OTHER ADVICE
There is a lot of advice out there when it comes to finances, debt, budgeting, the whole nine yards. So, remember to take it with a grain of salt. Do your research. Figure out what works best for you and your family. As you take a look at where you are spending your money ask yourself, What is important to you and why? Where can you save a bit more from the categories we’ve discussed? How? Where are you ok with spending a bit more? Why? I’d challenge you to not wait and make a plan for your finances in medical school. Med school debt can be overwhelming, but it shouldn’t keep you from enjoying those four years!
My last bit of advice is to try and go a day without spending a dollar. Then two days. Then a week! Can you do it? You’ll have to plan ahead with meals, grocery trips, and more…but I bet you could do it!
Any other advice when it comes to saving money or med school debt?
YVETTE: I just trust that we will be able to get out of debt eventually. We plan to basically continue living like poor med students for a while after med school to work on paying off loans.
MORIAH: My husband told me early on that just because we don’t have any money doesn’t mean we can’t have fun. People always ask us what our budget is, but I don’t know how to budget $0. We just decide if it is worth going into more debt for.
You have to keep in mind that debt is a part of med school. Almost everyone in med school is in a lot of debt. I try not to think about it too much because it can stress me out. We just joke around about it, and keep going.
You don’t need money to be happy. Learn how to be happy and content living the “loan life” and you’ll know how to be content when you have money.
AMANDA: Don’t forget to live during this process. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and not reach out. Don’t stop going on dates, don’t stop visiting family, don’t stop exploring. This process will stretch you in ways you’ve never imagined but you cannot let medical school consume your entire life! Keep living!
Also, as mentioned earlier, look up radical acceptance. I’d also suggest to look up support groups on Facebook. There are so many of us in the same boat. There is no one plan that works for everyone, but we are all here to support each other. You’ll figure it out, don’t worry! You’ll take bits and pieces from each person’s experience and be able to build a plan of your own!
SAMANTHA: Plain and simple – we call med school debt “monopoly money”. We met with a financial adviser, talked about our long-term family financial goals (needs vs wants) and what it means to live comfortably vs luxuriously…and went from there. We prayed a lot about it and learned quickly that if God can get us this far, the rest will work itself out. Just be smart and learn to live within your means. If you can survive on $50,000 or less a year during medical school/residency, you sure as hell can when you get out. But the great thing is – you won’t have to. You’ll likely be able to live off much more than that and still pay off your loans.
I think having the expectation that you’ll “save money” while in medical school isn’t super realistic unless you’re a double income family – which for some, is a reality and works out just fine! When I became a stay-at-home mom I made sure to keep up with my blog, photography, and little side gigs. I have friends who sell items on Etsy, Poshmark, or are a part of things like Beauty Counter, Arbonne, Pampered Chef. Other friends babysit for other medical families a couple times a week if both parents of that family work outside of the home. Find a niche or thing you want to do to help bring in a little extra money – a little bit goes a long way!
Try not to use credit cards if you can help it. I feel like many medical families end up with no choice at some point in the process…but pay it off quick and try to keep it really low! If you have to use a credit card, use one that gets you mileage points via an airline or other perks. We’ve taken the last two spring break trips to Florida using our South West Airline miles accrued via a credit card! We also used this credit card to pay for much of Dusty’s residency interview travel. We knew the school was reimbursing him afterwards. Total costs ended up around $4-5,000. Once we got the reimbursement money (which is basically financial aid we’ll pay back later – haha) we just paid the credit card off with it and boom – two free airline tickets and our credit score gets a little uptick!
My last and final thought/tip. When it comes to signing a contract with a hospital after you finish residency…consider a lawyer or “agent” to help you review the contract before you sign. We need to start looking into this more ourselves…but finding someone who can read between the dotted lines and fine print to ensure you’re receiving the very best and most deserving contract is important to your family. This may be something already in place – but we have a family friend who is a lawyer and looks at contracts all day every day…he has agreed to help us out when the time comes.
MICHAELLA: Med school debt is going to happen unless you come into a large sum of money or have parents that are going to graciously pay for medical school. Know that there are ways to minimize the amount you take out and that there are ways to pay it back. Don’t let the burden of medical school loans prevent you from pursuing your dream of being a health care professional.
A little bit goes a long way. You don’t have to put hundreds into a savings account each time. But $10, $20, $50 etc. adds up every week/month/year. Spend your money wisely. Talk about each major purchase with your significant other. This will save you lots of arguments later.
Track your expenses. We used an expense tracker from Google Sheets and as much as I hated filling it out, it was very eye opening. This sheet tracked our bills, income, and our expenses (eating out, clothing purchases, etc.). It allowed us to see where we needed to do better.
Pay off your credit cards each month. Or at least try to keep your balance as low as possible. We have several credit cards and try to use less than 20% of our combined limits. For us, when the balance was getting ‘high’, it caused a lot of stress and anxiety. We didn’t want to get charged interest or ever let it get too much higher for fear that we would never be able to pay it off.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help financially from family if it is seriously needed. If you’re about to get evicted because you’re going to miss rent by $200, ask for the money and pay it back later. If your cupboards are bare and you don’t have any food to eat, ask for help with groceries. Your pride is not worth letting you or your family starve or be homeless.
KRISTEN: TAXES!! Be smart about how much you make and how much you don’t to maximize your tax return! Completely worth the time figuring out how to optimize your return. I also have a blog post on this too, How to Maximize Your Tax Return in Graduate School.
The pressure of knowing you have a massive amount of debt is there but you are not actively paying off the debt until graduation. You do need to be conscious about tuition and cost of living rising so you can make it through all four years without additional private loans or credit card debt. Finances are a HUGE stressor always but specifically for medical marriages. Our husbands want to provide but they really can’t until they graduate. My latest blog post Low Income Status: How a Family Finances Medical School has a lot more of our personal journey toward handling finances.
TAMELA: Literally try everything. Use free trials, clip coupons, only shop in clearance. I’ve tried it all and it all works. Some of the “traditional” money saving tips don’t work for me, but they might work for you so try everything until you find what fits you and your life style the best.
I literally made an entire spreadsheet of how much debt we would accrue and how much money Conner would make once he either got into a residency or started working as an oral surgeon. It was complete with buying a house, buying a new car, and all of the other glorious things that come with being a full-fledged adult. This helped us see that the amount of loan we had was nothing compared to how much money we would be making. Especially, that if we continued to “live like residents” when we started making “real” money, the debt could be paid off in a good amount of time.
Another thing that helps us is to always remember that this is an investment in our future, our kids futures, and other people’s futures. The number of people Conner will be able to help with his profession, the people we will meet in the different places that we live, and all of the amazing things that can happen as a doctor family will be far greater than any amount of money.
My biggest piece of advice is to make a budget and make an exact budget. Make sure all of your money has a place and that you are fully aware of where it is all going.
Do you have any other money saving tips or advice? Share in the comments below!
This is really helpful. I’ve been trying to research guides and recommendations to make my financial status better every year. Thanks for this!
I’m so glad you’ve found it helpful! Each gal has got some great ideas!