Living poor to living middle class!

Nurses New Nurse

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:balloons: :balloons: I graduate in May, and I am so ready to begin making a decent living for a change. True enough I did not go into nursing just for the money, but it sure does help make my life a little better. I am tired of struggling wondering how I am going to pay a bill and feed my family. In another month all my worries will be over. I read a lot threads stating that they want to quit in their first year. I guess, my question is, is it really that bad that you would want to give up your dream career because of the stress that you will probably experience from any other job?

Specializes in ER/Trauma.

A few things I picked up (can't help it. Father is a banker).

* Saving is severely under-rated. Especially in America. Trust me, you can never save "enough".

* Don't get into debt unless you have to. Debt can be VERY costly. Putting regular expenses on debt (read: "CREDIT") is the surefire way to financial ruin.

Example: Things you can put on debt - car payments, mortgage, educational loans. Things to avoid putting on debt - clothes, gas, utilities, food etc.

* Learn to budget. This means more than just looking at your statements and balancing your checkbook every month. Budget means "Allocate resources for expenses". This really means:

- How much do I spend every month? A rough list would be Food, Gas, Electricity, Phone, Rent, Heat, Clothes etc. Keep track of how much "cash" you spend.

- Check income. Includes, interest, paycheck, collateral etc.

- Then allocate: e.g.: "10% of income for clothes. 40% for rent" etc.

Budgeting helps you see:

+ HOW much of your money goes WHERE? This is important because you'll be able to see that you are spending "30% of monthly income on clothes vs 40% on rent").

+ Accounting income and expenses lets you PLAN for the FUTURE. As a young adult, this is absolutely critical!

+ Budgeting also helps you make your money work for you - rather than you having to work for your money.

* Don't "touch" savings unless it is an "emergency" (about to lose your home, medical emergency etc).

All this sounds very "tedious" and "boring" - but believe me, it really isn't. Budgeting is a matter of "habit". Get into good habits - don't spend more than you planned, always pay your bills on time and be thrifty .... and you won't have to face many financial worries as years go by.

Soon, it will become second nature to you.

Remember, the largest share of those filing for penury and bankruptcy are the new income earners.

Don't be a statistic!

cheers,

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Specializes in Cardiac Tele, MICU RN.

Wow! you couldn't have said that any better. Thanks for the great advice. This is exactly what my plans are my first year of nursing and so on. I don't believe all of my worries will be over, but I do believe that if I am smart about my money I won't have to worry so much.

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Specializes in CVICU, PACU, OR.

I just graduated last May and I recently bought The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, and Broke by Suze Orman (I love watching her show ). I have learned soooo much! I finally figured out what funds I should be investing in my 403b, what my financial goals should be, etc. I keep track of my income and ALL my expenses so I know where my money is going. I suggest picking up some kind of easy to read financial book so you know what to do with the money once you have it. Start out on the right path!

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I felt exactly how you are feeling now, but boy was I wrong. Yes I do make a decent salary but when I factor in all my expenses I was living better (for lack of a better word) before I graduated than I am now. I don't know your situation but I am a single mother of a 2 year old girl. When I was in school I recieved food stamps and the state paid for most of my daughter's daycare bill. By the way I was in school full time and worked part time. Now that I am employed as a nurse and my income has gone up I recieve no help from the state at all. I make 17.35 an hour which equals about 2200 a month after taxes. After Credit card bills, rent, utilities, a car payment which is only $250, and a !!!!$750 daycare bill!!!!! I barely have any money left at the end of the month and I don't spend my money loosely and I never buy extravagant things. I know I am in a better position than many people out there and I know public assistance is for those truely poor families, as it should be. But with quality childcare being as expensive as it is, a lot of people, including myself, are having to make the choice between going back on public aid or struggling to make ends meet while working full time. Sometimes, when you're middle class you make too much to qualify for help but not enough to live comfortabley. I worked so hard to graduate from college, get my BSN and make a better life for my daughter but I really fell like as I made one step foward somebody pulled me back two.

Sorry for the long post but I really needed to let that out.

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Yeah I just graduated last year as well. And I can relate what you're going through....from being broke while in college to having lots of cash every payday. From my own experience is SPEND YOUR MONEY WISELY!!!:nono:

Its definitely nice to know you can splurge on buying cute outfits every week because you damn know you can afford it... but those bills do add up at the end of the month and you're left spending more than you make :uhoh3:.

I started this thing where I only spend $100 dollars a month on clothes and $100 a month on take outs/misc...and so far its been working and I am definitely saving my MULA(s)!!! Bringing homemade lunch and snacks also cut down a lot of my daily expenses.

hope this helps!!! good luck to you!!!

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Yeah I just graduated last year as well. And I can relate what you're going through....from being broke while in college to having lots of cash every payday. From my own experience is SPEND YOUR MONEY WISELY!!!:nono:

Its definitely nice to know you can splurge on buying cute outfits every week because you damn know you can afford it... but those bills do add up at the end of the month and you're left spending more than you make :uhoh3:.

I started this thing where I only spend $100 dollars a month on clothes and $100 a month on take outs/misc...and so far its been working and I am definitely saving my MULA(s)!!! Bringing homemade lunch and snacks also cut down a lot of my daily expenses.

hope this helps!!! good luck to you!!!

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I have friends who graduated for the PNEP last year and already have brought expensive things. I have learned the meaning of priority the hard way, and struggled last year, and continue to struggle. I will be starting my first job as a PN this month. After last year, I have learned that what I need takes priority over what I want. Not only that I am responsible for my son, and want him to grow up to be financially wise not wasteful. My family and a few friends have humbly suggested I get a new vehicle, and I said and still say no. My 93 ford explorer is still running just fine. When it no longer takes me from point "A-B" then, I will get a new one. I don't want to be responsible right now for a car note and increased insurance, in addition to trying to keep a roof over our head, and food on the table. Many people have went out and indulged in expensive things after their pay has increased. As for me, I just want to be able to pay my rent, buy grocery, try not to curse too much when I have to go put gas in the tank, and pay my utilities. I have been called cheap because some people have it in their minds that I am going to become some instant millionaire over night, but I see what happens when people go over board. I am trying to think about the "what ifs". I am not a worry wart but stuff happens and I want to be prepared just in case. My son is getting older and I have to also think about him. I dream of one day being a home owner, but I can tell you this much, It's not going to happen any time soon. The only expensive thing I want, if you can call it that, is a poodle dog. That's it. On a lighter note, Congrats to you grads for the month of May:balloons:

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Specializes in Float.

I wish we could have a forum just on finances..wouldn't that be great? We are going to be making almost triple and it still doesn't seem like enough lol. I guess I want to be debt free NOW and since I have about 30k to pay off it's going to take a while, esp if I want to quit eating ramen noodles and buy my kids clothes that fit lol. I'm such a frugal person normally and I want to stay frugal, but I want to enjoy myself a bit too (having a family night out 1-2x a month, buying the family some new clothes, socks, undies, etc lol) I also REALLY want to take a vacation because we've never been on a "real" vacation. I know I need to pay off my debt ASAP (definitely have no plans of taking on NEW debt) but I am trying to figure out how to balance that with saving and spending.

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Specializes in ER,OR.
:balloons: :balloons: I graduate in May, and I am so ready to begin making a decent living for a change. True enough I did not go into nursing just for the money, but it sure does help make my life a little better. I am tired of struggling wondering how I am going to pay a bill and feed my family. In another month all my worries will be over. I read a lot threads stating that they want to quit in their first year. I guess, my question is, is it really that bad that you would want to give up your dream career because of the stress that you will probably experience from any other job?

I started to wonder how good salary you have there??

In Finland we get about 20 000e/year?

Try to get some joy out of that....lol

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Specializes in Cardiac Tele, MICU RN.

Well here in Michigan, you can make up to 50,000 a year +, I have only made up to 30,000 a year from my previous job and was living paycheck to paycheck...imagine that...now 20,000 more won't hurt a thang...haha:lol2:

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Med-Surg..

I so wish that I could go to the U.S. Here in Canada, in many areas, getting full time, even as an RN can take 2- 3 years or longer. Many RN's here work two jobs. This isn't true everywhere but it is true more than it should be. We have a new grad program that gives new grads full time for 3 months but after that you go back to part time as most of our hospitals are unionized. Hopefully this will change as the shortage gets worse.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

It's hard being a single mom but the REAL expensive daycare (all day every day for a 2 year old) is only for a short time. She'll be starting kindergarten, then be in school most of the day - you'll have more experience and make more money, so paying for the after school care won't be as much of a hit. All in all, you're making an investment in your future by becoming an experienced nurse now.

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