Wanna Buy a Loft Pt. 2

I took my loft off the market last June after I got an offer 25 grand less than I paid for it nearly 2 years before. By last spring, I had gone back to school for a 2-yr graphic design degree (clearly the BA and MFA are useless here) so I decided to stay. Figured I could live on student loans, unemployment, the contract work that comes my way, and eBay. Of course this means that I work at one thing or another from the moment I wake up till shortly before I fall into bed.

I have again decided to put the loft back on the market in February or March and see what happens this year. I think the straw that broke the camel's back: I accepted a part time editing job that pays 50 cents less an hour to start than I made 31 years ago and about 18 dollars less an hour than my last fulltime job. (For ABQ, the pay is not particularly low.)

31 years ago I was 16 and hadn't even graduated high school yet. I now have 31 years of solid experience and 2 degrees and this is what I can find in Albuquerque. I think it will be an interesting job and will give me a little of the science background I need, but clearly this is not going to pay the mortgage in the long run. (I bought a place I could afford on what I used to make and I'll never see that salary again in ABQ.) Even in a good economy, little in the private sector pays anything. What does pay (military, government, government contractors) I generally don't have the background for.

Bottom line: I can hold out longer. I can finish the 2-yr degree, but why delay the inevitable? When I sell, I'll head back to Minneapolis where I have friends and family (and can live rent-free for a few months), where there's a thriving writing and arts community (where the weather nearly killed me the first time around), where I can find a job. The economy may be such that I won't get my dream job, but at least I know I can find one that will pay the rent. Yes, rent. I'm never buying again!