How will you support yourself financially?

LPN Student · May 30, 2003

Oh, you are giving me some hope!! I am leaving an excellent paying administrative job late this summer to start the LPN program. I'm going to start there, get a job as soon as I'm done, and then go right into the RN program, and hopefully, my employer will pay for it.

This has been an extremely mentally draining decision. I already make $15/hr, with full paid benefits, company match 401K, and 5 weeks of paid vacation, but I KNOW nursing is what I want to do. It's just so hard to make that leap to give up a really good job for an LPN job that I'm sure won't pay me what I make now. I won't see the rewards until I become an RN.

I pretty much haven't given my husband a choice. I've put my career on hold for years because I am the bread winner in our family. My husband has a good job, but doesn't make the money or the benefits that I do, so if I leave, it WILL be a financial blow to us. I'm doing this no matter what.....I THINK I have his support, but I'm sure the financial end of it is weighing on his mind. It's just so hard to tell sometimes. We never argue...ever....so I hope he's not keeping something inside. But, I just feel that maybe this will make him step up and get a better job or something.

Anyway, how do you all support yourself during school? I plan to borrow ALL I can borrow on student loans, and work part-time as an aide or something in a LTC facility...something that will work around my school schedule. I worked as an aide many, many years ago and as a QMA, and I totally loved my job. The pay was terrible, but I enjoyed it just the same.

Much luck to you! With any luck, I'll finish the LPN program by my 39th birthday and hopefully the RN within the next year or two after that!

Browneyedgirl · May 30, 2003

student loans, pell, and starting June 24, i will be teaching the Bradley Method of childbirth.

married 3 kids under 7 and hubby is a machinist

Bevi · May 30, 2003

Hi NurseBucky, How wonderful that your husband is willing to take on the financial challenges while you go to school!!!!

He sounds like a great guy.

My partner is supporting us until i get out of nursing school.... she

and i decided together, that its important for me to focus on nursing school without having to throw work into the fray. Its not really so different from how we've been living. We have a son, and i've always been a stay at home Mom while She (my partner) works.

By the time i graduate, our son will be well into high school...so i'll be ready to work!:chuckle

nursebucky · May 30, 2003

Bevi and Browneye, GOOD LUCK.

LPN Student, I am 33 yrs old. My husband is a trucker (not over th road) and makes an above average salary. What bothered him in the beginning was that I walked away from a HR Mgrs position paying over $50k. I hated my life and my job. I started as a pre-med majore when I was 17 and I never forgot about it.

It took some time and lots of prayer, plus positive communication.

I have a student loan ($3750 per semester) so when he saw those checks rolling in, he didn't mind as much. I now have other financial aid that I do not have to pay back. My friend who is heading into her 2nd semester said they will have some special financial aid for us when we arrive so not to sweat it.

Good luck to everyone!!

marilynmom, LPN, NP · May 30, 2003

Well I stay home with my 2 girls as well (neither are in school yet) and my husband supports us as well (and he does not make much at all). I take out all the student loan I can and get Pell Grant, plus we always get a good income tax refund ($5000 a year) and put it all in savings and take out what we need (which is all the time, every week....lol).

We only have 1 credit card and our car is paid off as well and we live in a 2 bedroom apartment instead of buying a house.

I sure will be glad when I can get back to work though, we sure could use the money. I hate taking out student loans but I dont know how else we could do it if I did not.

Marilyn

shelleybelle · May 30, 2003

I am 31yrs old, single mom, last semester of LPN school. I have supported myself with no help from anyone... well, there is that $230 per month I get in child support :rolleyes:

I've survived on grants & scholarship. It's been VERY difficult, but it'll be worth it. I prayed & prayed God would make a way and he has never let me down No, I don't have the money to rent movies, buy clothes, or even groceries! We live next door to my parents and eat over there most times. I did apply for public assistance (foodstamps) but they turned me down because I have a car that is a 1997 and my home is paid for :confused: Nevermind the fact that at the time I applied my car had been broken down for over a month or two because I couldn't afford to have it fixed. They said I could sell my car and buy groceries. LOL

I don't mind anymore... at least when I graduate I can say I did it ALONE. I'm not sure who's gonna pin me - I'm thinking of pinning myself!

So... when I hear someone say they "can't afford" to go to school, I laugh. If I can do it... ANYONE can! I'd lost my job when I decided to go back to school and quite frankly felt I couldn't afford NOT to go... :)

Good luck... :)

giftedRN · May 30, 2003

Nursebucky,

You are so fortunate. I am an international student from Jamaica and I came to this country to be a nurse and now my marriage is on the rocks. I have to support my two kids and myself here through school. To top it all, I have made the sacrifice to come here only to be rejected by the nursing college of the university I am attending. I am done with all my prerequisites for the BSN program and at the moment begging the community college to take me in for fall although my GPA is 3.4. I am at the mercy of the people at the nursing college and this makes me very depressed. It is just that I want to start working as soon as possible to better able to provide for my children and although I sent a letter to the Deans explaining my situation she did not even set up an appointment for me. I know i am going to come out a winner and there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. I hope one day I will be able to look back and smile and pat myself on the shoulder for a job well done.

This is my dilemna.

Ann.

Bevi · May 30, 2003

Originally posted by nursebucky
Bevi and Browneye, GOOD LUCK.

LPN Student, I am 33 yrs old. My husband is a trucker (not over th road) and makes an above average salary. What bothered him in the beginning was that I walked away from a HR Mgrs position paying over $50k. I hated my life and my job. I started as a pre-med majore when I was 17 and I never forgot about it.
It took some time and lots of prayer, plus positive communication.

I have a student loan ($3750 per semester) so when he saw those checks rolling in, he didn't mind as much. I now have other financial aid that I do not have to pay back. My friend who is heading into her 2nd semester said they will have some special financial aid for us when we arrive so not to sweat it.

Good luck to everyone!!

Nurse Bucky, thank you for the good luck wishes....i wish you luck in LPN school!

I decided not to take a loan, cause i don't wanna have payments;)

I get a grant that pays for my education, and we payed off our Blazer, its a '99, so it should last a while. My partner has her company car. We refinanced our house, to get a nice low rate. We are not going out to eat as often as we used to (lots of books i need to buy!!!!) And we watch our $$ carefully, we've tightened our belts.... but not much more than we always have....So it's all good....... cause the payoff for these sacrifices is a wonderful one!

Its wonderful that you'll have soem special financial aid to help you out during your quest for LPN.......i wish you much luck in your endeavor and much happiness as a nurse!

:D

Bevi · May 30, 2003

Originally posted by annmarei
. I know i am going to come out a winner and there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. I hope one day I will be able to look back and smile and pat myself on the shoulder for a job well done.
This is my dilemna.
Ann. [/b]

Wow!!....... Ann, i admire your spirit ... with that attitude, i know you will have all that you desire, i am sending you positive thoughts and wishes.....

Bevi · May 30, 2003

Shellybelle, you are a role model....you're brave!

congrats to you on your hard work and dedication to your dream......you're a wonderful human being !

fnimat1 · May 31, 2003

I am very fortunate to have my dh support our family solely and finanicially. He has his career and a part-time security job on the weekends at night. Although I hardly ever see him I love him for all that he is doing. That's why I have to go to nursing school and finish. I know it's very hard to support a wife and 4 children. I am looking into other ways to supplement our household finances. So far I've come up with being a distributor for "Over The Shoulder Baby Holder"....I"m just starting out so I do hope it's promising. I also have a party favor business, which could be better... :rolleyes: . I just have to work at it. I'm really hoping to get my boys' into a sliding scale fee day care center...if they go according to my dh's income we should have to pay next to nothing. I'm currently in a repayment plan on my defaulted student loan that I got year's ago. After my 6th payment (which will be in July) the lawyer will get me reinstated to recieve financial aid. So that's a plus.... . So G-d willing things will go according to plan for September.....should I get admitted.

Fatima