Interview with Shan

Shan is a full time, second year, law school student at Villanova University. He currently works part-time at a law office in Wayne. Besides working at the law office, Shan does not have a source of income. Shan states that he spends too much money on eating out and at the bar. Shan states that although he isn’t a big drinker, he always manages to spend “way too much money at the bar” – whether on food or alcohol. Shan claims that he would very much like to cut his spending on food and alcohol in half.

Currently, he keeps track of his receipts and monitors his debt-it bank card online. Shan states that he rarely uses cash because most often he doesn’t have any cash on him. Shan doesn’t take full responsibility for his overspending and states that he always gets stuck with the tab or that his friends always borrow money from him.  He says that since he is always using his card, his friends often ask if he could pay for them on his card and that they’ll pay him back; however, his friends rarely pay him back in full, and pay him back sporadically. 

In the short term, Shan’s goals include moving into his own apartment and to pay off his credit cards each month. Additionally, he has loans for law school that he wants to pay off within five years of graduating from law school. If Shan were to reduce his spending, he says that he would’ve moved out of his current apartment and into his own apartment. Shan’s long-term goals include alleviating all debt, purchasing a house and working at a top law firm in Philadelphia or NYC.