MONEY SAVING TIPS FROM MEDICAL SCHOOL WIVES

TRANSPORTATION

We all have places to go. The store, school, gym, airport, friend’s house, home. But the cost of gas can add up without even realizing it. My tip here is to walk or bike where you can. If it would work for the city you live in, a bike would be worth the investment in all you’d save in gas.

When it comes to flying, (geez those plane tickets get expensive!) my tip is to leverage your credit cards and plan ahead with apps and sites like Hopper, Google Flights, or Sky Scanner. We have a credit card that gives us 2X miles on every purchase. We use it like a debit card and pay it off RELIGIOUSLY every week, which is key if you’re not going to go into more debt because of bad credit card practice. This way we rack up points and can get plane tickets for free when we need to travel for emergencies, to visit family, or for when interview season hits during year four of medical school.

What is your best tip when it comes to saving money for transportation?

YVETTE: If we lived in a location with public transportation we would absolutely use that! We don’t, so we actually sold one of our vehicles before moving—to save on moving and to put some money away for school. We bought Edward a motorcycle for 1/4 of what we sold his car for.

HEATHER: I tend to do all my errands in a row and on the same day if possible so as not to make a trip more than once and use more gas.

MORIAH: Carpool when you can. My husband was able to carpool with another student to one of his rotations.

AMANDA: Transportation is one of those things we’ve decided that “it is what it is”. We cannot drive to work/school any less so this is a fixed number for us. However the fuel point system I mentioned earlier does help against gasoline costs. We drive sensible cars and take care of them. They aren’t anything flashy, but they get us where we need to go!

SAMANTHA: I’ve heard of many families only having one vehicle…and they try do their best to live closer to their work location so that the other can walk or ride a bike – this is great if you can make it work! For us, this wouldn’t work….so we have two cars. One is older and paid off…a 2002 Envoy. My husband will drive that one to work and back as long as he possibly can.

I drive our lease vehicle which is a 2019 Chevy Traverse. When it came time to lease a new car this past year we shopped around HARD – we called ALL over and not just in our city but in neighboring states and areas that were 5+ hrs away. Dusty is quite the barterer and he spent countless hours getting a lease agreement that fit our budget. He wouldn’t take no for an answer and called and called and called – until he found someone that would work with us.

When we started asking around we were being quoted upwards of $400-450/month for our Traverse…after almost 2.5 weeks of bartering we found a dealership that gave us a monthly deal of closer to $315/month. Imagine if we just said “ok!” and gave in to the first two or three offers we received? It was a priority to us to have a newer – safe vehicle for me to use with the kids and since we live in a snowy climate, having four-wheel drive or all-wheel drive was important to us. I know many couples who have two older vehicles that are both paid off – this is great too! Again, do what works for your family.

MICHAELLA: I was graciously gifted my father’s old car when we moved for medical school. If this is not the case, then I would do exactly what I would do to buy clothes. Figure out the expenses that can be reduced or eliminated and put that money into savings.

KRISTEN: We use Harris Teeter that gives points for grocery purchase toward money off on gas or fill up at the cheapest station in town. Over this M4 year we will try and accrue as many points/cash/miles toward flights for residency interviews as possible via credit card options. We pay off our credit card statements every month.

Do you have any money saving tips for transportation? Share in the comments below!

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