Did you live alone, worked while going to nursing school?

Yes, I did a traditional 4 year nursing degree in Ireland. Lived away from home in a house share and worked every weekend. I did a split shift on a Saturday got 2 hrs off in the middle and would catch up with my boyfriend and then go back and do another 7hrs in the bar - serving, cleaning & restocking and then doing the cash takings for the 6 bars in the complex - ahh the Celtic Tiger times when people had more money than sense!

Learn how to cook batch meals or bases to meals that can be made into a number of things e.g. a mince meat (ground beef) with a tomato base and packed full of veggies can be a pasta dish, shepards pie, on top of a baked potato, put into puff pastry and made into a savory pie. Roast a chicken- with sides the first night, sandwich for lunch the next day, Caesar salad, add leeks, mushrooms and some cream to pasta and chicken, strip the rest of the meat from the bones and make a curry or a pot pie. Then use the bones to make soup keep the ends and peels of the veggies you were using during the week in a freezer bag and pile them in. They will make wonderful stock and once done chuck them in the compost. Add lentils or barley to the stock and make a moorish soup. Make a large batch and freeze some. Always label your freezer foods!

Your school should have water foundations somewhere for drinking water, have a refillable bottle and don't buy bottled water (financial and environmental benefits). I don't drink coffee so can't comment on that but suggest a go cup if you do buy from a barista for the environmental benefit.

Don't underestimate the diversity of an egg. From a simple bolied egg to a quiche to a desert custard for something sweet. Learn how to bake basics as well such a bread (don't need a breadmaker just time and elbow grease), scones, cupcakes and biscuits (cookies). It is much cheaper than buying and you know what preservatives you have not put in it except maybe some salt (also flavour).

Hop on Google and YouTube and you will find millions of recipes and tips for frugal living and batch cooking or meal prep.

Do have some treats in your diet otherwise you will go mad! I love cheese so will buy some for a nice evening snack.

Take your books or notes with you and study where you can at work. I used to do the Sunday open shift at the bar every second Sunday. Once the wedding parties had checked out of the hotel complex after a early drink I would have the place to myself with just a few people in and out. One of the rules was at least one person stayed in the bar at all times, if it was me I had notes out in the corner of the bar counter. I have a memory of myself and another girl who was studying to be a vet both on the open shift in between4th yr finals both studying every chance we got but we ran the bar and the food service, kept everything spotless and even cleaned out the fridges that had been messed up with spilled milk.

All this was before technology had really got to where it is today. Last year while studying for my masters I would listen to the lectures through my uni moodle app via bluetooth on my car when I drove to and from work. A friend used to do the same on the train to work with hers. It was an interesting conversation with the cop who breathalyser me in a routine booze bus blitz one Thursday afternoon. I did ask his permission to touch my mobile phone to pause the lecture on health economics before he tested me! (Real strict mobile phone laws when driving in VIC, Australia).

Don't buy a million cleaning products, most can do more jobs than what the ads show. Scrutinise the back of the bottle and see how much they can do.

If you have capability don't use a dryer for clothes, it will reduce your electrical bill or laundromat costs. Put clothes on a drying rack or washing line. I turn my heating on in winter and the air con in summer but plan ahead first. If it is going to be a hot day pull the curtains and keep rooms shaded in the heat, open windows on warm, not hot days. Have a blanket on the couch if you are cold watching TV. Make sure you are dressed appropriately for the weather if you are cold put a jumper on first.

I did with no problem. The keys to succeeding are finding a job with flexible hours to work around school and organization. I was lucky enough to find a flexible unit. I worked every single weekend and fit in half shifts when allowed. You just need to be motivated.

Do you have to live alone? For the first year, I worked as a CNA and lived with other students near campus. 4 of us crammed into a 1 bedroom apartment to save money. It was tight, but also lots of fun. The second year one of the nurses at the hospital, whose husband was deployed, let me live with her for free in exchange for being there overnight for her 2 young teenagers. Not having to pay rent was great.

On 7/5/2019 at 7:18 PM, nursenmom3 said:

Do you have to live alone? For the first year, I worked as a CNA and lived with other students near campus. 4 of us crammed into a 1 bedroom apartment to save money. It was tight, but also lots of fun. The second year one of the nurses at the hospital, whose husband was deployed, let me live with her for free in exchange for being there overnight for her 2 young teenagers. Not having to pay rent was great.

Thank you so much for all of your responses. I do live with my fiance. He's willing to pay most of the bills but being the person that I am, I'd feel horrible having to depend fully on him. I want to also work and at least help with half of the bills.

Seeing that there are others out there that have done this makes me feel a little bit relieved. Now it's all up to me.

I appreciate the responses once again.

I didn't live alone, I had a roommate, but I did work full time 8 hour shifts. My job was a medication aide in a group home and luckily for me they were flexible with what days and hours I worked. I went to a 2 year community college for my RN.

I think what got me through was just putting my head down and just making myself do the work and commit because I knew it would be a short term thing. The program I went to was split into 9 months for your 1st year (you had the option of taking LPN NCLEX, I did) then summer off, and then 9 months RN year. It went by sort of fast, but at the same time it was a lot of work so in ways it felt like it was taking forever just due to the amount of work. I also had family and friend support which I won't deny did help a lot. People around kept me motivated, but I also kept motivating myself to get it done because I wanted to get to a place that I could financially help my family and myself in the future

If you are doing a 1 year accelerated its even less time, but obviously they will cram more in, you will likely be busier and more loaded down with school work than I was. I think you will be able to work at least part-time, full time would be difficult if not impossible in a 1 year accelerated I would imagine. However, I did not do the 1 year program so that is something I cannot personally speak to.

Good luck!

I lived alone and worked 48 hour weeks as a CNA to pay the bills. I have absolutely zero idea how I managed that in retrospect. I know I didn’t sleep, like, ever.

I'm living alone, working full time Mon-Fri 830-430 and am finishing up my last semester of nursing school (yayay!!) I took 4 semesters of pre-reqs, 2 classes each, 1 science w a lab each time, too. The last 5 semesters are nursing school, clinical once a week and now classes twice a week. It's trimesters so I haven't had a free summer in 3 years. I leave right from work and get to class Mon and Wed. Tues I'm lucky enough that I have PTO and my boss lets me leave early to get to clinical. It's a lot of work but I can't afford to live alone and pay my bills and have insurance without a full time job. My GPA isn't suffering and clinical gives me something to look forward to after days at my regular job hahaha. So, it can be done, but an accelerated program might not give you as much flexibility. You're lucky to live with a fiance who can help with dishes, groceries, laundry, etc. I would start out working and see if you might need to take your fiance up on the offer, it's only a year and may help save your sanity. Good luck!

I was a single mom to 2 kids, had no help from daddy, my parents were unable to help as they worked as well. I had a good day care, sister helped with kids at night when she was off, I worked a full time job of course, and had part time job on the side. Graduated top of my class, and didn't qualify for financial assistance, so lived very tight budget. It can be done. Now, there is a word that a few have mentioned. Sleep, I didn't have much of that for 2 years of ADN program, but after that, all of my education has been paid for by OT. Kids grew up fine. Where there's a will, there's a way!

I lived with my SO, and worked part time and took max student loans to boost our income (hence my massive debt). However, in the scenario that you describe (one year accelerated program) it would be a considerable risk to try and work. The time and energy resources might be the difference between success and failure depending upon your unique strengths and weaknesses as a student, and the difficulty of the program. If I were your partner I would first and foremost want to see you succeed as this would be the single most powerful thing that you could do to improve your (and my) future.