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I'm a married 1L and have been commuting almost 2 hours each way to school for a couple of reasons (1-Boston is incredibly, ridiculously expensive and 2- Husband's job). Husband's boss told him today that his office can no longer afford him--his boss is looking to see if somewhere else in the agency can hire him but he is 90% going to have to take a paycut and possibly jobhunt if there's nothing within the agency.

With a paycut, we won't be able to live where we have been on his income alone. Husband thinks we should move closer to where he works, where rent is less (but my commute would be 20 minutes longer, there are fewer trains in and out of the city and I'd be paying a little bit more for public transit). My concern is that I am already sick of my current commute, and I'm afraid commuting farther will interfere with my schoolwork and/or sleep. I also can't imagine trying to deal with another move (with packing, unpacking, finding a place to live), while keeping up the workload I have right now.

The only other options I can think of are for me to find a part-time job so I can pay some of the rent (which could also affect my study time and grades and would be difficult with my commute) or to take out more loans.

Husband is very against taking out more loans, but it's the only option I can see for right now that would enable us to avoid moving (plus breaking our lease), a longer commute and not interfere with my studies. Normally I wouldn't want to go farther into debt but I only have about $20,000 in debt from this year, and my estimate of what we'd need is about another $5k a year.

Thoughts? Any other options that I'm missing?

Edit: I go to Northeastern.

Are you at Harvard? Or are you at BC/BU?

What school are you attending in Boston? If Harvard/BC/BU just take out the extra debt. 75K to 60K at the end of the day is not that substantial, especially in a two-income household.

I'm a 1L at Northeastern.

Then yes, I would try to get a part time job. A paying legal job is probably not going to happen until you're a 2L though, if it happens at all. But your husband is right to try and keep debt down as much as possible; remember, there is a 55% chance that you will not become an attorney within a year after graduating. If your grades aren't great and you haven't made serious connections following this summer that would lead you to believe you'll be employed post-graduation, I would seriously consider dropping out and finding another career path.

Good luck.

I'm not overly worried about post-graduation employment--I've worked in the legal field for more than 2 years, including in Boston this summer, and my summer employer wanted to hire me long-term. I will be in class all summer and am hoping to co-op for either legal services or Worcester family court in the fall. I'm not looking to do Biglaw, I want to go into family law.

I realize you're not looking to do biglaw, but still your focus should be to keep costs as low as possible. Grades aren't going to matter as much in a situation like this, as you know, so I would try to find some work to avoid the need to take on more debt. Maybe reach out to these past employers and see if they are interested in taking you back part-time, in your old capacity.