Paying off nursing school debt

Nurses General Nursing

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Does anyone know what can be done to pay nursing school debt?

I guess my boys are lucky in that we paid for their college educations. I'm 50 and went to nursing school a couple of years ago. At one point all 3 of us were in college at the same time. We managed to pay cash for their schooling. Thanks to loan forgiveness, I only owe $3000 for mine.

Specializes in oncology, MS/tele/stepdown.

Pay it off, don't put it off! I paid my mid-60k loans off in 2-2.5 yrs of nursing. There wasn't really a secret - I looked at how much money I really needed to pay my bills, and the rest went to loans. The payments varied, but I always paid as much as I could. It takes time and discipline, but it's not hard. Work some OT on nights. Lower expenses by not buying things you don't need.

I also enjoy these posts. Not sure why, but the financial stuff interests me. Perhaps because I came from a pretty low-income family and have always loved saving money, learning financial "tricks", etc. Of course, I have also made my fair share of stupid decisions regarding money. Thankfully, if you're smart you can always (or usually) recover, though it can take some time.

OP: can you be a little more specific?

- What amount of debt are you in and are your loans federal or private?

- Are you working as an RN? Do you know if your employers offer any sort of loan forgiveness?

- Are you already paying back your loans? What sort of repayment plan are you on?

- If working: what amount do you take home per month? (including OT, bonuses, etc)

I guess my boys are lucky in that we paid for their college educations. I'm 50 and went to nursing school a couple of years ago. At one point all 3 of us were in college at the same time. We managed to pay cash for their schooling. Thanks to loan forgiveness, I only owe $3000 for mine.

Sounds like good luck all the way around, but doesn't really help the OP with her question. Can you give some examples of what you did to save the money for school? I think what she's looking for is now that the debt is there, how to get it gone.

OP some specifics would be helpful in order to help you. Are you already in debt, and if so by how much? How much more debt are you planning to take on? What do you already have in place to work down the balance?

One more tidbit -

A very useful tip I got from someone else is the concept of an emergency stash. Build that up as you're making debt payments. You won't go into debt if you have money set aside for emergencies. My car crumped awhile ago and ended up costing close to $400 to fix. True emergencies only- illness, car, unexpected vet bill, etc. After you use it, start building it up again. That way you're not a paycheck away from disaster. Again emergencies only - shopping or Buffalo Wild Wings is not an emergency.

Specializes in LTC, HH, and Case Mangement.
My school is part of a hospital system and offers a loan forgiveness program if you work for them after graduation. I graduated in Dec 2014. I'll have $10,000 forgiven in another couple of months and have about $3000 left on student loans. I paid about $3000 in cash as well.

That's great! Wish I could say the same, lol!

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