i'll one-up this... School Tuition- $100k+(5yrs... 2 at expensive engineering school and 3 at state school studying completely different and harder to apply major... German)

Time wasted- 5yrs

Joining these forums, reading, and sharing- priceless

While I feel that my education in itself was a waste, I would not trade the path I have taken in life as there are many winding roads that ultimately take you to where you are going, i.e. say I stayed in engineering and got a "safe-secure" job making $50k out of school... would I have the motivation to go for the next level or would I still be making $50k 10yrs later since it is a "decent" salary. OR say I got a decent translating job in my field(German) making oh $40k/yr and it pays my bills and starts to make a dent in these darn CC's and student loans, what motivation do I have to achieve those dreams of my childhood(owning a Porsche, seeing the whole world, being able to do WHAT I want, WHEN I want)???

now I can use my time more productively and reading this thread is just a reminder of whatever you think you know, there's still so much to learn... obivously I was stuck in the selfish mindset of "do something I like" or "do what I am good at" and everything will fall into place, well unfortunately, I need to think about what those who my financial aspirations are aimed at like and need... otherwise they won't want to give me THEIR money, for my goods/services...