time this time around. Cheers to any feedback.