What's the best way to pay your bills and go to school full time???

elkpark · Apr 12, 2015

My advice would be to embrace the "starving student" lifestyle right now -- cut down your expenses as much as possible and save up as much money as you can in advance. Is it possible to eliminate the car payment (get rid of your current car and get a cheaper one you could own outright)? Is moving to a cheaper place a possibility? Taking on a roommate? You mention you are already paying on student loans -- I'm sure you realize the benefits of not taking on any more student debt, for the nursing degree, than absolutely necessary.

Which job pays you more (per hour) -- lab tech or CNA? I would focus on working at whichever pays your more (i.e., if lab tech pays more, look for additional lab tech hours rather than a CNA job).

Re: working during school, I went through a v. rigorous graduate program in which I was one of only a few students working. I found that, by budgeting and using my time carefully, I was able to work one shift (8h) a week (on the weekend) and as many hours as I could get during the holiday breaks without hurting my grades or study time. The medical center that was attached to the university was v. accustomed to working with the nursing students, and they were extremely mellow and flexible about letting me work around my school schedule and took for granted that my studies were my first priority (my nurse manager was a graduate of the same graduate program, so she was v. understanding). If you end up at a university with an attached medical center, you are likely to have some flexible work opportunities.

Best wishes for your journey!

mimibrown, ADN, BSN · Apr 12, 2015

Is there a way you could decrease your expenses greatly, or even move back home? With 35000 in loans on top of any loans you may currently have, how much would your repayments be? Could you afford to repay your loans and all of your bills? I would find another way. The economy is far too unstable and there is no nursing shortage. You don't want to find yourself in some position with $50000 in loans and no job in sight. Do you have anything saved currently?

Eta you are doing this in a couple of years, so you definitely have time to figure out something that is more manageable than taking out an extra 35k. Just my two cents.

Natasha A., CNA, LVN · Apr 12, 2015

Lower your expenses if possible. That's what I started to do.. I found a company that gives free cell phones for low income...*got it. I refinanced my 7k car loan to lower payments and reduced my student loan to lower payments. Try to cut down if you can. It will be worth it in the future. I work once a week and also receive unemployment on my days I get called off. My goal is to move out of state to a cheaper living area for my RN once I finish the LVN program which was 4k and we had to pay out of pocket. have you looked into that? 50k+ loans is really risky in this economy.

johsonmichelle · Apr 12, 2015

Correct my If I'm wrong, but your taking out a $35,000 loan just for expenses? What about the school fees ? I personally feel that too much debt for a nursing degree. You also have other debts such car debt and student loan. Also think about the interest rate that you would get, since you have a some debt before, lenders may not want to give you the loan and the ones that do will give it to you at a very high interest rate because your debt to income ratio is high. You need to look for cheaper options. I'm very thankful that in high school, I took a personal finance class and one of the assignments given was to research the starting pay of profession we were interested in and based our expenses on that starting pay. After doing that research, I was able to establish how much I was willing to spend on my education, even though it going to take me longer to graduate with my degree, I'm going to graduate debt free which is the most important thing to me.

jlamar11 · Apr 13, 2015

Thank you all for the feedback. So, basically, I need to just wait and pay down majority, if not all, of my debt first before jumping into another program. Not what I really wanted to hear BUT I kinda knew it would be the situation. If I wasn't knocking on 30 in 4 years, this wouldn't be that big of a deal to me, but I know that I'm getting older and for me, time is of essence. And at 26, I don't prefer to move back in with my parents :nono: ; I am trying to remain as independent as possible--mainly for my own ego. Lol.

elkpark · Apr 13, 2015

(If moving in with your parents is an option to save money, I would really recommend doing that. Of course, you would prefer not to. But it's time-limited, and your student loans are going to be there for a looooong time. And if you're worried about your ego, just wait 'til you start nursing school. You'll forget what having an ego feels like. :) Living with your parents again would just be a good warm-up for that, and good practice in taking whatever help you can get, because you'll need it to get through school. :) Best wishes!)

WookieeRN, BSN, MSN, RN · Apr 13, 2015

Right now, the only way I've been able to pay my bills and go to school is by striking a deal with my parents. They said either they pay for school, or they pay my expenses. So I took out the Stafford loans and they pay for everything else but my car note. It seems like a pretty good trade off. As for my books, etc my grandparents stepped in an have been covering all of that for me as pre-paid birthday/Christmas gifts for the next few years.

I am also working full-time right now to save as much as possible before my nursing semester starts in August. I take classes at night now to finish up my remaining classes before I start in August. I don't have cable (wouldn't have time to watch it anyway), just Internet for school, and the days of retail therapy are long gone. All I can say is work when you can, and save when you can. My brakes now need to be replaced on my car, so I'm thankful for what I did manage to have saved up.

I would definitely start budgeting now in preparation for school starting so you aren't trying to get used to a new lifestyle AND nursing school at the same time. Cut everything and anything you can that isn't necessary. Go on the ramen diet. Save, save, and save some more. Scholarships, grants, and more scholarships.

vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN · Apr 13, 2015

Reduce your expenses as much as possible. Do you have a retirement plan you can borrow from? Not saying you have these bills, but when I attended school, I didn't have cable, not a car payment. No credit debt. I lived in a cheap apartment not in greatest area, I never got my hair or nails done professionally.

Basically my only expenses were rent, food, internet, gas and electric utilities, vehicle gas. About 3/4 the way through I did get hulu. ($8/mo) I lived off of about 1237/mo incl rent of $700. I have a child, so I did get food stamps and free medical.

When I began working full time as an Lvn, I kept my expenses low becuz I knew id return to RN school. My expenses are still less than $2000 per month.

BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN · Apr 13, 2015

Guys, this is so easy. Two words!

Sugar. Daddy.

jlamar11 · Apr 13, 2015

Lol @ Buckybadger!!!

enuf_already · Apr 13, 2015

Guys, this is so easy. Two words!
Sugar. Daddy.

Bucky, let's not forget equality:

Sugar. Mama.