Anyone take out $50,000 per year to live?

Nursing Students SRNA

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Hi,

I am in the process of interviewing to hopefully start school either this fall or January. My husband and I are going through our budget and finances, trying to figure out how much everything will cost.

From our calculations, we will have minimum expenses of $4,500 per month, NOT including my school tuition, books, and fees. We have been downsizing, liquidating and paying everything off. (No car loans, no credit card debt, and almost no mortgage, etc.).

One of our biggest expenses is day care. If my husband works full time, it might not be worth it. We are thinking of him staying home with our kids, who are 2 and 3. I will take out enough school loans to live off of and pay for school. However, that puts loans at about $150,000 for the entire program.

Has anyone else done this? Has anyone else taken out $50,000 per year just to live off of?

If you are going to do it make sure 100% what you are getting in to.. can you assist with sedation during an abortion or organ harvest (I couldn't) and the time it took away from my family was far too much.

Seriously? My school will work with you if you don't want to do abortions, and I suspect that they'd do their best if organ harvest was an issue. May I ask what your beliefs are to make organ transplant unacceptable?

Anyway, from what I hear a lot of schools aren't as interested in seeing their students succeed as mine is. I'm sorry your experience was such a disaster.

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depending on what type of work your husband does, can he stop working for 2-3 years and then step back in the groove

check on an au pair not cheap by any means but not as much as a nanny and they live in so if you need to quiet time to study they are there to take up the slack..you would not have to arrange after school care and your husband can continue with his career and added plus they kids will be exposed to a second language

good luck i hope that it all falls together for you

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You also need to consider the cost of health insurance for you and your family during the time you are in school. If your husband does not work, paying for health insurance out of pocket is going to be pricey. Factor that into his salary if his employer provides health insurance.

I would not recommend relying entirely on loans for the length of school. It is enough stress getting through school, then add the stress of high loan amounts.

Good luck.

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I think it would be unwise to go that far into debt. CRNA's do make good money, but I think you are grossly overestimating how much you can make and pay back. Lets say you go 150k into debt, average crna salary is 150k year. Guess how much you'll be taking home AFTER getting taxed to high heaven and paying malpractice etc.. About 100k. Then factor in interest, living expenses etc, you'll be paying on that 150k for many, many years.

I'm not a crna but I made 115k last year in acute dialysis as an RN and I can tell you that 100k+ a year isnt nearly as much as you think it is. Btw, my expenses are about half of yours. :monkeydance:

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Specializes in Anesthesia.
I did that and it back fired on me. I have never been one to quit anything in my life but anesthesia got the best of me. First whether you get loans or stipends you are going to be in hock when you get out but with the increase inpay you will be able to pay it off in ca couple of years if you continue to live modestly at first. However, anesthesia is a very difficult program and they do not even try to make it easy and when it came to giving up my soul and beliefs I had to stop, Now I am stuck paying back

$30,000 on a RN income (and that was just for 1 year). If you are going to do it make sure 100% what you are getting in to.. can you assist with sedation during an abortion or organ harvest (I couldn't) and the time it took away from my family was far too much.

Sorry to hear that kind of thing happened to you. You do know, don't you, that it is your legal right to refuse to be a part of providing services that run contrary to your beliefs. When we were covering OB anesthesia in lectures, I asked my program director if any of the facilities we used for clinical sites provided elective abortions. He said no, and that even if they did, you could not be forced to participate. If you were honestly made to leave school because you refused these cases, I would think you'd have legal recourse.

Anyway, to the OP, I have taken out quite a lot in student loans, & with two semesters left I'll have quite a lot more that I'm borrowing. I am not overly concerned about it. This is what I want to do and this is the cost of doing it. Whatever I end up paying per month to pay off the student loans, the money left over will still beat my best pay as a staff RN, & I'll have a job that I absolutely love!

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I think it would be unwise to go that far into debt. CRNA's do make good money, but I think you are grossly overestimating how much you can make and pay back. Lets say you go 150k into debt, average crna salary is 150k year. Guess how much you'll be taking home AFTER getting taxed to high heaven and paying malpractice etc.. About 100k. Then factor in interest, living expenses etc, you'll be paying on that 150k for many, many years.

I'm not a crna but I made 115k last year in acute dialysis as an RN and I can tell you that 100k+ a year isnt nearly as much as you think it is. Btw, my expenses are about half of yours. :monkeydance:

First of all, not all CRNA's have to pay their own . If you choose to work for a large group, usually malpractice is covered. Second of all most groups these days will pay off all or part of your loan if you sign a contract to work for x amount of years. Granted this may not always be the best situation, but if it clears the debt, then you do what you gotta

do. You are in a higher tax bracket, and that will make a bit of a difference, but if the group is covering all or part of your loan, that will make a difference as well.

I'm glad their are nurses such as your self that can make a good living doing jobs like dialysis, it just so happens that that area is not for me. I personally love my job in the transplant ICU, and make pretty good money, but along with many other srna's, anesthesia has been a goal of mine for a long time, and I feel privileged to be able to fulfill that goal. I'm not going to let something like debt deter me from doing it.

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First of all, not all CRNA's have to pay their own malpractice insurance. If you choose to work for a large group, usually malpractice is covered. Second of all most groups these days will pay off all or part of your loan if you sign a contract to work for x amount of years. Granted this may not always be the best situation, but if it clears the debt, then you do what you gotta

do. You are in a higher tax bracket, and that will make a bit of a difference, but if the group is covering all or part of your loan, that will make a difference as well.

I'm glad their are nurses such as your self that can make a good living doing jobs like dialysis, it just so happens that that area is not for me. I personally love my job in the transplant ICU, and make pretty good money, but along with many other srna's, anesthesia has been a goal of mine for a long time, and I feel privileged to be able to fulfill that goal. I'm not going to let something like debt deter me from doing it.

You asked for input. Why do people start a thread wanting feedback and then disagree with anyone who doesnt want to automatically agree with the choice they've already decided to make? I've had several friends to become CRNA's so I know how it works with loan payback etc. I'm just saying in general its not a good idea to go that far into debt. If you're willing to take the risk and feel its the best choice for you then go for it. Good luck and study hard!:balloons:

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I dont know personally if I would take out loans to live. I rather work and go to a program part time. The only loan I am taking is for the classes. That is $6000 a year. I prefer to work full time that way, I can make enough to cover all my expenses. My friend has three kids and working full time without taking loan to live. There are many options you can take before considering taking out so much money for loans just to live. Look around for a less expensive day care, see if you can qualify for government assistance on rent or day care. See if you can cut your expenses. Can you husband work in the home, like selling items on eBay or other ways using computer. Good luck

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Seriously? My school will work with you if you don't want to do abortions, and I suspect that they'd do their best if organ harvest was an issue. May I ask what your beliefs are to make organ transplant unacceptable?

Anyway, from what I hear a lot of schools aren't as interested in seeing their students succeed as mine is. I'm sorry your experience was such a disaster.

It is not my belief that keeps me from wanting to participate with organ harvesting it has been my experience. I had taken care of a 17 year old in our trauma unit for 2 days before he was pronounced brain dead and then maintained him until the time for surgery so then the transplant co-ordinator asked me if I wanted to go back for the harvest. I stayed with the CRNA for the procedure and it seemed unreal to believe that they were cutting on the body without any anesthesia or pain med (what if we are wrong and they can feel the pain) Then when the major vessels were cross clamped the CRNA just pulled the the ett and all the fluids came down as the organs came out- to me that was when the patient died. I could never let a family member go through that knowing what I know now and do not ever want to be a part of it again but that is just me. If someone else can that if fine but I can't.p.s. Two days later I got to take care of the kid that received this kids kidney's...it didn't make it any better.

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YOU Your children are so young. They need their mother and I am sure if you went to school that they would not see much of their mother. Would it be possible for you to wait until they were in elementary school and then go

OK, it is 2006. A stay-at-home dad is as good as any mom-hands down! In addition, it is much better to get school over with while your children are young and probably won't remember much of you being gone. Elementary school is when things start to get busy, with all those after school activities etc....

That being said, I am 4 months from finishing CRNA school. My husband stays at home with our 3-year-old and they have the best relationship ever. Try not to focus too much on the money. When you graduaute not only will you be making great money, but you will have a job which will give you greater autonomy and satisfaction than you had as as RN. So it is not really all about the money anyhow. It won't take "30-40 years to pay it off" as someone said. Think about this.... if you maintained your same standard of living while you are in school (minus the tuition and books) and made 120,000/year afterward, you could pay off those loans in 3 years or less. Also, interest on student loans is tax deductible.

Also don't forget about scholarships, fellowships, grants and forgivable loans.... they are out there if you look- I know because I got them.

p.s. harvest cases are interesting

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I could never let a family member go through that knowing what I know now and do not ever want to be a part of it again but that is just me. If someone else can that if fine but I can't.

Would you still hold this opinion if you had a blind child that could have eyesight if donor corneas were available or if your mom/dad/SO had a damaged heart that could be replaced with a donor heart?

Organ and tissue donation envokes strong emotions, there is no doubt.

But if the shoe were on the other foot, most people change their perspectives.

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OK, it is 2006. A stay-at-home dad is as good as any mom-hands down! In addition, it is much better to get school over with while your children are young and probably won't remember much of you being gone. Elementary school is when things start to get busy, with all those after school activities etc....

That being said, I am 4 months from finishing CRNA school. My husband stays at home with our 3-year-old and they have the best relationship ever. Try not to focus too much on the money. When you graduaute not only will you be making great money, but you will have a job which will give you greater autonomy and satisfaction than you had as as RN. So it is not really all about the money anyhow. It won't take "30-40 years to pay it off" as someone said. Think about this.... if you maintained your same standard of living while you are in school (minus the tuition and books) and made 120,000/year afterward, you could pay off those loans in 3 years or less. Also, interest on student loans is tax deductible.

Also don't forget about scholarships, fellowships, grants and forgivable loans.... they are out there if you look- I know because I got them.

p.s. harvest cases are interesting

Well said, susswood. I have two young daughters and I care for them just as well as any women...yes fix their hair and everything! While I feel that it is in the best interests of kids to have both parents involved, their are those that, for a variety of reasons, can't make this happen. In the case of na school, one has to to look at the big picture and think long term. My kids won't see me as much but I will make the most of the time I have and know that in the long run, I will be able to provide them a better life. As far as organ harvesting, I've been involved with it several times and I understand about your feelings...it is a strange feeling. But they are interesting and that's when you have to remember the phrase, "professional detatchment".

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