How Do You Do it FINANCIALLY?? Nervous about entering Nursing School!

Sl1011 · Aug 2, 2008

We live in a nicer part of South Carolina, but our income was paying for everything just fine. But now that I want to push forward with nursing school, our bills just seem too high. There's only 1.5 years left on my car loan, so we're hoping to get that paid off as soon as we can and I'm going to save as much as I can. We just got our home less than two years ago and can't sell it, especially with the way the market is. I might take up the suggestion of a previous poster, about caring for one or two kids at night in my home... that could bring in an extra $500-$1000 which would GREATLY help us out. Thanks for the suggestion. And what's even worse is that hubby works 45 miles away from our home, and the school is 45 miles away too. Gas will be horrible on us. But thanks for the idea of evening child care... that might work, as well as part-time work on the weekends here and there.

janis9799 · Aug 2, 2008

I took out student loans and worked part time to live. I am a single mom of two boys, lived with my mom, and a little bit of child support, but still had some expenses. I am coming out with $28,000 debt through stafford subsidized and unsubsidized loans that I took out over the course of three years. The expense is and was worth getting my degree. My payment will be about $350 a month, which I can afford. I know that sounds like alot but really it isn't. Not that I say do loans without trying other avenues but it helped me.

shoegalRN, RN · Aug 2, 2008

Here's what I did:

I worked full time while getting my Associates of Science Degree that included all the pre-reqs for the nursing program. My job even paid for it. It took me 3 years to finish it. All those 3 years, I saved enough money to live off of for the first year of nursing school without having to worry about bills. I also got scholarships. For the second year of nursing school, I got scholarships and Stafford unsub and subsidized loans, as well as a part time job. I also got offer a generous buyout from my previous career and got money put away for just in case.

I also cut back on alot of extras, such as eating out, shopping, and going to the spa. I only go to the spa once at the end of each semester to "unwind". I also worked full time during this summer to get my basement remodeled due to a water problem.

There are loans and grants out there that are available. When there is a will, there is a way.

bagladyrn, RN · Aug 2, 2008

Right now my hubby is in the Airforce and only brings in about $2600 a month. I work at home doing daycare and bring in around $2400 a month. So we do ok monthly right now. BUT, once I start nursing school, I won't have that much time to work... I'm just worried that we won't have enough money to pay the bills, food, and gas! Our Mortgage is $1200, car note $400, and other bills average out to $500-$600. Plus we have to pay for gas and food. There's no way we could make it off of hubby's income alone. Did you have a job when you first started nursing school? How much were you bringing home, or do you not work? Any advice would be great, thanks :)

I made it through school (many years ago) as a single mother without taking out loans: I got my LPN through a program by working at a state hospital that offered the course to employees (I went there as a CNA) in return for a 3 year obligation. Then I sold my house and moved to cheaper housing to pay for thr RN bridge program while working nights to pay the household bills.

You may want to explore options offered by local hospitals (though the obligation part might be difficult as a military spouse). You may also want to see if the financial counselors on your husband's base can offer any suggestions. Check with your local college to see what grants or scholarships you might be eligible for. Finally, have you considered offering to do childcare during the "off shift" hours - evenings and nights? Your local nurses with children would probably love to find dependable childcare available for those shifts.

november17, ASN, RN · Aug 2, 2008

When I went through nursing school I did it with three kids. My wife worked (I owe her, big time). Partly because we were too cheap to spend money on childcare, so I went to school full time and took care of the kids full time while she worked. Honestly, my wife isn't much of a housewife anyways, so it worked out (being home all the time would drive her nuts!).

We had to cut a lot of corners; To the point of being on "welfare" for a short period of time (not ashamed to admit it, we were the "working poor", but I'll have repaid my debt to society 20fold by the time I retire). It was kind of embarrasing to go shopping though. Being a healthy young man and buying my groceries with foodstamps. It took me down a notch and gave me some humility.

We basically cut out all unnecessary spending (no cable, used a clothes line to dry our clothes, etc etc) and relied on our miserly families to borrow money when our crappy car broke down from time to time. There were a couple of points where I scoured my possessions to sell on Ebay just to get gas money or put food in my kid's mouths.

In the end, it has all worked out though. Where there is a will, there is a way.

llg, PhD, RN · Aug 2, 2008

We had to cut a lot of corners; To the point of being on "welfare" for a short period of time (not ashamed to admit it, we were the "working poor", but I'll have repaid my debt to society 20fold by the time I retire). It was kind of embarrasing to go shopping though. Being a healthy young man and buying my groceries with foodstamps. It took me down a notch and gave me some humility.
We basically cut out all unnecessary spending (no cable, used a clothes line to dry our clothes, etc etc) and relied on our miserly families to borrow money when our crappy car broke down from time to time. There were a couple of points where I scoured my possessions to sell on Ebay just to get gas money or put food in my kid's mouths.
In the end, it has all worked out though. Where there is a will, there is a way.

...About the welfare thing ... From your post, you sound like the type of man and type of family I am happy to support of food stamps for a while. I think most people feel the same way. We're happy to help out those who are trying to help themselves. It's those who are making no effort that we resent.

I respect and admire you for having the strength and courage for what you did to give your family a better life. I hope you always feel proud of your accomplishment. :bow:

Jules A, MSN · Aug 2, 2008

It is very inspiring to read about the sacrifices people have made to get their nursing degree and better their life.

How long are the student loans usually amortized over? Just curious because I often see people write about how the interest rate is really low and $400 a month is no problem but if it is over 10 years for example the principle alone is nearly a whole years salary not counting interest. For you youngins that might not be a big deal but for us "older" students not an option, lol.

:wink2:

Jo Dirt · Aug 2, 2008

Since we don't believe in debt and there are so many of us on my one income of a little over 40K a year, we have had to learn to cut corners. I got through nursing school (ASN) with very little debt and that was paid soon after graduating. I'm now down to my last two semesters in a BSN program and I want to go to grad graduate school afterward ASAP. This is going to pose a special challenge because as far as I know they don't give pell grants for school (I was offered about 15K in loans but avoided that like the plague. Nothing drains your ability to be financially independent like car notes and school loans)

If I am extremely lucky I will be able to get a "full" scholarship to a graduate school to become a NP in exchange for a work commitment of a couple of years. My husband still worries about how we will live for two years if I am in school because there are still bills to pay. I'm still working on that aspect. I am assuming I may have to rely on the home equity loan for part of it and find a way to work the other part.

I don't know, but just know you aren't alone. I'm still trying to figure all this out myself. A lot of us are.

Jules A, MSN · Aug 2, 2008

Since we don't believe in debt and there are so many of us on my one income of a little over 40K a year, we have had to learn to cut corners. I got through nursing school (ASN) with very little debt and that was paid soon after graduating. I'm now down to my last two semesters in a BSN program and I want to go to grad graduate school afterward ASAP. This is going to pose a special challenge because as far as I know they don't give pell grants for school (I was offered about 15K in loans but avoided that like the plague. Nothing drains your ability to be financially independent like car notes and school loans)
If I am extremely lucky I will be able to get a "full" scholarship to a graduate school to become a NP in exchange for a work commitment of a couple of years. My husband still worries about how we will live for two years if I am in school because there are still bills to pay. I'm still working on that aspect. I am assuming I may have to rely on the home equity loan for part of it and find a way to work the other part.
I don't know, but just know you aren't alone. I'm still trying to figure all this out myself. A lot of us are.

Could you work for a couple of years and bank some money to use toward your NP education? I'm also in sticker shock for my BSN after paying CC tuition for my ADN. I have increased my hours at work, sigh. Good luck!

Sl1011 · Aug 2, 2008

I am considering doing evening child care for one or two children. That might work out, or possibly work as a CNA for in-home patients through a staffing agency/registry. There is still no set plan yet, as I'm not sure if I'm getting in this coming spring. I'm trying to get everything sent in to the school, so hopefully I'll be accepted. I currently am in the pre-nursing program in another college and will get my pre-nursing certificate and be put on the waiting list at this school. But even with getting in quicker by merit, the earliest I could start nursing school would be Jan 2010... the other one that's a bit further would let me start Jan 2009 with no waiting list. It's all based on grades and points. So once I find out what's going on with this school I'm applying to get into, then I'll definitely start making a plan for our finances.

llg, PhD, RN · Aug 2, 2008

Good luck! In the meantime... you could do yourself a big favor by living cheaply now and earning some extra money. You could use the money saved/earned to pay of any debt (e.g. car loan) and build up a fund to cover expenses while you are in school.
You'll be thankful you did later.

momandstudent · Aug 3, 2008

Sl1011,

I am currently a home daycare provider also. I have been in school for the past 2 1/2 years and was planning on quitting this December. With the price of gas, heat, food and EVERYTHING else-I cannot quit. Thankfully my mother has offered to continue helping me by being a back-up (she ran her own daycare and is still licensed through the state). I could not have gone this far without her help and I prob'ly would not be able to continue had she not offered to continue to help. We are definitely in the same boat as you-we seriously live paycheck to paycheck-not by choice. We have three kids and our income varies every month. My husband worked in the union as a construction worker so his pay was good WHEN he was working but we have went through the last 10 years with him being laid off for 3-6 months every year. It then takes months to get caught up again. He just decided to leave the union so that we can have a set income coming in (he took a $13 an hour pay-cut for right now). We are now trying to play the catch up game with our bills because he was laid off this year for four months. I have had to take out private student loans (along with the federal loans to pay tuition) so that we would not lose our house and everything else twice in the past two years. It has been tough but nursing is something that I have wanted to do for over 15 years now. I refuse to give up on this dream and if I have to work two jobs when I graduate to pay everything off-than so be it. I will be doing what I have wanted for so long and I want to be able to provide a comfortable living for my family. I just am happy that I found someone else who is going through similiar situations to folow their dream. Good luck to you and it can be done!!!:heartbeat