<prompt> Human: I currently work in a dead-end state government job making around 23K before taxes. This salary is typical of my profession and geographic location. I have no opportunity for a raise nor promotion in the next 5 years or more according to my boss. Additionally, the terms of my student loan repayment plan dictate I remain in my current job for at least another 7 years. So my question is what could I be doing, say in my free time while Im stuck in this job, to improve my personal financial situation? A few details: I live very frugally, mostly necessitated by my low income i.e. I got rid of my car a year ago and have since walked everywhere or hitched rides with friends family. I already co-own a very small business with a friend...needless to say the income this business generates is barely beer money my monthly personal income from this business is in the ballpark of 60 and we have little opportunity to expand we work within a very niche market. I already have a 3 month emergency fund and in the neighborhood of 2K in other savings I could invest.---EDIT Jan. 11th 2013 3:45pm: Huge internet hug to everyone here on rpersonalfinance for the supportive comments and suggestions. It appears my best bet to improve my financial situation is to strive to get any job that I can with a salary of 40K which is the break-even point that an increase in monthly loan payments would be out-paced by the increase in my monthly income ...I will continue my job search pursuit and widen my net to include any job I can appear qualified for and shoot for the stars. Thanks everyone!Assistant: but how much do you owe on student loan?is the question, is 7 years worth the amount of student loanHuman: I owe near 40K and without the repayment plan that I am on my monthly payments would shoot up to around 475month for perspective I currently pay 50month  <response>: Just some quick math, 40k7 years 5.7k per anum.You have a college degree, yes? Basically, if you could find a job that paid you 28k youd be in the same situation. You should easily find a job making 35k. Shit.Go wait tables and you can probably bank more than that. My point is the public service program sounds like a sham.The other thing to think about... if you find an entry level job someone else for 30k you will have growth opportunity. So lets say you make 30k this year and then get a 5 raise each year. Thats 31.5k next year, 33k the third year, 35k the 4th year, 36.5k the 5th year, 38.3k year 6 and finally 40k the last year. All in all, that puts you significantly further away than sticking in the shitty program you are in.Using these hypothetical numbers, you will make 83k extra dollars at the job that gives you growth. Even after paying 40k in student loans, you walk away with an extra 40k in pocket.Get outside of your comfort zone with your job search. You might need to start looking at professions in other industries that pay more. 