K so here’s the deal lads.

Have paid off house that my kids and I live in, debt free except for the car I just got back in January

I never finished college, so I have no degree or any certifications unfortunately. I got as far as being literally just a few hrs shy of an associate’s degree (like legit prob 2-3 classes completed away from it)

Trying to get myself and my kids in a better position in life. I don’t make much money (like legit 32-33K/yr), but I also have very few expenses and I live in one of the poorer states in the country so it’s not as bad I guess lol

But anyway, I’ve got 3 different things I was looking at to try and better myself… and I honestly might just try and accomplish all 3 just to build myself up and open myself up to a lot of opportunities to where hopefully I’ll never have to work for this low of pay ever again

The 3 things:
Class A CDL
NASM certification (for personal training/nutrition stuff)
A coding academy (it’s legit cuz they’re tied into one of the biggest universities in my state)

Anyway, I don’t rly have any cash to be able to do anything tho soooooo here’s an idea

Home equity loan, but get enough money to pay off the car so I don’t have multiple debts… plus enough extra money to at least fund 1 of those 3 things

Now obv I’m not looking at getting something like that and taking a full 15-30 years to pay it back cuz that would be stupid af. It’s just to get me the cash now to make legit moves, and then get laser focused on paying it back as fast as possible to avoid as much interest as possible.

Thoughts? Advice? I just don’t wanna be stagnant in life and if I’ve got a paid off house, why couldn’t I utilize it to propel myself and my kids into a better spot in life?

bump boyos

The “multiple debts” thing is kind of a farce. You’d be taking on additional debt at today’s current interest rate to pay off existing debt, which is likely financed at a lower interest rate. You’d be lowering your payment because the car would now be part of a 15 or 30 year loan instead of a 5-6 year loan, but over the long run you’d be paying more for the car.

How is your house paid off with such a low income? Was it inherited? The reason I ask is because I would hate to see something happen where it possibly gets foreclosed and your family loses grandma’s house or something like that.

It was, yeah, it used to be my grandparents’ house back when they were alive

But here’s the reason why I was asking tho. I mean, granted, I know interest rates are kinda chit right now, but my car loan is at 11% (not ideal I know, but it is what it is)

But the reason why I was thinking a home equity loan is because surely the rates are better on those, right?

So yes, u would still owe on the car plus the additional I would take out to aid in making an actual career change…. The debt would just be transferred over to a home equity loan…. Most likely at a much better interest rate (I’m assuming, if not then forget the idea obv)

And I understand it would be on a 15 or 30 yr term, but the idea is that the minimum monthly payment required would be less than what my current car payment is…. So it eases things temporarily until you could pivot into the career change and then pay it off in a few years (wayyyy less than 15 or even 30)

Like I’m talking about looking at paying it off in roughly 5-6 yrs or less, so essentially the same as a car loan

No way I would stretch it out the full 15 or 30 years. That would be insanely retarded

I’m talking treating it like a car loan essentially as far as how long ur gonna pay it off in, but just rolling it into a home equity loan in hopes of a better interest rate and a lower minimum monthly payment to give some temporary relief until career change with more $$…. On top of the fact that I’ll be funneling any additional funds via tax refunds every year into it

Could that not work?

4th Option G4P

Go IT. It's easy, you'll make money fast, and the majority of IT people are straight up incompetent. So if you're of at least average intelligence, you'll kill it.

What is your job? Can you work more at your current job?

How old are the kids?

nah bruh, I can't just give up and adopt that mentality. That's like literally not even an option for me. Not only do I have kids counting on me (I have full custody, their mom is currently in jail srs).... but like, that's just a loser mentality and I gotta give my kids something to look up to and show them that they can accomplish anything man.... even if they get a little behind the 8 ball at some point in life and think that it's too late for them.... like I wanna be able to show them that it's no excuse, ya know? Granted, like I said.... I mean, I should've done things differently when I was younger and chit.... but ya know, stuff happens sometimes. And I mean I've been thru a divorce too, so I mean... I gotta be that example to show them you can overcome chit. And I wanna do it for myself, too obv.... just wanna prove myself, ya know?Yeah man, this is why I'm thinking the coding academy option might be #1 out of the 3 choices... cuz like I said, it's tied into one of the biggest universities in my state. Like it's part of them and what they offer. What I'm seeing with that option right now off their site is coding bootcamps, a full-stack development option that says you can learn the skills to be a software developer, and then the option of cybersecurity. So like if I could get something like that and get in with a great company and better money, then I think I could branch off too in my free time and work on something like the NASM certification.... I've got a shop out behind my house, so that could be a project to build that into something that I could eventually do as like a separate hustle or something ya know? Just some thoughts...I can't really put in more at my current job, I'm already full time and they won't give us anything else.... but basically, I work in production at an audio and visual cabling company.... like we build cables, so I do termination and soldering mainly with my position there... kids are 7 and 11

Okay, that rate changes things a bit. Here are current interest rates according to a quick google search:



I’d still be wary of pulling equity out of the house just because it opens you up to the risk of losing it if you ever fall behind on payments, but it’s an option. I think you have to pay closing costs as well, so take that into consideration.


As far as the career move goes I have less advice to give, but I would probably go with something coding/IT related. I know a gov contractor I had some experience with a while back was hiring kubernetes engineers for just stupid amounts of money. I still couldn’t even begin to explain what kubernetes is, but I know those software engineers make a ton of money.

why u do even have a financed car? such a dumb move especially if u are paying 11% interest

If it is tied to your university, why not just take a student loan - do you know if that is an option. There is lots of flexibility in repaying those, especially income based repayment plans, so seems safer than putting your house back into debt. Also, Biden and his free chit army might just forgive student loans anyways.

Truck driving is safe and the career path is pretty certain once you get your license. From what I hear though, you will be away from your family a lot. Do you have someone who could watch the kids?

Coding is not IT. Think of it like this. IT has many levels, you can start at a low level, like taking a step on a staircase and work your way up. Development is like climbing a wall, the lowest level is a an 8 foot wall, so it won't be as easy or fast to get that first job.

You can easily get a level 1 IT job making $30k a year in 3-6 months of studying.

If you are interested in IIT you should not take a loan but look for entry level help desk jobs. Just being reliable is often enough for those. Do not go into more debt.

Coding is a bit steeper and you will be competing with ****** for the lower level work.

If it needs to be a remote job do IT support or help desk. If you can do something local, which I would recommend you should look for a hands on trade.

ok, so yeah.... the 6% basically on a 15 year term.... that's one reason why I had considered it because I just don't know if you could match or beat that on any type of car loan currently is the only thing, so that's why it had crossed my mind. Granted, I do understand it's a risk nonetheless putting your home into the equation.... but it's not like I was looking at taking a stupid amount of money like 100K or anywhere close to that, so that's why I thought it would be fairly low risk. But ya know, where are you really gonna get in life being afraid to take on any sort of risk.... right? So I dunno, again.... it was just kind of a thought as I'm trying to weigh out some options and was kinda thinking about like ways that maybe I could utilize things that I already have, ya know?Yeah, I know the 11% isn't ideal bruh.... but like, what other option do I have really? I mean, I have to have a vehicle.... like it's a necessity. And if I don't have available cash to just pay outright for one, I don't have any other option but to finance oneYeah, so.... I mean, I do have my parents that help me with my kids. So there's that.... but yeah, even if I got the CDL, I wouldn't wanna drive an 18 wheeler and be gone like that. Having full custody of my kids, I just can't really do that type of life. It's just not ideal at all especially when the other parent isn't even in the picture and honestly may never be again.... student loan is an option, yes, but I haven't really looked into it that much at this point. I think another reason why I had looked at the option of a home equity loan is, again, just so I could kinda have all of my debt literally just rolled up into one thing instead of having multiple streams of debt. I kinda thought it might be a better option to do it that way if you could? I could be wrong, but it was just a thought...Yeah, so.... I don't mind starting somewhere and working my way up. I'm not in any sort of way expecting to jump into something and start higher up or at the top.... I just need to make a move into a better career or field with a higher ceiling and more capacity for growth and $$$. With where I'm currently at, I think I'm basically in the highest level of production where I'm at with what we do and I think we cap out somewhere around like $20/hr, maybe a tad higher but that's what I've heard. There's not really anywhere else to move beyond that unless you move into the office and go into like sales or something. So, it's a pretty low ceiling and I definitely don't wanna be cut off that low when it comes to growth. That's terrible lol

Learn to code

Dead fukking serious.

But do it for free, at least initially, until you're certain that you're good at it and like it.

Forget about the NASM certification...there's no requirement to be a personal trainer. If you can acquire one client, you can acquire ten.

The CDL license is easy to get because you'll be driving a garbage truck and that would smell like garbage.

Sky's the limit in IT. I would say study on your own, and start looking for jobs. Get your A+ certification, that will get you in at the base floor.