Sacrifices, huh?

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I'm a mother of 4 sons, two that are grown and two that are 7. My husband works alternating 12 hour days..two days on, two days off, three days on, three days off, etc. Before, I was working every evening that he wasn't so that we could be each other's child care. This as a waitress, btw. Now, since I'm in my first semester of RN school, I only work four days out of the month....two Saturdays, two Sundays. The loss of incoming money is proving to be substantial.

I'm torn and I'm stressed. I was able to work for the three years it took to get the prerequisites out of the way but our instructors highly recommended that we (the students) not work while we're taking this course, and I can see why. However, if I don't, what are we going to do?

My husband is now facing the repossession of his truck. It will probably be picked up any day now. Before, we thought (or hoped) we could make it....knew it would be tight but still hoped. We didn't take into account other obstacles. One of those obstacles has been our plumbing going haywire. This is extra cost to us that we hadn't anticipated. To make matters worse, our heating unit is under the house so when the pipes broke the unit was flooded and ruined. We're still praying that our homeowner's insurance will help in the $5k cost of replacing that. I do not know what we will do if it doesn't.

I just don't know what to do.....If I work more, how will I ever have time to study and get assignments completed in time? How can I have any hope at all at passing this semester and the remaining three? If I can only get through this nightmare, I could finally have secure employment that I not only love but would benefit my family greatly. If I don't make it, then we'll be stuck in the same vicious financial cycle that we've been stuck in for years. My husband says that, although he hates to lose his truck, he will be alright....I still hate to see him lose it.

Has any of you faced these kind of obstacles? Have you had losses as a consequence of not being able to work as much? How did you deal with it?

Specializes in Geriatrics, Pediatrics, Home Health.

Go to this website and read it.

http://www.cheapskatemonthly.com

This site SAVED us!! Go to the RDRP. Learn how to live under your means. It costs $35.00 to join but it is the absolute BEST $35.00 I have ever spent.

On the pipes and plumbing problems; go to the library and get books on how to fix them yourself. I have replaced a gas water heater, faucets in the bathroom and kitchen, relaced the toilet and all its plumbing, replumbed a gas heater and replaced the brakes on my husband's truck. [The Saturday before my school started].

Both of our vechiles are paid for. Mine is a 1982 Ford full size van. His is a 1989 Ford Ranger pick up truck. We buy them used and know that we need to replace them about every 1-2 yrs. We refuse to pay more than a thousand for any car.

We have four children who are all in school. Our daughter is 17 and a Junior in HS. Our boys are 12, 11, and 8. None of them got new clothes for school. They know that things will get better after I graduate, but it is hard to tell them no to a $0.69 candy bar. All of them get free breakfasts and lunches which cuts down tremendously on our food bill.

My husband is the sole provider and makes about $30,000.00 a yr. We pay $500.00 in rent and all utilites. However, we DO NOT have any credit cards.

PM me or email me privately and I will help you all I can. My email is [email protected]

I have been and am where you are now. I make sure my kids eat before I do, so that I know that they get a good filling supper. We just got our gas turned back on this past Thursday after having it disconnected in May. We learned to cook using an electric skillet and a crock pot.

Email me if you think I can help!

Take care and know that I am praying for you and your family.

I just wanted to say that I am so sorry that you are under such financial stress. Nursing school is hard enough without the extra worries.

I'm afraid I don't have any practical advice, but I will be praying for you and your family.

Isn't there anyway you can work more than 4 days a month? Maybe your husband could sacrifice some of his extra time to help you around the house so that you could work more. Have your kids help out too. I'm sure there is some way in which you can work more than 4 days a month. Just have to delegate some of your household responsibilities to your family. If your older children are old enough maybe they can get jobs and help pay for some of their own expenses?

Could your husband maybe get a second part time job? Could you get a job working in a hotel as a receptionist where there is a lot of down time so you can study some at work?

I know these are not options you want, but you are right, it comes down to sacrificing.

Good luck

Are you going to school full or part time? Maybe you could consider dropping some courses to free up more time to be able to work a little more. I've turned a two year program into four, going part time so I can continue to work. It seems like it's taking forever to get through everything, but we all know the bills don't wait until graduation. I hope you guys are able to work something out to lessen your burden and wish you luck.

Specializes in ER, ICU, L&D, OR.

I remember those days when my annual income was less than 10,000. I appreciate what I make now. I remeber when Spam was considered a delicacy. And when hunting Season really meant meat on the table. Vennison, rabbit. squirrel, dove. Duck.

things that rich people consider delicacies were affordable for the price of a day off and some good shootin. I didnt meed bifocals then

How about financial aid?? There are all kinds of grants and scholarships out there. We were to a point of desperation over the summer and I went to the FinAid office with my budget. She took one look at it and found me $3000 within two days. Yes, they were loans but deferred repayment and maybe something I can get my employer to cover later.

Originally posted by francine79

Isn't there anyway you can work more than 4 days a month? Maybe your husband could sacrifice some of his extra time to help you around the house so that you could work more. Have your kids help out too. I'm sure there is some way in which you can work more than 4 days a month. Just have to delegate some of your household responsibilities to your family. If your older children are old enough maybe they can get jobs and help pay for some of their own expenses?

Could your husband maybe get a second part time job? Could you get a job working in a hotel as a receptionist where there is a lot of down time so you can study some at work?

I know these are not options you want, but you are right, it comes down to sacrificing.

Good luck

I put in tonight actually to work two extra days out of the month. Two whole days. The thing is, francine, if I work during the week while going to school I will not have any time to study. My job is in the evening hours, closing late. I work in a restaurant. I cannot work the weekends he works because I/we don't have a babysitter. Can we get one? No. Why? Because we can't afford one. If we attained a babysitter to watch the twins, let's face it, we'd be working to pay the babysitter. Neither of us has family that can help us with the little ones. His mother is elderly and my parents are deceased. My siblings live almost three hours away. Two of my sons are grown. The eldest makes just enough to pay his bills but has nothing left over to help with the family finances. My second eldest son just took on his third job and, I hate to admit it, he's not putting his best foot forward.

As for the house, I do get some help cleaning, dishes, etc That's not really been as big a problem....the biggest problem is the financial stress. My husband already works 12 hours shifts. Sometimes he works on his days off during the week......you see, another obstacle to my working extra during the week (again, because of child care).

I know you mean well, francine....I really do. However, it's not as you may have interpreted but I appreciate your concern.

Originally posted by PJMommy

How about financial aid?? There are all kinds of grants and scholarships out there. We were to a point of desperation over the summer and I went to the FinAid office with my budget. She took one look at it and found me $3000 within two days. Yes, they were loans but deferred repayment and maybe something I can get my employer to cover later.

Thank you, PJMommy. I have Financial Aid and Pell Grant that have aided me greatly with tuition and books. To get into the program, no problem. To stay in the program and not lose everything I/we have has become a battle. Is this another kind of financial aid you are speaking of?

Originally posted by Carolanne

Are you going to school full or part time? Maybe you could consider dropping some courses to free up more time to be able to work a little more. I've turned a two year program into four, going part time so I can continue to work. It seems like it's taking forever to get through everything, but we all know the bills don't wait until graduation. I hope you guys are able to work something out to lessen your burden and wish you luck.

I'm a full time student through no choice of mine. In our program you are given courses per semester that you have to take. You have to take all of the required subjects per semester and cannot drop them. This semester I have Nursing Fundamentals, Clinicals, Nursing Lab, Pharmacology I, and Health Assessment. I also have A & P I. I attend school every single day from M-F......I drop the twins off at school and head off to campus. I get home just in time to pick them up.

Thanks for your wishes, Carolanne. It helps more than you know for ME to know that others feel what I'm going through and care.

Yeah...the finaid I'm referring to are loans. :) If you are eligible for Pell Grants, you are also eligible for the Stafford and Perkins loans. There is a limit as to what you can borrow each year but I think it goes as high as $10K+. Low, low interest rates and payments are generally deferred for 6 months after graduation. Some employers are now making payments FOR their nurses.

Check out this link from the Dept. of Education:

http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/studentloans.jsp?tab=funding#content

Good luck. Remember that FinAid is there to help YOU so go rattle some cages and see what they can come up with.

Pam

Are you able to refinance the truck and/or the mortgage to get the payments down? I don't know what else to suggest. I hope that you are able to stick with it, because it will be better for your family in the long run. I'll be sure to say a prayer for you and your family.:kiss

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