Do it now and borrow - or save for salary sorrow?

[BugSmasher]

The allure of "going the Korea" route is that (most) of the private English schools in Korea cover housing, 50% medical, and some utilities. As I understand it, the relative lack of expenses *could* result in big savings, depending on the contract and the degree to which it is adhered to by the school.

Unlike my situation here in Chicago, where I earn quite a good living, but by the time I pay my lincoln park rent, flight school expenses, and just general urban living, there's little left over to save for that 200hr chunk of timebuilding - i.e. the Commercial/multi tickets.

Since starting this thread, I've been leaning heavily toward an adventure in Korea once I have my PPL, and I'm grateful to those who have posted to share their experiences and advice.:rawk:

 

[milski]

I'm doing it in a somewhat different way than what's suggested here. I used the well paying full time job that I have to finance all the training and did it in mornings/evenings/weekends, it took me about two years but I did not get into any debt because of it. As of now, I'm instructing part time, still working my full time job and saving money. Within a year or two I'll have enough saved money and enough experience to get hired at a 121/135 company and still live comfortably through the first few years. I'm not in a hurry to get there, for me it's more about the journey than about being there now.

 

[Stratopilot]

I'm doing it in a somewhat different way than what's suggested here. I used the well paying full time job that I have to finance all the training and did it in mornings/evenings/weekends, it took me about two years but I did not get into any debt because of it. As of now, I'm instructing part time, still working my full time job and saving money. Within a year or two I'll have enough saved money and enough experience to get hired at a 121/135 company and still live comfortably through the first few years. I'm not in a hurry to get there, for me it's more about the journey than about being there now.

Hi Milski,

I'm taking the same approach you are. Although i got my CFI/CFII back in college. Problem is that I have 130K in debt thanks to Riddle. I've decided while i could consolidate, move back in with mom, and still be ok for the first year, I'd rather pay off my debt and have that extra 500 bucks. Unfortunately, since then i've gotten side tracked off of what i originally set out to do those 7 years ago. I'm looking to get back in to instructing after a 3 year absence. I've still been involved in aviation since then so I'm still kind of fresh. I also need to instruct part time because of the full time job I already have. I'm moving to Dallas in 2 weeks, and will have enough money to get back in the saddle. I called Skymates over in Dallas and the person i spoke to told me that instructing part time there was no problem since they have alot of people in the same boat I'm in, as long as my weekends are free there should be no problem according to the voice on the other end of the line. My question for you is...how many billable hours do you do average per week, and how difficult a time did you find it to balance work/instructing/family? Im planning on instructing 2-4 hours on the weekday afterwork, and all day on the weekends. From your experience i'm I over-estimating? I look forward to your response.

AP

 

[cfii2007]

Perhaps take out the loans, accumulate debt and instruct, while holding a 2nd or 3rd job.

In a year or two you will have enough hours, and have made dent in the debt.

 

[Bigscrb15]

My route came up kinda unusually. My wife and I moved out of our apartment when our lease ran up and moved into my moms house while waiting the 3 weeks for our new apartment to open up. I planned on gettin loans for flight training, but was denied due to high credit card debt, boat payment, 4wheelers, etc. The wife came up to me the other day and said since we are saving $1200/month by living with my mom we should do that for 1 year and pay off all our debt. When we move out tomorrow our only debt will me my truck and her car. That will save us almost $1000/month in other payments. With that $1000/month I will leep my fulltime job and train at the local FBO for about 2 years. Yeah, it pushed back my schedule by 3 years total, but being 23 I am ok with that. I think I will be happy not to have a $50k debt and it will be worth it.