Managing money and student loans

[Jfulton006]

Hi everyone. This is my first post here. I'm going to graduate in December of this year and I'll be taking my state boards shortly after. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter! The time is fast approaching when I'll have to face the real world.

One of my concerns is managing my student debt. I will be graduating with my ASN, and my student loans will be approximately $65,000. I anticipate my first RN job will pay around $28/hour, and my student loan payment will be about $750/month for the foreseeable future. Even though my income will be higher than any job I've ever had, I won't be making much more than my previous profession when factoring in my monthly payments. It's frustrating because despite all the sacrifices I've made for nursing school, my income will only go up by a small amount. I was under the false impression that be becoming a RN would dramatically improve my quality of life.

My question is this. Has anyone found a way to effectively manage their student loans without being forced to make massive payments each month? Where can I turn to for relief?

-JF

[SENSUALBLISSINFL, BSN, RN]

Please allow us to use you as an example of what not to do. It is important for students thinking of choosing nursing as a profession to early on know what they need to do to fund this career, and considering community colleges is a good way to obtain this degree as they offer affordable tuition while providing a good education as well. Yes, these tend to be super competitive because of the low cost, but if you know early on this, you can do your best early on to maintain a high GPA to be considered for a spot. The amount you paid is way too expensive for an ADN.

Also, just because one graduates and pass the boards does not guarantee a job soon after. I graduated in April of 2012 with my ADN with high honors, passed my boards on August 2012 and still have yet to land a job as a nurse. After trying for one year, I decided to continue in the position I have held for 26 years and to concentrate in pursuing my BSN; which I will finish this December, and try again applying for positions that I am hoping my BSN will make it easier to obtain. The ADN I paid 100% myself, the BSN I went back to my community college that offered the BSN and was able to obtain grants and scholarship that have helped until now pay for it.

I face a great dilemma now, being 50 years old with the desire to obtain a Master Degree. I do not want to stop going to school, I fear that doing so will make me complacent and not return in a timely manner (after all I am not that young) and would like to continue my education, but funding this degree will be expensive, add to that how beneficial would be to continue with my nursing education if I do not even have a job as a nurse? It is precisely because of the loans that I will have to obtain to pay for this degree that pushes me away from starting in January 2015. A job as a nurse will increase my pay right now by only $2.00 if I am lucky, and the added stress that comes with it too....LOL

At 30 years old, you will have time to pursue your degree further than I can, be wise in your expenses as others have advised you. Being married and having a child is a financial responsibility that you cannot shy away from as well, add to that the expenses of your loans, it will be hard so I wish you much success. Also, consider your BSN if the facility you will enter will fund it, but for now, try your best to pay off your loans in a timely manner so that you can later apply for the bill that Obama signed so you can be forgiven at least part of it.

Good luck.

[caliotter3]

Get a second job and put that entire paycheck toward debt repayment. That is the easiest way to deal with it besides taking the advice to pare down and live frugally in the meantime. Best advice I can give at this point. Dave Ramsey's steps for money management are a good place to start. He advises to first build up a thousand dollar emergency fund.

[mrtravelRN]

If your loans are federal loans than there is help available. Call your loan servicer and ask them about income based repayment and public student loan forgiveness. They will tell you all you need to know about these and if you combine these two then your monthly payments should be manageable and after making 120 monthly payments any remaining debt will be forgiven. You don't have to work in a rural area for this program (working as a nurse in any public or private non-profit hospital will do). I copy/pasted some links with more information as well as a link to a repayment calculator:

https://studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/understand/plans/income-driven

https://studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/charts/public-service

Repayment calculator:

https://studentloans.gov/myDirectLoan/mobile/repayment/repaymentEstimator.action

[johsonmichelle]

Yikes, that is a lot of money to spend on a asn nursing degree. Heck I would not even spend that on a bsn degree. When planning to attend college , individuals should carefully analyze the cost . When I was in high school, during my senior year, I had to take a finance class and I'm very thankful that I did. I learned how to budget my expenses. I also researched the average pay of a new graduate nurses and from the determined the cost I would be willing to invest in my education. Although nursing is a nice and fulfilling career, it's not worth getting a lot of debt for. I'm currently in an asn program myself, school totaling between $1000 - $2000 per semester. My school is also very well known in the town. I do not see the use of going to expensive school especially when you can not afford it. Its not like the hospital is going to pay you more for going to a prestigious school. I guess his story can be used as caution for future students. Although education is important, you have to be financially savvy about it