Staying afloat on a nurse's salary?

[mee9mee9]

How do you budget based on income?

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Is this your very first job? Have you never created a household budget before...?

If not, you might want to meet with a counselor, get some sound financial advice for YOUR situation. On a message board, not knowing all the variables in your life (salary/wages per hour, taxes, fixed expenses:rent/mortgage, auto costs, insurance costs, children/childcare costs, etc etc ad nauseum) we can't really do this one for you fairly.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

This is a very broad question but, basically, don't spend more than you make.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

A Google search of "how to create a budget" comes back with a lot of results, some obviously more reliable than others. The best place to start is by educating yourself. Check out resources that perhaps your bank provides and from reputable websites. Maybe look for an adult education course on personal finance or seek out free advice from financial planners if one in your area offers free consultations. But KelRN hit the nail on the head: the best, easiest, and most affordable way to stay afloat is to make sure income is greater than expenditures.

[melizerd, ASN, RN]

We are a family of three (my husband, son and myself) and we are definitely okay on just my salary. Cost of living of course has something to do with it. We have a nice home, not extravagant, we budget fun stuff, we pay the bills and we drive two cars (both are paid off now!!) We shop sales for groceries etc. I don't consider us SUPER thrifty but we try to keep a balance.

Definitely sit down and set up a budget, include fun stuff and savings as well! We survived on half what I make now while I was in school so it's been an easy transition, school was not a fun time for us.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

How do you budget based on income?

I have not needed a budget in a decade. I should mention that, a decade ago, I was a factory worker with limited job prospects.

It's easy for me. I'm a single female with no spouse or children and an annual household income that exceeds the national average by $20,000. I have no student loans or car payments. I am not a shop-a-holic. I have a modest 10-year-old house with a payment of about $400 per month.

In other words, I do not live from paycheck and can save a great deal of my earnings.

[klone, MSN, RN]

Read Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Makeover"

[BSNbeauty, BSN, RN]

Make a list of your monthly expenses and go from there. That is not hard to do, the hardest part is sticking to your budget.

[mhy12784]

As many said, cant really give someone I know nothing about advice how to make an entire budget

But something I personally like to do is whenever I am making a big luxury purchase (ie an expensive new tv, vacation, laptop etc)

I try to pay for the entire thing with money from overtime,so that im not wasting "my money" on a luxury item

Then just live within your means.

You should have at LEAST 6 months living expenses saved up (ie if you lost your job today, you could get by for 6 months)

And at the end of every month you should have more money to your name than you started with.

Then of course start thinking about retirement, and look into your retirement options from work which HR should be more than willing to help you with.

[Caffeine_IV]

Live below your means.

[gta1628]

If you can't make it on a nurse's salary you're doing something wrong. Try getting by with $9/hr while in school.

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

I dont spend more than I make.