Still Broke!

[Happy-ER-RN]

Well, I have been a nurse for almost a year now and I just realized something, I am still broke! I thought surely after a year of nursing I would have all of my nursing school debt payed off. Nope, still working on it (and I'm just counting credit cards, not loans). It turns out, nursing really doesn't pay very well. I ended up with 7 years of college, 2 Bachelor degrees, and not enough income to support a family. Hmmm, it turns out they just take out more for taxes. I make almost what I made managing a coffee shop when I was 17! Ohh, and then I am forced to take care of drunks who take an ambulance in because they can't afford a cab, and then have the nerve to tell me "I don't care, medicaid will pay for it" No you !@#$%^&* it's ME that is paying for it. Sorry, I'm a little bitter. Ssometimes I just feel like our society has it set up so that the lower middle class will never get ahead. I don't have enough political knowledge to know who to blame.

Is anyone else still broke? If not, how long did it take before you paid off your nursing school debt?

Just very discouraged and feel like I will never ever get ahead.

[richardjboro1]

Try this link for HRSA info on loan paybacks. http://answers.hrsa.gov/cgi-bin/hrsa.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_sid=BuBXlqdi&p_lva=&p_faqid=865&p_created=1153848311&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9ncmlkc29ydD0mcF9yb3dfY250PTQmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD0mcF9jYXRfbHZsMT00JnBfY2F0X2x2bDI9fmFueX4mcF9wYWdlPTE*&p_li==

Ooops.... I just realized this thread is 2 years old. Link is still good tho for those that need it.

[RNJayhawk]

Oh, how I feel your pain!!!! I have been watching my debt go down, but it makes me so sad that I have so much more to go. I can't believe how long this is seriously going to take me to get paid off. I can say to you is that I hear you, and know what you are going through. As far as tips go to help you get out of debt - try to go as long as you can without buying anything, and apply all of the money that you can to your loans. Make it a contest or personal record with yourself. Try to go seven days without buying anything. Don't go to the grocery store (I know you must have a couple of cans of soup that you can eat). Don't go to Walmart or Target (I am sure that you have enough belts/underwear/socks/greeting cards/paper towels/shaving cream/etc.) Do this as often as you can and eventually you will see balances go down. Eventually. It also helps me when I make a graph on Microsoft Excel showing how much I have already paid of vs. how much I have to pay. It is always nice seeing that I have at least made a dent in my debt, and that my suffering wasn't for nothing. Best of luck from a fellow commrade in suffering. :cheers:

[WickedRedRN, BSN, RN]

I know how you feel, I have been working as an LPN for a year now, and we are still struggling. I am completing my RN, so that makes us still in school mode too.

Someone from here gave me the advice to read Dave Ramsey, and I thank them profusely. We are working on paying off our debt and even though we are tight, things are good and there is a goal in sight. Check out Dave for some excellent, no-frills financial advice, well worth it.

Best of Luck!

[abundantjoy07, RN]

I spent 5 years in college. I don't expect to have everything paid off in a year. I have figured out that I will be done paying loans in 4 years. I graduated with 40,000 in loans last May.

I have a budget/plan for my loans and I stick to it. Granted, I am very fortunate as I have paid off my one credit card. I live at home with my mom and plan on doing so for the next 4 years. So I have no rent. My mom does not charge me for anything. I just have to pay her $100 a month. My only debt is the brand new car I bought and my loans.

Since I get paid 2x a month, my first paycheck goes towards loans and the car. I pay over for my least expensive loan and the minimum on my other loans. So far, I'm 2 months away from paying off the least expensive loan. Then I'll move up to the next least expensive loan. I think the minimum payment on the one I'm paying now is $250ish. But I pay them $700 a month.

I don't consider myself broke. I rarely spend money. And to be honest, I've never made so much money ever. As a 24 year old person, I'm pretty happy to be making an income that's more than minimum wage.

[locolorenzo22, BSN, RN]

I hear ya folks....as a may grad who still has NCLEX and licenses to pay....loans to pay while in school, and after...I'm going to grad with about 10,000 from the government, 18,000 from private loan, and about 14000 on the car to pay off....so 42,000 and that's all I know of right now...never mind savings, all the other crud to pay. I hope to pay things off as I have to....and dave ramsey is a good information source....but just really have to track things with money, or excel or something like that....just a thought. It really helps to know where your money is going.

[SteveNNP, MSN, NP]

I am still paying off my undergrad loans almost 3 years later. I make almost six figures with OT, but sometimes the money just hemorrhages out of little "holes". I DID buy and pay off a used BMW in 1 yr, rent an awesome 3 bed apt, got the "Digital Big" cable packages, went out to eat a LOT, mostly because I didn't have to worry about money like I had to all my previous life.

I had to drastically cut back for grad school, so I moved back in with my parents, dropped the cable, internet, dinners out, sold the BMW, etc. Even though I work FT +OT, with grad school at a private university soaking me for $46,000, I needed to have a plan.

I now have about 10k worth of loans left, plus a car payment on a new, reliable car, car ins, etc.... I've been steadily putting every extra cent on my loans to try to get them down. One thing I found to help is to schedule yourself for an extra OT shift 2x a month. Set aside that money for your loans ONLY. It usually equates to nearly a full paycheck. Definitely drives that loan amount down!!

[MelBel]

I paid off my credit cards a few months after startin working...and then immediately opened a savings account. I didn't put a whole lot in at first, but then I sat down and got serious...now I pay the bills that need to be paid, and put almost all of the rest into savings. I leave enough for gas and a little extra in my checking. That way I don't spend it on frills, but if I really need the money, it is easily accessible in my savings account.

It works for me.

I recently bought "The money book for the Young, Fabulous, and Broke" (Suze Orman), and it has some really good advice about school loans, car-buying, home-buying, retirement-planning, credit card debt, etc. It would probably better benefit the younger nurses like myself, but I HIGHLY reccomend it!

[llg, PhD, RN]

Thank you all for sharing your "real-life" stories. So many of the students and new grads that I work with (and read here) have unrealistic ideas about the great wealth they will have as soon as they graduate -- and how employers will be throwing money at them to come work for them. As your stories illustrate, it's usually not that simple. In most cases, it requires hard work, planning, and a few sacrifices to establish a good financial foundation for ourselves.

It sounds to me as if most of you are all going to be just fine in the long run -- as you seem willing to do what's necessary. Good luck to you all -- and to me, too, as I am making that last financial savings push towards retirment in another 10 years or so.