24 and 22. Combined net pay of $27k/year. I work at a university and get significant tuition reductions for myself and my wife, among other benefits (free gym, good health insurance, free bus passes, pension plan). We both work full time.
She is looking at a two-year program, but she's concerned that she won't be able to handle full time school and full time work. I make $15k/year, plus whatever we can finagle out of financial aid without taking out loans, in hopes that she can drop to on-call and go to school full time, get that program finished, get a job that pays $35k, and then I can quit and go to school full time.
Most significantly to this decision is that our rent will go from 25.8% of monthly takehome pay to 48%, which is high.
We have an option to move in with some friends this winter to a larger 3br apartment and pay 38% of take home pay (with only my income), along with savings on utilities and internet, and less wear and tear and gas on her car.
My wife will probably also be able to pick up a few hours here and there if she drops her job to on-call, which will help. If we move in with the friends, our budget is doable, but we won't have our fat savings rate anymore, which makes me nervous.
We have assets, a car worth $2800 and about $2k in liquid cash, increasing by $800/month. I have $5k in student loans that can be deferred as long as I want with 0% interest, and $4k in a motorcycle at 3% interest, that I'm debating on selling.
What we're thinking of doing is that she skips this semester and continues to work full-time, we save everything we can so that we're comfortable with the move, she quits or drops to on-call, gets in full time with her program, and knocks it out.
The alternative would be to go to school part time, take about twice as long to finish, but remain fairly stable in our entry-level jobs.
Budget (Parentheses are changes if we move in with friends)
Rent - $595 ($450)
Electric - $60 ($35)
Phone - $60 ($30)
Internet - $40 ($25)
Groceries - $250
Fuel - $80 ($30)
Insurance - $100 ($50 if I sell the bike)
Debt minimums - $104 ($0 if I sell the bike)
Allowance - $100 (would drop if wife dropped job)
Savings - $800 (would drop if wife dropped job)
Is this manageable or a good idea? Thanks for reading!