how does one survive in medical school (financially)

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Dr. Bob Doe

Dr. Bob Doe

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Medical school is extremely rigorous with little time to do anything especially work; then how does one pay for things. I understand that the majority of students take loans for tuition, room and board and books/supplies. What about miscellaneous things like movie tickets, birthday gifts for loved ones, toothpaste, beauty products, etc. Do students really take out loans for thongs such as these?

Do a lot of students survive on savings? Savings from where? If most of these students came straight from college when did they have time to accumulate savings? Some are married and they have a spouse to pay for things but what about us straight from college kids? Who do you guys survive? Is it possible to work 1 day a week on med school, after all a little goes a long way.

What are your thoughts and how did you survive financially?
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Dr. Bob Doe said:
Medical school is extremely rigorous with little time to do anything especially work; then how does one pay for things. I understand that the majority of students take loans for tuition, room and board and books/supplies. What about miscellaneous things like movie tickets, birthday gifts for loved ones, toothpaste, beauty products, etc. Do students really take out loans for thongs such as these?
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I can comfortably state I've never taken out a loan for a thong.

But yes, living expenses are included in loan calculations.
 
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you become student loan rich and buy all the thongs you want. learn to suckle at the teat of sallie mae
 
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Dr. Bob Doe said:
Medical school is extremely rigorous with little time to do anything especially work; then how does one pay for things. I understand that the majority of students take loans for tuition, room and board and books/supplies. What about miscellaneous things like movie tickets, birthday gifts for loved ones, toothpaste, beauty products, etc. Do students really take out loans for thongs such as these?

Do a lot of students survive on savings? Savings from where? If most of these students came straight from college when did they have time to accumulate savings? Some are married and they have a spouse to pay for things but what about us straight from college kids? Who do you guys survive? Is it possible to work 1 day a week on med school, after all a little goes a long way.

What are your thoughts and how did you survive financially?
Click to expand...
loans.

I believe everyone qualifies for 40k/year federal loan at federal interest rate (accrues during medical school but you don't have to pay during school)
Then, depending on the specific med school, they may have loans of their own.
If you need money beyond that or if your med school doesn't give you enough loans, you can get private loans from banks. Banks are more than willing to loan you money because they know that once you become a doctor and earn the big bucks, you'll be able to pay it off. However, all financial aid staff at the schools I've interviewed at have told me to avoid private loans at all costs because they put crap in the fine print that will lure you to take out the loan but screw you over later (i.e. 3% interest rate for first year, 5% second year, 9% third year, 15% fourth year, and 25% all the years following if you still haven't paid the loan back yet)
 
I can definitely say that I live comfortably on the loans they allow us to take out. It's by no means a ton of money, but I also don't find myself struggling to buy food or even go out for fun every so often.
 
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skiier54 said:
Well, I know a lot of people whose parents will just pay for everything. I don't want to impose that, so I plan on just living minimally. I don't see myself needing to spend too much. Coffee, cereal, and milk for breakfast; sandwich and protein shake for lunch; Indian food for dinner. I'm not a big spender even now; I never go out to eat while I'm in college, so I don't see that being a problem.
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Where do you get the indian food without going out? I love it, but it's hard to make well.
 
Eat cheap meals, but you don't have to be unhealthy about it.

A big bowl of oatmeal probably costs 18 cents to make - have an egg and some OJ with it. Your breakfast is healthy and it just cuts you under $3. Salads are cheap to make too - have tuna and pasta for like less than $1.50 per serving.
 
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Do what I currently do . Make side cash by flipping on craiglist, ebay, amazon. I currently work as a scribe + full time undergrad student. Scribe pay is a measly 8.25, so that doesn't do much. However in my free time, I'm always husslin. Looking for cheap deals on craiglist, broken electronics I can fix, etc. Resell them on eBay and Amazon. Make a good 100-300$/week from it depending on luck. However some weeks I make negative cash from my business If I mess up. It's all about working smart.
 
Southplains said:
Where do you get the indian food without going out? I love it, but it's hard to make well.
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Hahaha, Indian moms are also good about supplying food if they're within driving distance. Too good at it, in fact. I think I ate something like four pounds of fruit in a week in order to keep it from rotting.
 
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The answer is Loans.
However, keep in mind that besides food on the table, you'll need a roof over your head, means of communication (cell, tablet, laptop, etc), means of transportation (shoes cost money, so does a bike, or bus fare or gas & insurance), a budget for clothing that needs to be replaced over the course of 4 years, perhaps fees for whatever keeps you sane during the school year whether it is a Netflix subscription or a gym membership or costs associated with a hobby.
 
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Syndicate said:
loans.

I believe everyone qualifies for 40k/year federal loan at federal interest rate (accrues during medical school but you don't have to pay during school)
Then, depending on the specific med school, they may have loans of their own.
If you need money beyond that or if your med school doesn't give you enough loans, you can get private loans from banks. Banks are more than willing to loan you money because they know that once you become a doctor and earn the big bucks, you'll be able to pay it off. However, all financial aid staff at the schools I've interviewed at have told me to avoid private loans at all costs because they put crap in the fine print that will lure you to take out the loan but screw you over later (i.e. 3% interest rate for first year, 5% second year, 9% third year, 15% fourth year, and 25% all the years following if you still haven't paid the loan back yet)
Click to expand...

Grad Plus is what you would be taking beyond the federal limit on Stafford loans. No reason to go private.
 
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swolebrah said:
Do what I currently do . Make side cash by flipping on craiglist, ebay, amazon. I currently work as a scribe + full time undergrad student. Scribe pay is a measly 8.25, so that doesn't do much. However in my free time, I'm always husslin. Looking for cheap deals on craiglist, broken electronics I can fix, etc. Resell them on eBay and Amazon. Make a good 100-300$/week from it depending on luck. However some weeks I make negative cash from my business If I mess up. It's all about working smart.
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That's pretty smart, you'll make more than waiting tables or standing in front of a register if you've got what people want and you're business savvy.
 
baconshrimps said:
Eat cheap meals, but you don't have to be unhealthy about it.

A big bowl of oatmeal probably costs 18 cents to make - have an egg and some OJ with it. Your breakfast is healthy and it just cuts you under $3. Salads are cheap to make too - have tuna and pasta for like less than $1.50 per serving.
Click to expand...
Sounds pretty good, anything to minimize loans.
 
Dr. Bob Doe said:
Medical school is extremely rigorous with little time to do anything especially work; then how does one pay for things. I understand that the majority of students take loans for tuition, room and board and books/supplies. What about miscellaneous things like movie tickets, birthday gifts for loved ones, toothpaste, beauty products, etc. Do students really take out loans for thongs such as these?

Do a lot of students survive on savings? Savings from where? If most of these students came straight from college when did they have time to accumulate savings? Some are married and they have a spouse to pay for things but what about us straight from college kids? Who do you guys survive? Is it possible to work 1 day a week on med school, after all a little goes a long way.

What are your thoughts and how did you survive financially?
Click to expand...

Yeah. If I only took out loans for solely school stuff, I'd be even poorer than I already was haha. I'd be skin and bones without food, naked without clothes, etc. In most financial aid packages, they even have certain expenses for med student "food" and/or "entertainment" costs. I thought of it as "Why make myself miserable, and take out money to live comfortable.". I by no means splurge like crazy, but it's good to have a safety net of money.
 
swolebrah said:
Do what I currently do . Make side cash by flipping on craiglist, ebay, amazon. I currently work as a scribe + full time undergrad student. Scribe pay is a measly 8.25, so that doesn't do much. However in my free time, I'm always husslin. Looking for cheap deals on craiglist, broken electronics I can fix, etc. Resell them on eBay and Amazon. Make a good 100-300$/week from it depending on luck. However some weeks I make negative cash from my business If I mess up. It's all about working smart.
Click to expand...
LOL I also used to do the craigslist thing/fixing electronics and selling them for more... but right after I lost money I quit XD
 
The information on this thread has really been helpful. I've heard so many numbers thrown out there, what would one say is a number students should really shoot for to keep their loans reasonable/in check? 150K? 200K?
 
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Probably borrow 2-300k/yr

Gotta start living like the cardio thoracic pediatric neurosurgeon you plan on being!


Serious note: assuming ZERO financial aid and scholarship I think ~50k/yr tuition, 1-3k/yr fees + board exam costs + misc school, and 15-20k/yr for personal living expenses (room, food, computer, clothes, phone, hobby...)
 
rfenzo said:
The information on this thread has really been helpful. I've heard so many numbers thrown out there, what would one say is a number students should really shoot for to keep their loans reasonable/in check? 150K? 200K?
Click to expand...

I pulled up my budget spreadsheet. For this year (4th year), I took out about 15K for everything besides tuition. That includes residency applications, traveling, gifts for family, and monthly expenses like rent, food, gas, etc. Other years have been slightly cheaper, because I didn't have to budget as much for traveling, but I did have the significant expense of Step 2 during third year, so 3rd and 4th year were probably about equivalent.

With that, my total loan burden is about 200K. Granted, I go to a state school as an OOS resident, which significantly increases my tuition.
 
Drakeyboo said:
LOL I also used to do the craigslist thing/fixing electronics and selling them for more... but right after I lost money I quit XD
Click to expand...
Haha I actually messed up a few times when I started . (Buying BAD esn phones / icloud locked iphones / bad logic boards / etc) However after a while I was able to save up enough money to start flipping cars.

Anyone can do it. Stick to auctions that sell trade in cars from dealerships for 15-20% lower then market price to get a quick return. You then clean the car up, change any basic things like oil/brakes/etc and make a good 400-500 off the car (post title registration and fees). GL everyone.

I do this because I don't have the time to be working a job that isn't going to contribute anything positive to my resume or future.
 
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swolebrah said:
Haha I actually messed up a few times when I started . (Buying BAD esn phones / icloud locked iphones / bad logic boards / etc) However after a while I was able to save up enough money to start flipping cars.

Anyone can do it. Stick to auctions that sell trade in cars from dealerships for 15-20% lower then market price to get a quick return. You then clean the car up, change any basic things like oil/brakes/etc and make a good 400-500 off the car (post title registration and fees). GL everyone.

I do this because I don't have the time to be working a job that isn't going to contribute anything positive to my resume or future.
Click to expand...
Lol idk how well I would do with a car trading business like that. I pretty much messed up my second time selling an iphone. I bought one with a broken screen, bought a replacement screen on amazon, then tried to fix it, and when I disassembled the whole thing and inserted the screen, some of the connector stuff didn't fit, so I was like **** **** ****! lol. then I just sold all the parts to some iphone expert guy. But before this unfortunate event, I have succesfully bought an iphone for $100 that had a bad battery, replaced the battery, got it to work and sold it for $250.
 
Agree with @baconshrimps - You can actually eat really well for very little money. The hard part is learning how to grocery shop the right way if you've been living off of McD's and frozen, pre-made garbage all of your life. There are a bunch of healthy meets thrifty blogs out there that'll teach you to make great stuff for cheap. Plus, you'll feel way way better in a few months if you happen to not be a great eater now..
 
Drakeyboo said:
Lol idk how well I would do with a car trading business like that. I pretty much messed up my second time selling an iphone. I bought one with a broken screen, bought a replacement screen on amazon, then tried to fix it, and when I disassembled the whole thing and inserted the screen, some of the connector stuff didn't fit, so I was like **** **** ****! lol. then I just sold all the parts to some iphone expert guy. But before this unfortunate event, I have succesfully bought an iphone for $100 that had a bad battery, replaced the battery, got it to work and sold it for $250.
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I can completely relate. Just recently I bought a cracked iphone 4s and bough the digitizer/lcd replacement and when I was putting it together. I didn't realize you have to be very careful with the flex cable for the digitizer and bam screen doesn't work. Ended up losing money on it.
 
Find a sugar mommy/daddy. Lol.


I've actually been wondering the same thing. Someone mentioned 15k per year for living expenses. Is that pretty reasonable to live off of? I parental mooched all through undergrad, so I apologize if I sound naive/ask stupid questions.
 
You become an autotroph.
 
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You have to learn how to make your own thongs
 
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Join the military from Texas and get 8 free years of education. Save your monies and live well throughout the experience.
 
The amount of financial "comfort" (if you can call borrowing against your future income "comfortable") you have in med school will vary to some degree based on the COL in the area of your med school and the specific budget your school develops, but no matter what you shouldn't have issues with money assuming that you don't go crazy with your spending. I live in a high COL, live with my girlfriend, and have a dog and two cats and I still have plenty of money left over to save or use for disposable income. Granted I have an additional income in the form of my girlfriend, but she's by no means making tons of money.

So, the short answer is "you'll survive with no problem."
 
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Staffsy77 said:
Agree with @baconshrimps - You can actually eat really well for very little money. The hard part is learning how to grocery shop the right way if you've been living off of McD's and frozen, pre-made garbage all of your life. There are a bunch of healthy meets thrifty blogs out there that'll teach you to make great stuff for cheap. Plus, you'll feel way way better in a few months if you happen to not be a great eater now..
Click to expand...

There's a book called Keepers that's full of recipes that mostly uses ingredients that are not rare/exotic. It also contains a bunch of substitutions for ingredients so you can stick with a cheaper option and still make a great dish, and really good tips on planning your meals out/shopping for food. It's helped me through my gap year working as a scribe for 10/hour. I also lost little weight, but not in an unhealthy way. I'm saying I was kinda fat.
 
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