Loans and job

klone, MSN, RN · Jan 5, 2015

Are you married, kids? Knowing how most travelers are compensated, it's hard for me to believe that you haven't been able to make even a dent. My recommendation would be to take a hard look at your monthly expenses and how much money you give yourself for discretionary spending, and come up with a tight budget, wherein you can put a few thousand a month towards your student loans.

A couple book recommendations: Automatic Millionaire by David Bach (particularly salient from his books is the phenomenon called the "latte factor") and Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.

mgandy87 · Jan 5, 2015

I have also been trying to pay off medical bills which accrued while I was traveling. I don't make enough money to pay thousands of dollars a month in loans with interest rates as high as 10%. I also need a place to stay and food. I just got rid of my car to lower by car payment. I work the weekend program to make the max amount of money and do not go out. As far as I'm concerned I am not being completely financially irresponsible. I would like a job that I work hard for that actually allows me to pay off my loans.

klone, MSN, RN · Jan 5, 2015

Okay, I still recommend checking out those books. I think they have valuable information that can be helpful to everyone.

When you were traveling, did you not get a housing stipend?

RNNPICU, BSN, RN · Jan 5, 2015

I had one private loan that was almost $60,000. It took me 8 years. That was the largest part of my budget. I tried paying off slightly more that the minimum payment and slowly but surely it made a dent. It took a about three years before I saw the dent being made and then I started paying off more and more than the minimum payment. It just takes time. Good Luck, loans are such a pain.. But worth it because I can work as a RN

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Jan 5, 2015

Are you eligible to get a lower payment by doing an income-based repayment?

CrunchRN, ADN, RN · Jan 5, 2015

There used to be high paying tax free jobs in Saudi Arabia. You might want to look into that. There have been some threads about it in the past.

elkpark · Jan 5, 2015

As far as I'm concerned I am not being completely financially irresponsible.

Okay, I'll bite -- how "financially irresponsible" are you being?? How big a priority is getting out from under this debt for you?

roser13, ASN, RN · Jan 5, 2015

All I know is that you must do everything in your power to make the minimum monthly payments. You do not want to go into arrears. These loans are unforgiveable, even in bankruptcy, and I have heard horror stories of folks that walk away from them, only to accrue thousands and thousands in interest and collection fees.

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · Jan 5, 2015

Yes, why was your housing not paid for while traveling? My sister did a travel program for physical therapy and her friend does it for nursing. They made a crazy amount of money because you go to places where they are having problems hiring. Plus they received a stipend every month for housing and utilities. Pretty much everything was paid for. My sister did it so she could pay off her student loans. She had over $200k in loans and she got them consolidated. She took hers from 30 years to 15. I also think 10% is awful high for student loans. I thought their interest rate was much lower. Dave Ramsey has an excellent program to get your finances on track.

mgandy87 · Jan 5, 2015

I did receive a housing stipend, used it. Like I said, I accrued thousands of dollars in medical bills while traveling so that put a hold on money for my loans. I'm currently paying 2000 dollars a month for medical bills. Student loan payments are about 1400 a month. I only have three years experience as a nurse so I am not making the highest amount.

Libby1987 · Jan 5, 2015

Off topic and really just my curiosity, but weren't you provided with health insurance? I'm assuming if you rec'd a housing stipend that you were employed full time. How does a working nurse end up with thousands in medical bills? Lousy insurance with extremely high OOP?