Staying afloat on a nurse's salary?

jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B · Jul 16, 2014

Sometimes you have to make due.

In the very broadest sense, when you get your first 40 hour paycheck (and this is assuming that you are sure that you will get 40 hours per week) one usually has all day shift hours. This is your lowest kind of a paycheck. Times either 2 or 4 weeks, depending on your pay schedule. Take that amount, and subtract from it all of your constant, fixed bills (ie: rent). What is left is what you have for your non-constants. If you have very little left over, then you need to get creative.

Some creative budgeting means that you can buy groceries in bulk monthly. It means that you look at circulars and buy to specials. It means bringing your own coffee, your own meals.

It means one credit card FOR EMERGENCIES only.

Finally, even if it is only $10.00 a week, put money into a savings account that you just don't touch.

You need to get creative with what you have. Best wishes

calivianya, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2014

I don't really budget anymore. Used to, but have found it grossly unnecessary with my nurse paycheck. If you have kids or debt, you may need to budget, but if you are single, childfree, and debt-free, I wonder how you are living if you are having trouble managing your money as a nurse.

I say that coming from one of the lowest-paid areas of the country, so if I'm saving out the wazoo, I'm pretty sure others can do it too.

GingerRN17 · Jul 16, 2014

Get Dave Ramsey's books. Live below your means. Know where all your money is going. Use cash for anything you can.

seaofclouds21, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2014

We try to keep our budgeting pretty simple. When we started our current budget, we wrote down all of our monthly expenses, including the amount we wanted to put into savings each month. Then we looked at the least we would make during the month. For my pay, that meant looking at what my base pay x 144 hours would be. That way we weren't relying on any differentials that could be taken away by my employer. If our expenses would have been more than our income, we would've looked at what we could have done to lower them each month.

As it stands now, we are looking at ways of increasing the amount we put into savings, so we are probably going to start seeing what we can do to lower our monthly expenses. When we do that, we'll adjust our budget accordingly.

llg, PhD, RN · Jul 16, 2014

I have always made a "semi-budget" based a principle that my father taught me -- "Pay yourself first." I take the amount that I make and estimate approximately how much I will need for the rock-bottom bare necessities of life. Then based on that estimate of expenses, I make a goal as to how much I want to save each month.

Then I "pay myself first" by taking my savings off the top of my paychecks and deposit that out of easy reach -- into my retirement account and/or other savings and investment vehicles. Then I create a flexible budget for basic needs and wants out of what's left.

My 2 fundamental principles:

1. Know the difference between "needs" and "wants" (E.g. Basic transportation is a need. A pretty car with "features" is just a want.)

2. Pay yourself first (You are important -- so take care of your future by saving)

ANRN2B · Jul 16, 2014

As long as your monthly income exceeds your monthly expenses, it's really VERY simple.

Add up all monthly expenses and divide by 2 if you are paid biweekly, 4 if you are paid weekly. This amount is what you must put away each and every paycheck to cover your expenses. Now the beauty of this is not only will you have the money already to set aside before each bill comes due, but you also end up with 4 "free" weeks worth of pay each year to do with as you wish. Savings, vacay, home repairs, etc.

Example: hubby and I budget our home, property taxes, heating oil (expensive!), car payment, car insurance, cellphones, internet/cable and electric. We don't do our gas and groceries, but you could. Our budget amount divided by 2 comes to $1130. We put that away EVERY paycheck. Yeah, it's the middle of summer and you could say we're spending money on heating oil, but it's being set aside in our account and will be there to cover NEXT winter's heat! We're miles ahead of 95% of the people we know when it comes to money management.

Our "free" paychecks have been used as our fun money in the past, but now that the start of school is just around the corner, we've been funneling it into savings. We live within our means, we make sure bill money is set aside, we have a comfortable savings for emergencies and we get snarky comments at family functions from the people who refuse to manage their money responsibly. (I like to believe the snarky comments mean I'm doing something RIGHT!).

If you're paid weekly, start setting your calculated "budget amount" with the last paycheck of a 5 pay period month. Continue on from there and reap the rewards.

God willing, once I'm through school and working our "free" paychecks will be used to cover BIG travel plans :) Several members of my family taught me this type of budgeting many moons ago (the in-laws are the irresponsible ones), and it took me forever to finally do it, but in the last 6 or 7 years I've been doing this budget it hasn't let me down once!

mee9mee9 · Jul 16, 2014

I meant like what type of homes can you buy, cars can you afford, vacations, shopping, etc.?

seaofclouds21, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2014

I meant like what type of homes can you buy, cars can you afford, vacations, shopping, etc.?

That all depends on your income and expenses.

Luckyyou, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2014

I meant like what type of homes can you buy, cars can you afford, vacations, shopping, etc.?

I own my own home, drive a brand new SUV, take vacations 2-3 times a year and can buy/shop (within reason) for whatever I want. I also have zero debt with the exception of my mortgage and $6k in student loans (out of 28k I graduated with three years ago). However, I'm also 25, unmarried, childless and work a significant amount of OT. Working nights also helps the paycheck a lot with shift differentials. There are plenty of ways to make a good living in nursing, you just have to put in the work.

iPink, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2014

I moved from up north to the south and initially thought I'd never survive on my nursing salary. I was dead wrong and do a great job at budgeting. Paid off some debt in no time and saved toward my first house. I will be buying in a few months and I won't be house poor either. I live comfortably on my current salary and there's opportunity for me to continue to climb the clinical ladder at work.

KimberlyRN89, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2014

Read Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Makeover"

Totally worth it!! I did the financial peace class last fall at church and it helped a ton.

caliotter3 · Jul 16, 2014

I prioritize the unemployment benefits according to which creditor/expense is the most delinquent, for the longest period of time, with the highest degree of need and take turns, paying each in turn. If I want to splurge, I put gas in the car or buy food. When I have a paycheck, I do the same thing, with better results in keeping people from harassing me on the phone for money that I don't have.