Mom survives off student loans during job search - Colorful Stories with Student Loans

Mom survives off student loans during job search
06:13 PM EST on Thursday, March 5, 2009
By MICHELLE BOUDIN / NewsChannel 36

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Theresa Romano is a single mom, forced to use college loans to help pay her mortgage. She was unexpectedly laid off from her day job while she was in school.

"In the pit of your stomach you wonder, oh my gosh, what am I going to do?" Romano said.

After two years at a financial planning company, last November she was suddenly pink-slipped.

"You can't be angry. It's nothing personal. So I sat down and tried to reinvent my future," Romano said.

Even before the layoff, she had started that process at Queens University, taking classes at night to earn a master's degree.

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Without a paycheck, she's forced to use her college loans to pay the bills.

"Electricity, whatever's leftover of the mortgage, car payment, gas, food," she said.

Romano says the job search is a fulltime job in itself.

"November, December was very depressing. I tried to apply for jobs. There was nothing to apply for," she said. "January was very encouraging until you don't get a lot of callbacks."

Now it's March, and with no interviews booked, Romano says she relies on friends and family to keep her going.

"It's worrisome to go back weekly and do your budget and go OK, how much longer can I make it?" she said.

Romano says she's learned some pretty important things while going through all of this. First, you have to stay organized between staying on top of contacts, job leads and everything that goes into the unemployment process.

As for unemployment, she says navigate that process online as much as you can, instead of going to the office in person or trying to get someone on the phone.