One of my goals is to eventually be able to purchase a house. Many of my nursing colleagues are purchasing homes that are worth $450,000, $500,000 or even more. Sadly, my budget is about half of that or even less, which means the houses I have to choose from are not appealing. Most of them are small, old, or both.
I am just curious how other nurses manage to purchase decent houses? I've been looking through my income, and I just can't find a way to make it possible to incorporate such a house into my budget. I am salary, so there are no opportunities for overtime.
What are other nurses' experience with buying houses? How did you make it work? Did it require switching jobs? Inquiring minds want to know!
Your life seems to be work. That’s gotta change. You’re intelligent. Work is not your life nor should it ever be your life. You need friends!!
No time for friends due to work hours. Also, it's becoming increasingly difficult to spend time with or make any new friends due to most people now getting married or having babies
No time for friends due to work hours. Also, it's becoming increasingly difficult to spend time with or make any new friends due to most people now getting married or having babies
Then you need to cut your work hours. You need friends outside of work! Work isn’t your life.
I'm glad you are listening and realizing you are being overworked and underpaid! Now you need to make some decisions. Cut back on the hours you work. Be firm and delegate some of the responsibilities and speak with your managers that they need to offload some of these responsibilities and hire another nurse! If they are not willing to be reasonable, it is time to look for a new job at a larger place or assisted living where the mgr isn't responsible for more than one job! Now you know what you should be looking for. You realize it is normal to have a nurse as admit/discharge planner, another for wound care, etc, or at least have this responsibility delegated to a floor nurse, not everything placed onto the manager.
Also take the time to decide what type of job you want to look for. Do you want to stay in management or do you want to branch out to another nursing job. I'm assuming your MA's is in mgmt, but if you ever want to become an NP I believe you can do a bridge program in a short time. You might want to check into that at some point.
On the other front, consider taking FMLA either before or after you meet with the therapist to deal with your depression. I think that would be helpful to you to give you time to think without being overworked to the point of having no time to sleep. Enough quality sleep is important for your mental and physical health and the hours you've been doing I imagine you haven't had a decent night's rest in a long time.
I especially recommend availing yourself of the FMLA you deserve to give yourself a break from being overworked at that crappy job! If you do take FMLA make sure you come back and then give your two week's notice, otherwise they will force you to pay back your health insurance premiums. This applies to anyone that takes FMLA even mom's taking maternity leave.
But the time off will give you a chance to get the help you need and also some downtime to find a better job!
I agree some down time would be good, but unsure about taking FMLA for depression? I guess when I say that...how do you mention to an employer you are taking FMLA for depression/anxiety? It would be easier to explain if it was more of a physical issue, per se. Would it be better to just ask for PTO and therefore not be required to provide an explanation? Just some thoughts
Also, if I do switch jobs, then it is probably not a good time to look at investing in a house. One reason that I have been looking so seriously into housing is because I do have a steady/regular income so would be able to base housing payments off of that. An hourly job doesn't necessarily provide you with a guaranteed set of income, as they could call you off and you would lose hours, and therefore, income. Also, when you start a new job, you're at increased risk for being fired if, for some reason, it turns out not to be a match. But at the same time, 70-90+ hour work weeks aren't that sustainable either. And as others have said, there would be no time for housing maintenance.
Addendum: They would not hire another nurse to assist me with managerial duties due to "budget issues."
I agree some down time would be good, but unsure about taking FMLA for depression? I guess when I say that...how do you mention to an employer you are taking FMLA for depression/anxiety? It would be easier to explain if it was more of a physical issue, per se. Would it be better to just ask for PTO and therefore not be required to provide an explanation? Just some thoughts
Also, if I do switch jobs, then it is probably not a good time to look at investing in a house. One reason that I have been looking so seriously into housing is because I do have a steady/regular income so would be able to base housing payments off of that. An hourly job doesn't necessarily provide you with a guaranteed set of income, as they could call you off and you would lose hours, and therefore, income. Also, when you start a new job, you're at increased risk for being fired if, for some reason, it turns out not to be a match. But at the same time, 70-90+ hour work weeks aren't that sustainable either. And as others have said, there would be no time for housing maintenance.
Addendum: They would not hire another nurse to assist me with managerial duties due to "budget issues."
Reason for FMLA is private. Usually you speak with HR and they give you the paperwork to have your Dr fill out. FMLA covers medical and psychological, as well as family. Depression is a real medical condition.
This is absolutely not the right time to buy a house! You need to get your mental health stabilized and get a better job before you buy a house. But while you are working with your therapist, it is also a good time to learn more about personal finance, budgeting and first time home buyer programs. With your serious health problem of depression and an unsustainable job, you need to focus on fixing that before buying a house.
I expected that your employer would not be willing to hire more help. They are treating you very disrespectfully. They know you are overwhelmed and just don't care! It is time for you to care enough to walk away from that place and stop making excuses to stay! You are in a very toxic job! I'm sure they are making way more money then you and working much less, bragging about their McMansion at your expense! Just walk away!
Yes a new job can come with risk, but you are an at will employee where you are. They could fire you too if they wanted, but right now they are OK using you, until you have a nervous breakdown. What will you do if you buy the house and then can't work anymore and can't pay the bills. As to low census, that is not a problem in many places, especially with corona. But that is why you have a budget and emergency savings. You can also check out places first on glassdoor, indeed and payscale to get some idea of working conditions and pay.
There is no rush to buy a house. Renting is perfectly OK until you are in a good place emotionally with a stable job and ready to be a homeowner. One of the reasons for so many foreclosures is due to job loss, health crisis or buying a home you can't afford.
I write FMLA letters for clients all the time for issues ranging from MDD, to GAD. and ADHD. Even when I was an ICU RN at an HCA facility I loudly threatened to "get every nurse in the hospital on FMLA" so that we could actually have vacation since our manager was declining to give days off (supposedly due to short staffing). Needless to say these were empty threats and broken promises but I do write many, many FMLA letters.
Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
2 hours ago, brandy1017 said:
Reason for FMLA is private. Usually you speak with HR and they give you the paperwork to have your Dr fill out. FMLA covers medical and psychological, as well as family. Depression is a real medical condition.
This is absolutely not the right time to buy a house! You need to get your mental health stabilized and get a better job before you buy a house. But while you are working with your therapist, it is also a good time to learn more about personal finance, budgeting and first time home buyer programs. With your serious health problem of depression and an unsustainable job, you need to focus on fixing that before buying a house.
I expected that your employer would not be willing to hire more help. They are treating you very disrespectfully. They know you are overwhelmed and just don't care! It is time for you to care enough to walk away from that place and stop making excuses to stay! You are in a very toxic job! I'm sure they are making way more money then you and working much less, bragging about their McMansion at your expense! Just walk away!
Yes a new job can come with risk, but you are an at will employee where you are. They could fire you too if they wanted, but right now they are OK using you, until you have a nervous breakdown. What will you do if you buy the house and then can't work anymore and can't pay the bills. As to low census, that is not a problem in many places, especially with corona. But that is why you have a budget and emergency savings. You can also check out places first on glassdoor, indeed and payscale to get some idea of working conditions and pay.
There is no rush to buy a house. Renting is perfectly OK until you are in a good place emotionally with a stable job and ready to be a homeowner. One of the reasons for so many foreclosures is due to job loss, health crisis or buying a home you can't afford.
I agree with all of this. Buying a house in your present circumstances would be a recipe for disaster. Your current job is not sustainable. You do need to find a way to take some time off.
Any job you get now will seem like a vacation after what you've been dealing with. I'll sleep better knowing you're getting some proper rest and working on an exit strategy. You'll be blown away by how easily things can fall into place once you take the first self-care step.
Glad you are feeling better. Why don't you read some inspiring books to uplift you while you wait to see your therapist. I suggest Smart Women Finish Rich by David Bach and Women and Money by Suze Orman. I just started reading thru the David Bach book again and it found it uplifting to me and felt it would be the same for you. It goes beyond the standard personal finance and into finding a job you love and or starting your own business.
I think you would find it enjoyable and take your mind off your troubles so you can plan the life you want. Women and money goes beyond the standard money rules and I would recommend it too. I haven't read it in awhile, but I thought it really spoke to women's issues beyond just money.
Glad you are feeling better. Why don't you read some inspiring books to uplift you while you wait to see your therapist. I suggest Smart Women Finish Rich by David Bach and Women and Money by Suze Orman. I just started reading thru the David Bach book again and it found it uplifting to me and felt it would be the same for you. It goes beyond the standard personal finance and into finding a job you love and or starting your own business.
I think you would find it enjoyable and take your mind off your troubles so you can plan the life you want. Women and money goes beyond the standard money rules and I would recommend it too. I haven't read it in awhile, but I thought it really spoke to women's issues beyond just money.
I can definitely recommend Women and Money. Mom bought it for me when it was first published. I learned much to protect myself, my credit rating, and my money
FNPtobe2020, MSN
39 Posts
@SilverBells do you have friends outside of work?
Your life seems to be work. That’s gotta change. You’re intelligent. Work is not your life nor should it ever be your life. You need friends!!