Omg I'm so broke!!!

U.S.A. New York

Published

So after reviewing my year to date paycheck, I'm bringing home $1300 every 2 weeks including my evening and night shift differential. So really my take home yearly is like 35K!!!! Is it just me?! How is everyone else surviving?! We just bought our first home for 104K and I'm like how do people handle this?! How do you save for repairs and a roof and windows? I thought after years of nursing I wouldn't be this broke and depressed!!!!

So after reviewing my year to date paycheck, I'm bringing home $1300 every 2 weeks including my evening and night shift differential. So really my take home yearly is like 35K!!!! Is it just me?! How is everyone else surviving?! We just bought our first home for 104K and I'm like how do people handle this?! How do you save for repairs and a roof and windows? I thought after years of nursing I wouldn't be this broke and depressed!!!!

Where do you work? At $33 an hour with only $1300 every 2 weeks take home means you have quite a bit taken out either for health insurance or retirement. I make about $34/hr with night differential and my take home is about $1750 (no 401k or health benefits yet, that starts January 1st). Where I used to work, I was paid $24/hr and my take home there was $1300 every 2 weeks on days (no differential, no 401k, and $65 per pay period for health insurance). So, what you're making per hour is actually not too shabby for upstate NY (I work in Utica, used to work in Cooperstown). You also have to consider what other jobs in the area are paying and those are nowhere near $33/hr which is why nurses actually live pretty well compared to many other people in upstate.

Now, what really sucks, is that nurses upstate also seem to "top out" at a certain level...and that's unfair. A lot of new grads are coming in making only a few dollars less than RN's with 10+ years experience who have already hit the limit of what hospitals will pay. And there's also a lot of hospitals that pay their med/surg nurses the same as their ICU or ER nurses.

What seems to be the norm for a lot of upstate nurses is taking travel contracts. If you're willing to make that sacrifice, you can double your pay...it just means either commuting 50+ miles to get to work or staying somewhere for 3 days and going home the rest of the time. Upstate hospitals are bursting at the seams with travel assignments.

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I hope this post doesn't depress you more! Nurses used to be paid well about 15 years ago, when compared to the cost of things. In my experience, my wages have either stayed the same or gone down compared to what I made 15 years ago.... Yep.... Very upsetting. Part of the problem also is that friends, extended family, and media, are still under the impression that nurses make "good money". So, for awhile I was actually wondering if somehow I was crazy, but in the last 15 years, salaries for teachers for instance appear (correct me if I"m wrong), to have gone up- while nursing is stagnant. Unions help but what we really need is to march on Washington and demand better working conditions and pay. Almost every nurse I know in their late 40's/50's is injured due to this job and was not compensated one iota by a hospital for the injuries. These include back problems, shoulder problems, hip pain, arthritis, autoimmune problems, and I've also seen lots of cancer - which I wonder if it has to do with stress, and shift work. In the EU if a shift worker gets breast cancer they can actually file a claim for causation with the government. The staffing situation in the hospitals is just so dangerous. Dangerous for nurses but also for the patients!! Too much can get missed in such a hectic environment. I have left nursing off and on over the years due to the working conditions, but I currently do have a 24 hour a week job- where i do 2, 12's and it's low stress and slow pace. I make 26 dollars and hour though- and I have two bachelor's degrees and years of experience! I currently live in a low COL place (in the south) but I have lived up north and made more, but still ended up with low amounts of cash when all was said and done. Hang in there. I don't know what to advise. I think there will be layoffs coming up for RN"s as rural hospitals close due to the recent tax bill - and also charitable giving is reduced. Nursing schools keep pumping out new grads, and we are probably entering another recession. Just my opinions and I hope I'm wrong....

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Hey sorry to hear that. Have you tried looking looking at hospitals out of that area that may pay more. I live in the city, and I have met quiet a few people who live 1-2hours away and work in nyc hospitals which pay more

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Specializes in Behavioral health.

Rest assured you're not the only one having difficulties and it has little to do with financial discipline or responsibility. The price of college alone puts everyone in a bind.

Two suggestions that helped me out immensely

1. Have your taxes done by professional CPA. It's more expensive than tax software but well worth the fee for reducing expenses and the advice.

2. Consult a financial counselor not connected with selling financial products. Your employer might offer this service through the EAP or union. Some nonprofits also offer it. I believed myself to be knoweldgeable. They made me better.

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Not sure if your lifestyle fits this option, but what about being a travel nurse. I hear the pay is amazing!

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