Brainstorming to minimize debt?

Published May 9, 2016

22 Posts

Hi all!

I'm starting my level one nursing this upcoming fall (yay!) and I crunched some numbers on cost of attendance. My parents are awesome and handle my FAFSA and anything to do with loans. So far I'm pretty sure everything is federal or subsidized. I'm going to talk to my parents this weekend and get an idea of what sort of debt I'll be looking at when I graduate, but I figured I'd come to them with a game plan anyway.

The Damage So Far

I think I've already got 10k to pay off from my undergrad.

For the 5 semesters of nursing school, it adds up to about 40k for books, fees, tuition, everything. This isn't including my commute (gas money).

What I Have Helping Me

I've got a scholarship giving me 2,400 off each semester, and then 8,000 from savings that will help too. Instead of buying stupid parking passes that are like 400 a semester (why?!) I'm getting a bike rack, parking free a ways from campus and biking to class. I'm living at home and I'm going to work as long as I can into school.

Money I'm Earning

I'm working part time about 24 hours a week, for $9 an hour (I do homework while I work, it's a student employee position!!). My limit is 30 hours, but I'm training for a marathon so I'm not working every day anyway. I can probably bump this number up, or babysit in the evenings when I'm not training to make extra money. I'm going to make 2,500 during the summer- if I don't spend a single cent. I was thinking of using that for school and then reserving "fun" money for what I make housesitting and babysitting.

Post Grad Ideas

Here's where I'm looking for help!

Ok. I don't have kids. I'm single. No pets. No car loans. I want to travel. I'm flexible. I heard some noise about VA, and how they help with loan forgiveness. Also, I go to UNM: I've heard Albuquerque can be considered an under-served area and working here could warrant some loan forgiveness. I was looking at travel nursing too for the pay to knock out my loans. I WANT MY LOANS GONE ASAP, but not at a huge expense- like working 40 hours a week and not doing anything fun. Any specific programs I should look at?

Scholarships (???)

Should I just go for it and start sifting through online scholarships applying willy nilly? Is there a good strategy for applying for scholarships? Every little bit helps.

And any other pointers!

Thanks :)