POLL: How far in debt will you be???

Ambitiouz · Jul 15, 2008

I'll be about 11.5 grand in debt, thid is debt that I racked up from private school. I hate it and can't wait to pay it off. Hopefully, some it it will qualify for cancellation upon graduation. Thankfully, I won't have to take out anymore loans since I will be starting nursing school at a public school.

crazyframes · Jul 15, 2008

When I started my pre-req classes I also started an "edumakashun" savings account. I've been taking classes for 3 years so I've also been saving for that amount of time.

I start my BSN program in the fall and should be able to pay all of my tuition with the savings. What will probably push me over is the books, uniforms, fees & buying a laptop. But that money will come from the rainy day savings account.

Fortunately, I live with my SO and he will continue to work full-time while I'm in school so all the living expenses will be covered. I've promised him to do the same when he wants to get his Master's. I don't plan on working during school at first but will see what happens as I get further into the program and the money starts running out!

I paid off my old student loans from my first BS about a year ago. Man, that was a great feeling! I knew I didn't want to start a program with any of that hanging over my head. And once that debt was gone, it was much easier to save even more.

We don't own a house and don't have any kids (except of the fur & scale variety). Our rent is relatively cheap (given we live in one of the most expensive cities in the country), our cars are old and paid off and still running pretty well, our tastes aren't lavish and we're willing to cut whatever corners are needed. I'm hoping to come out of this whole thing without any debt.

I admire those of you who are doing this with mortgages, kids & no other sources of income. You've got some gumption!

k_r_ah · Jul 17, 2008

So far about 21,000 but it will probably be 35,000 by the time I'm done. ADN

chuckz, BSN, RN · Jul 17, 2008

Ford Motor is paying for my BSN so i won't be in debt at all. For my Master's, I will have to fork the bill, but for now, I consider myself fortunate to have taken the educational buyout and not have to foot a dime, except for books.

Shenanigans, RN · Jul 17, 2008

72 Grand in the hole.

Of course, I did a few years at uni piror. And despite the awful size of it, it works out to less then ten grand a year for the 9 years I orificed about as a student.

Thankfully we have interest free student loans (it was an example of blatant vote buying last election).

WVlpn2b · Jul 18, 2008

Here's a question... how far in debt will you be when nursing school is all said and done? How many years are you spending in school? BSN or RN?

I will owe $5-7K. I'm going through the ADN program at my community college, and it's fairly inexpensive. I had hoped not to borrow any -- I didn't for my pre-reqs -- but my uniforms/supplies/books for the first semester alone is right around $1K. I'm an at-home mom currently, so I don't have a job in the workplace. I'm hoping next summer to have an externship or possibly a job as a PCT, and any money I make will be used to offset my costs.

Also, at least one local hospital has a program in which they may agree to pay back my loans for my second year if I commit to a year or two employment there, which I may try to do.

missjennmb · Jul 18, 2008

I will be about $5k in debt, but its not school loan debt. I've had to get pretty behind in my living expenses in order to even get in the door at school, and I'm sure I'll hit the $5k mark before its all said and done. I'm pretty much living one paycheck from eviction/no electricity/no water/no fuel at the moment, just to pay for the car/insurance/daycare I needed to get started. I have not even started classes yet.

I would have much rather had "school loan debt" but it is what it is I guess. Atleast this way I know its capped and I'm that much more motivated to pay it all off.

MvbRn, ASN, BSN · Jul 18, 2008

I will be about $5k in debt, but its not school loan debt. I've had to get pretty behind in my living expenses in order to even get in the door at school, and I'm sure I'll hit the $5k mark before its all said and done. I'm pretty much living one paycheck from eviction/no electricity/no water/no fuel at the moment, just to pay for the car/insurance/daycare I needed to get started. I have not even started classes yet.
I would have much rather had "school loan debt" but it is what it is I guess. Atleast this way I know its capped and I'm that much more motivated to pay it all off.

You should check with your school to see if they have a program to help you with daycare. At our school we have one at the Womens Center, but I am not eligible because I am married.

MvbRn, ASN, BSN · Jul 18, 2008

So far about 21,000 but it will probably be 35,000 by the time I'm done. ADN

You can tell we go to the same school, because we have the exact same amount of debt.

missjennmb · Jul 18, 2008

You should check with your school to see if they have a program to help you with daycare. At our school we have one at the Womens Center, but I am not eligible because I am married.

same kinda... my husband makes a decent wage (well it was decent before our mortage went up due to the "mortgage crisis" and inflation and the price of gas went crazy). So I don't qualify for most financial aid programs, and at the same time, we don't make enough money to do more than get by.

It really sucks because when I was a single parent and poor as could be, I couldn't get childcare outside of 9-5 in order to go to school days and work nights and wasn't willing to go on food stamps when I could work, and its sad to say, but i regret doing that now. I should have taken their offer of help, even though it would have meant being a welfare participant when I was healthy enough to work.

MvbRn, ASN, BSN · Jul 18, 2008

same kinda... my husband makes a decent wage (well it was decent before our mortage went up due to the "mortgage crisis" and inflation and the price of gas went crazy). So I don't qualify for most financial aid programs, and at the same time, we don't make enough money to do more than get by.
It really sucks because when I was a single parent and poor as could be, I couldn't get childcare outside of 9-5 in order to go to school days and work nights and wasn't willing to go on food stamps when I could work, and its sad to say, but i regret doing that now. I should have taken their offer of help, even though it would have meant being a welfare participant when I was healthy enough to work.

Sometimes it seems that they punish you for being married. It is crazy that they are able to do that! It is hard because you are giving up a job inorder to be able to go to school.

You don't qualify for pell grant either?

I have never received any assistance before I was married, but if I had known there were so many benefits of not being married, then maybe I would have waited to get married.

missjennmb · Jul 18, 2008

You don't qualify for pell grant either?

I do get a partial pell grant, but it doesnt cover even my whole tuition. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to get lottery assistance (state assistance that only pays what other financial aid/scholarships don't pay for actual tuition). I'm still waiting on the final results as I had been selected for verification. I'm thankful I get atleast that much. I'm working 28 hrs a week which helps a little, but its 50 min away because I live way out in the country, so gas is becoming an issue.

I'm just dealing with debt because of the cost of books, uniforms, supplies, used car and insurance, and childcare. Childcare alone is $580 a month for 2 small children, and that was after shopping it.

I have a 13 yr old son and I am really trying my best to drive it home to him how important it is for him to get college out of the way before he moves out of mom's or settles down with a girl, so that he won't have to go through all of this. If all I had to deal with was finding money for school, supplies and travel expenses, I'd be golden. I wish someone had drilled it into my head somehow when I was a kid, how hard it would be if I did not take advantage of the opportunities available to me, THEN when I had so much more free time/less responsibilities.