can you live "comfortable" on a Nurses Salary

Shotzie · Apr 5, 2004

For a long time I made more money than my husband did. He eventually passed me up when he changed careers and I dropped down to part time to stay home w/ the kiddos. Now I am in management as is he, our kids are just about grown and the house is mostly paid off.

Nursing has always paid me a good wage --- but I also negotiated a good wage whnever I changed jobs. I would have people tell me that hospitals set the salaries and there's no "wiggle room". But I have been able to negotiate the salary up for my last 4 jobs. The one I'm in now, I was even able to negotiate the salary title to a higher salary.

You just have to stick to your guns and prove your worth to them.

live4today, RN · Apr 5, 2004

"Any" salary can be "comfortable"........nurses pay or otherwise......depending on how an individual chooses to live. :nurse:

I'm single, kids are grown, but if I'm not frugally careful, I can be in just as much debt as a two wage earner family with kids. Plus, I get "no IRS deductions" each year I file. As a matter of fact, I owe IRS this year and it will take me a year to pay it off (unless I scrimp and save to pay them off sooner).

Ask yourself what "comfortable" means to you, then you'll be able to decide how much money you'll need to earn to try and live that lifestyle.

My motto is to "Keep It Simple", and then when your job is cut, or you get sick and can't work, or your spouse gets laid off his job, etc.........you'll be able to keep your head above water. It is NEVER good to live on TWO incomes. Live on the lesser income, put aside a large emergency fund with the larger income, and keep aside some fun money for yourself each time you get paid (married or single). :)

kids · Apr 5, 2004

What part of Washington are you moving to that has homes for $145000? If I could find a house for that cheap I might consider staying here.[/quote']
Vancouver. Lots of $200K (plus) homes but many more for less. We paid $138K for our 2000 sqft house on an almost 2 acre flag lot inside city limits.
As for making a "comfortable" living, as others have said, it all depends on how you define comfortable.
I raised 3 kids as a single mom with no child support. I budgeted and was able to pay for sports, class trips and nice clothes. We ate good and were able to eat out once a week, at that time I elected not to buy but we lived in very nice rentals in good neighborhoods. I had some money in savings and retirement (past tense I used the money to survive when I got hurt).

BittyBabyGrower, MSN, RN · Apr 5, 2004

Even without my DH's salary, I could do well for myself and my DD. I would be able to make the house payment, car payment and utilities and still have a bit to spare. :) It depends on how well you manage money and what you want :)

CaterpillarGirl · Apr 5, 2004

Spokane. You can get homes for $50-$90,000, but not in the best school district. We bought a 35 year old home in a nice neighborhood in the best school district. Yes, some of the new homes cost $200,000 to $300,000, if you want the debt, but we can walk to the grocery store, the church, the library, the roller rink, the schools, and the bus-line. We can live on less, have more time for family, and not be a slave to debt (Our only debt now is the house). We aren't going to rush to pay it off, because we want to work less and enjoy our kids while they are young. You can work 60 hours a week and have oodles of money, but it won't buy you time with your children once they are grown and gone!

Gotcha :) Eastern Washington is less expensive, though I didn't know it was THAT much less.

Congrats on your new home :balloons:

Megan

Tweety, BSN, RN · Apr 5, 2004

I've always lived comfortably no matter much I made. When I was making $3.00 in the early 80's I lived comfortably in an efficiency. I had a roof over my head, food on the table and people who loved me.

I don't need much.

Of course you can live comfortably. Depends on how you define it. My spouse and I both work. We have a three bedroom home, two cars, a dog, food to eat, and take vacations, have hobbies, and are saving for retirement.

Will we ever be rich? No. Not unless we quit spending money and invest more, or we win the lottery, or his dad leaves us his money.

Dayray, RN · Apr 5, 2004

Nursing isn't going to make you rich, it has however been pretty good to me. I have enough to feed and cloth 4 children and my wife + 2 dogs. We have 1 car payment, a mortgage and 2 other cars that are paid for. If someone gets sick we have good insurance and I carry a fairly large life insurance policy. We aren't extravagant but we have nice things. Our kids all get new cloths 3 or 4 times a year, we eat out a couple times a week, rent movies and I buy allot of books (like 3 a week) my wife buys crazy things off the Internet or TV at least once a month. I don't look at the total when I buy gas and I don't worry about bouncing checks and if my car broke down I would be able to pay the mechanic. Our only debts are the mortgage and car payment + about $4,000 from an old hospital bill.

So I'd say I'm comfortable, I wouldn't be able to afford the best of everything but thats not a priority for me. My wife graduates in 2 years and I'm looking forward to that because I think we might be able to both drive new cars and maybe hire someone to do a some of the house work. If she decided not to work I really wouldn't care though.

So yeah you can be comfortable but you won't be turning heads with designer cloths or Italian sports cars (unless you play the credit card game).

orrnlori, RN · Apr 5, 2004

I would bet that everyone here knows at least one person who has bought a McMansion, drives the newest biggest SUV, takes several trips a year and then constantly complains that nurses aren't paid enough. As others have said, it's all relevant.

I can think of few professions where one can go to college for 2 1/2 years and pull down from 23.00 to 30.00 per hour right out of the box. When I look at our university's jobs site I see plenty of master's and even Ph.D positions that don't pay as much or much more than nursing does. Police and firefighters make less where I live (talk about stress and putting your life on the line). Many white collar jobs pay less. For all the harping one may see or hear about nursing pay, it's better than many many jobs out there in terms of compensation. There are some nursing jobs I wouldn't do for 100.00 per hour. Again, it's all relevant.

danaRN2b · Apr 5, 2004

I read Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey last week & thought it had a lot of very sound advice about debt reduction, retirement investment, college funding (for those with children), and avoiding debt in general. I wish I had read something like it when I was 18 and newly married instead of when I was 27 and $25,000 in debt (not including our house...). The book might help anyone manage their income better!