Digging into Debt II

Originally posted March 8, 2010
We moved twice in the next six months. One move was local—I wasn’t done with my research, and we needed to stay until the end of the fall semester. Professor was lucky enough to get a job in a research lab. I might not have been a teacher’s assistant that semester since there was so much to do to get my degree. That was a rough semester. I disliked my research, and we lived in a trailer on the outskirts of town. It was hard to find a place that would give us a 6 month lease and take the animals (more on the animals later). At the same time, we bought a new car. I loved our Subaru Outback Sport. We bought that car thinking we could make larger payments and pay it off quickly and signed up for a five year loan with really low interest—back in 2003, car loans were very low interest. Plus I felt it was the perfect car to have when we started a family.
I finished my degree and we moved out of that trailer (one day we came home to find a notice that the trailer was unfit for occupancy—if I can find that picture, I will add it later). After grad school, I really thought I needed more schooling. I liked teaching the undergraduates basic biology and thought teaching at the college level would be rewarding. I also felt I needed a PhD. So, we moved to Calgary, Alberta in January and I began researching for someone I highly respected and had referenced extensively in my thesis. I really liked Calgary and so did Professor.  However, he had no job and my stipend was minimal. I took out a student loan. In hindsight, that was not necessary, but there we were in a foreign country, Professor did not have a job, I had the promise of a researcher’s pay, and a wedding to plan.