Student loans killing me!! stressed!

[Nurselyfe92]

Hey guys,

so im in a ton of student loan debt about $110k to be exact. Found out last week debt of edu disqualified me from the loan forgiveness program TWO years ago despite turning in all my paperwork. I never got any letter/email stating they were disqualifying me either. I just happened to stumble upon some small print after I logged in to my account last week to make a payment. Needless to say I've been extremely stressed and feel like I'm drowning. I almost made a couple mistakes while at work because I think subconsciously I'm so stressed and distracted about my loans...then that made me even more stressed thinking about how I could've potentially harmed a patient (looking at the wrong patients lab results and almost replacing potassium when it was

already elevated). Thankfully I caught myself before giving it but I feel stuck. Plus I'm a travel nurse so I feel like my license is even more on the line at times. Always wanted to move out of the country or do a mission trip overseas for 6 months, but feel like I can't even do what I've always dreamed about because of my loans.

On top of it my car broke down and my travel agency won't help me out. They said they would take the cost out of my paycheck. So I went and rented a car myself and ended up denting it on a short pole that I couldnt see when backing out of a driveway. 🤯

Any advice on loans, how you deal with stress, etc would be helpful!

thanks all

[Guest05/05/18]

Honestly, I do not understand why you are so worried. If you are single it is very doable to pay back these loans. Do not listen to the nagtive comments. They have no idea what they are talking about. If I were you I would get more loans and get into an online Psych NP school. You can finish it in less that 3 years while you are working and paying for your BSN loans. You can easily make 120k-170k as a pscyh NP or even as a family NP if you are willing to work, and move to underserved areas. I I know in North Dakota an NP who is making 90 dollars an hour. With that salary you could even pay a 200k loan. Let's say with getting your NP degree let's say you will be 150k in debt. If your loans have 10% interest rate you can pay them off in 4 years paying 3500 dollars a month which is completely doable on an NP salary. you could even pay them off in 3 years. And, remeber a lot of hospitals have student loan repayment of 10000 dollars a year if you are working in underserved areas. It is completley doable. Again, do not listen to nay sayers. Good luck!

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

Honestly, I do not understand why you are so worried. If you are single it is very doable to pay back these loans. Do not listen to the nagtive comments. They have no idea what they are talking about. If I were you I would get more loans and get into an online Psych NP school.

Or you can not listen to someone who suggests you get into even more debt. That's actually more "nagtive" in certain respects.

[Guest05/05/18]

MDs have over 300k in debt. Get a better education and pay off debts. How is it negative? I didnt tell her to get more loans to spend it on sth useless.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

MDs have over 300k in debt. Get a better education and pay off debts. How is it negative? I didnt tell her to get more loans to spend it on sth useless.

For one thing, telling her that no one else but you knows what they are talking about is beyond arrogant and simply untrue. And so what if MDs have over 300K in debt? Many of them are drowning in their own debt. MDs don't make the big bucks like they used to unless they are in very certain specialties that are very hard to get into.

[Guest05/05/18]

I never said I am the only who knows what he is talking about. I just don't understand why people are attacking her instead of helping her. If she had 3 kids, yeah she was screwed. She is single. It means she can go anywhere in the country and work. If a doctor is drowining in student debt then they are overspending. Doctors make at least 200k a year. You can pay off a 300k debt on that salary in 4 years easily. This country is full of oppurtunities, and people keep complaining about everything.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

I never said I am the only who knows what he is talking about. I just don't understand why people are attacking her instead of helping her. If she had 3 kids, yeah she was screwed. She is single. It means she can go anywhere in the country and work. If a doctor is drowining in student debt then they are overspending. Doctors make at least 200k a year. You can pay off a 300k debt on that salary in 4 years easily. This country is full of oppurtunities, and people keep complaining about everything.

You are completely over simplifying that. Doctors have huge malpractice premiums that take a big chunk of their earnings. They have to hire multiple full time staff- insurance/business staff who work to get insurance companies to pay them, receptionists, nurses or MAs, etc. They also have to pay for office rent, medical equipment, benefits, etc.Their loans carry interest as well over the years, so that 300K loan costs much more than that. It's not as if they make 200K with no overhead at all. Many of them also have children to support as well by the time they go out on their own.

No massive debt is "easy" to pay off without working extreme hours and making big sacrifices in terms of lifestyle choices. Very few here have said it's impossible, but you are trivializing something that is certainly not trivial. Many of the posters here (who have been there and done that, btw) are trying to make this point not only to the OP, but to any of the many nursing and pre-nursing students reading these kinds of threads so that they do not find themselves in similar circumstances when a nursing education can absolutely be obtained without going into this kind of crippling debt.

[tigerlogic]

Many of my classmates graduated with 100k debt, so don't feel like you are alone.

While many prefer the Dave Ramsey approach, I liked the unbury.me site to create my strategy. It's less emotionally rewarding but more logical. With this approach you focus on paying down your highest interest debt first. You have to pay significantly more than the interest to make a solid dent.

I had a friend who turned down all social invites for two years (or if she went out didn't eat and had exactly one drink) and crushed her debt in a few years. But it will take you at least a few years--five if you are really hard core? To crush this.

Be aware that driving any car costs the average person $10k a year. I bike commuted through rain and snow for a few years and it was brutal some days but gave me extra money to crush the debt. I was also fit and slept really well!

You can do this. It's about priorities and strategy.

Also consider if a HRSA or Indian Health job might be a good road to forgiveness. If a lot of your debt is private, I don't know the rules. But if this is your first degree and it's mostly federal loans, those might be a good two year investment of your time to get ahead. Be sure to read the fine print on any forgiveness though, some have harsh tax penalties as they consider the $100k forgiveness as taxable income.

You can do this.

unbury.me - A Loan Calculator

[Susie2310]

Hello,

It means people need to marry someone who has a smiliar salary to them someone their level or, they have no right to complain why they can not build wealth or why the lost half of their wealth after getting a divorce.

thanks

I'm sure your partner will be pleased to know that their ability to bring in income at the same level you do is your first criteria for a relationship.

[Nunya, BSN]

My 1997 Honda Civic cost $15K, lasted a month shy of 17 years, 250K miles, and one roundtrip to/from Germany on a ship. It was very basic, no being and whistles, but low maintenance and very reliable. I would buy a used one in a hot minute, after making sure I had someone I trusted look at it.

[RikkiLynn]

Just want to say it really sucks how much you have to pay in the states for a good education... in my province the top school costs 4200 tuition and fees and assuming you attended CEGEP (which is like 400 a year) you only need to do two years for a bachelors. I can't imagine starting my Nursing career saddled with 100K of debt. For the one year I did take out loans it ended up being 3/4 bursaries so I have very little to pay off. Hang in there and try not to let it rule your life, you have enough on your plate being a new grad.

[AnnieOaklyRN, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

I know you've convinced yourself that no used car is worthwhile, and what I'm going to say won't convince you otherwise. However there ARE a number of used cars that are very reliable. We bought a 4 year old Honda van with about 90k miles for less than 50% of a new one. That was 7 years ago. It's now an 11 year old van with about 225k miles. You want to know how much 'work' we've put into it? Oil changes, tires, breaks, and the 120k service (which was a big one) and we replaced tie end rods once. So yeah, maybe MAYBE 1,000 every year that we've owned it. Which, when you add it all up, is still 8k less than a new one.

Dave Ramsey isn't for everyone. But that's less about income and more about choices. It's your CHOICE to live where you live. It's your CHOICE to drive a new-ish truck. It's your CHOICE to stay in debt and just chalk it up to 'it's normal and how it's done'.

1) So basically whatever your car payment was, add about 90ish dollars to that. If you used car payment was 200, you are now up to about 300.00 and the repair costs are only going to increase. For 300.00 a month and some money down you could have a new basic caravan!

2) What will your van be worth when you trade it in? Probably nothing I would guess. So that means unless you save the money you would have paid on a car payment to put towards your next vehicle, it makes zero difference whether you drive a 10 year old car or a 5 year old car. In 4 years when my truck is paid off I will trade it in and will get between 20-25K for it, which means if I go with say an SUV (or a caravan if I had kids) for 26K my loan will be between 0 dollars and 6K, unbelievable I will be paying less for a brand new SUV then you are paying for your used car!!! See how I look at it?

Annie

[AnnieOaklyRN, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

Wow I am very surprised by how many hours you are able to work per week. I am still a student but usually hear nurses say after 3 12's they are so dead tired it's impossible to work extra. You are doing almost twice that. Also its frown upon because of safety issues and making mistakes. I am interested in how you manage it.

Hi,

I work on an ambulance full time as a medic, so we do 24 hours shifts. On my five days off I generally work one 12 hour shift on the truck because my overtime rate is higher then my base nursing pay, and I work about 5 hours a week as a per diem nurse. The stress level on the ambulance is about a 3/10 generally speaking and I find my stress level as a nurse generally stays around a 7/10, with 10 being the worst, so it's not nearly as exhausting as nursing. I have some high stress oh **** moments as a medic, but its not constant. I have no oh **** moments as a nurse because I am not truly responsible for patient's in the hospital ER, a doctor is, so it's more the stress of the needy family and patients.

Annie