My husband needs to quit his job for mental health reasons. He's 90% of the income

[AbuHossam]

The Question
He wants to go back to school to get into the medical field, which has been a distant dream for years. I think it's a great career path for him, but the timing is not great (but is it ever?)

The program he wants to go into is 2 years, including summers, and starts in January. He's going to try and take as many prerequisites this summer and Fall before the main program starts in January.*

The entire program is only 3.5k, closer to 5k with textbooks. We are hoping to get financial aid and use some of our tax return toward it.

When he starts the program he will be in school 8-4 and is going to find a night shirt job. He's done night shift before and it was absolutely miserable for me and our three children. But, what other option do we have?

My concern is him finding time to sleep between school and work.

His income is an average of $4800/month (take home) and he's hourly. He earns $31/hour, but this company and work environment has eaten away at him so badly for the past 8 years that he is having major mental health issues. He needs out. Now.

*please don't suggest he just "suck it up" and keep going. That's not an option any longer.

I teach kindergarten 4 days a week at a private school. My income is only about $1500/month (take home) and I use my paycheck to pay for our youngest son's preschool tuition ($475/month). Both my paychecks and our son's tuition will stop after May, but start back up again in August.

Our bills are high, with his student loans being the biggest one 46k. After bills and groceries are paid for, we only have about 50-100 left each week. I am already pooling as much as possible into our savings, which is not much right now (about 1k).

So. He's applied at a few places that will pay enough to keep us afloat, but I'm not sure what to do in the meantime. We have bills weekly and tomorrow is the last paycheck my husband will get. Multiple small jobs wont pay enough.

I'm trying not to stress out. How do people do this? We have 3 children and I can't work this summer without having to pay for camps/care for them. Even teaching I would still need to pay for all three of their tuitions.

What's the best plan of action so we don't sink?

Again, please be kind.

ANSWER 1
I think you should utilize Family Leave Medical Benefits before making any life changing decisions. This guarantees that he can be off work 12 weeks and his employer must hold his job for him. You can google how FMLA works. That will give him the mental break he needs and a chance for you as a family to really take the time to decide what is best. Best Wishes to you!


ANSWER 2
Mental health in the medical field is likely not going to be better. The biggest employer in my area is a hospital, it is grueling work. I would have him find a better work environment and knock out the debt you have before chasing a new dream right now.


ANSWER 3
I honestly left the medical field for mental health reasons. He may need to look into working through those issues before pursuing a different field.



ANSWER 4
This is a great way to increase your income! You will need to look into your state's laws regarding how many children you are allowed to care for in your home without a license, but during the summer I bet there are a lot of parents that would pay for a trusted teacher to watch their kids while they work. Mental illness is tough on the whole family and it sounds like it's definitely time to get out of that situation. I wish more people treated this sort of thing as an emergency, because it really is.