Debt ridden nurses?

Aaaaah, the never ending debts...

Membership fees - union dues maybe

Uniforms - quite inexpensive, rather wear one than street clothes to work, plus they're a tax write off

Equipment - steth the most common, a watch w/ a second hand

Insurance - malpractice about $100 a year but definitely worth peace of mind

Health/Dental insurance - some employers provided free lucrative coverage, some soso, some none

Sign on bonuses - definitely not a lump sum. Maybe 10% after 6 months, then the remainder after you retire :roll joke only (varies on every employer throwing the bait)

IMO, debts begin to accumulate after receiving your first check. The check often provides a false sense of security. Errr, not really the check, it's the recipient.

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"Argue for your limitations, and sure enough they're yours." - Richard Bach

It is a good idea to pay yourself first before the bills.

Put 10% of your gross into the bank. Then when you need tires for your car or a new freezer you have the cash in hand.

Don't use any credit card that you can't pay in full at the end of the month. This enables you to use someone elses money for 30 days without interest charges. Make your car payments before you buy the car. We put 200.00 into a car acct. every month. Then when we need a car we shop like crazy to find a good used one and cash ensures better flexability when haggling. I saved over $13K in buying Totanka (my F-250) used with less than 50K miles over buying a new model because I had cash. The new truck was 26,000 and I paid less than 13,000 for Totanka. I will run it till it dies.

This may seem hard but if you stick to it you will save mega-bucks.

-Russell

I agree about the credit card. It is way too easy to get inot trouble with those. I know, it happened to me, it was not intended on my part to be that much in debt. At one point I had 17, yes, 17 credit cards, all maxed at the same time. Thankfully I got my sh*t together and have been paying them off, and I am glad to say I have 3 left to pay, and everyone was closed by me. If I cant pay cash, I dont need it!! (except of course a house and car). Once you graduate from school it seems like the credit card companies just send off cards with an amazing limit, and then if you arent careful, it comes back to haunt you!!

May I recommend to anyone who is having financial problems, or if you just need a little advice, listen to Dave Ramsey. He's a little over the top for some folks, but he preaches sound financial advice... To find a local station in your area that carries his show, look on his web page... http://www.daveramsey.com

It's not rocket science. Dave describes his teaching a plain old common sense, the same as your grandmother gave, only he keeps his teeth in!

My wife and I are currently using his plan to reduce our debt, and be better stewards of God's money.

God bless!

I agree with the reader who recommended Dave Ramsey. I was ALMOST debt free and then decided to go back to school and have ran up 1 credit card (that I WILL Pay off by the end of 2004)and now have a student loan. My goal is definately to be debt free. Dave Ramsey has a radio show that you can listen to on the internet and has several books out. He also does siminars. Offers very good debt information. I think the biggest key is learning that you can't keep doing what you're doing and expect different results - you must change what you are doing. I look at it like this....I am broke now (student) but if I can learn to manage $$ when I DON'T have any then I should be better at managing it when I DO have some!!

I go to http://www.cheapskatemonthly.com and use her rapid debt reduction budget. I know now that it will take me 3.5 yrs to get mine and my husband's loans paid off. [$52,000.00 worth]. I also know that we will NOT buy a house until we have at least 50% of the down payment.

I am working way to hard at school, to blow all my hard earned money to pay someone else back for borrowing theirs!!

Good luck all and check out the website I sent. She has all kinds of calculators for just about everything. My favorite it the lump sum payment...where you deposit say $10,000.00 in a simple interest savings account and watch it grow to almost a million in 30 yrs. Of course the more you put in the better the retirement is!

As a new grad, I am drowning in student loans. If I was smart I would have just gone to nursing school in the first place and not gotten another degree-- so now I have 2 degrees which I am paying for. I will consolidate my loans, and I also am getting a hefty sign-on bonus (paid over three years) that will help a little. Rustyhammer gave some great advice. You just have to make sure that you are living within your means. I needed a new car because my old one died, so I sat down and wrote out a budget so I could figure out exactly how much I could afford in a car payment every month. It is so hard though, and college is getting more expensive every year!!

I like Suze Orman for financial things; she has a program that's on on the weekends and has written some books that are easy to read. I don't agree with everything she says, but she's usually got some pretty sound advice on a variety of topics.