How Do You Pay For Stuff?

sara3426 said:

Hey,
for those of you that had no money going into med school (you know, like thousands saved up from that part-time job you had or something) and were living off the grace of your parents, how do you pay for things like a car payment or car insurance on the meagerness that is the med student budget, especially since they can't include that in your loan amount? is there a way to squeeze out a $200/mo payment for insurance/car/parking costs, or are you just screwed? i'm trying to figure out if i'm going to have to decide between car money and beer/life money.... if so, i'm leaning towards the beer/life...

any advice from current med students would be appreciated.

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You can take out loans to cover living expenses, but keep in mind that you will have to pay them back with interest

The med student budget should include money for typical maintenance/insurance/gas costs for a typical car.

If you're talking about purchasing the car itself, you still have several months. Get a job.

it's definatly do-able, i know plenty of people including myself that have lived off of the med student budget while paying bills without having to compromise their social lives (read: drinking). i think the key is to sit down and make a budget plan (i.e. how much per month for food, etc...) that includes your car payment and/or insurance payment. additionally, keeping track of your spending is key, so that you dont blow all your booze money on gas or something. most financial aid offices are really good about providing you with either funds or resources to help you manage, they are also a wealth of information on outside loans at low interest rates. it may take some trial and error, but after a couple months you should be ok. good luck.

You can definitely pull off a decent lifestyle on the money they give you for living expenses. You might have to have a roomate, or live in the dorms, or drive a car with a smaller monthly payment but you should have enough left over if you budget wisely to go out and have fun. Most of our post test parties have drink specials and a tab so that helps that alot too. Some of my friends who come from more afluent situations have had to adjust to not being able to participate in retail therapy but thats the only complaint I've heard. It requires a budget and the willpower to stick to it but its doable.

sara3426 said:

Thank you eirinn!



I have a job. I have a car, and I'm worried about paying for gas/insurance/parking it in either of the big cities I may end up living in (Chicago or Philly). I've also been told by no less that *3* financial aid coordinators in their presentations that it is illegal for student loans to provide money for you to cover your car payment. Not that you can't end up making water out of a rock, but that money is gonna be squeezed out of something else, be it your housing, food or living expenses as determined by your financial aid budget.
So my question, which eirinn provided a nice perspective on, was do people take out outside loans to cover this, or do they squeeze the money out of their finaid budget?

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I have never heard of anyone getting audited for their student loan expenditures. And how is a car not a living expense? I mean I can see the moral questionability of purchasing say an ps3 with your loans, even though once again you're not going to get audited, but in many communities cars are pretty friggin necessary to grocery shop and even get to the school and sites where you will do rotations??

sara3426 said:

it's not that you're not allowed to use that money to pay for a car, it's that they're not budgeting in even a meager amount of car payment when they're deciding how much money the average med student is gonna get. so when they say "living expenses", the way they've calculated that is based on food and whatever else they think about, but not a car.

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Our financial aid includes budgeting for car payments/gas, etc in it. In addition, they alot way more than you'll need for books and schools suppleis. I'd say that if you live cheaply, med school financial aid should cover all of your needs. I certainly haven't felt financially challenged this year. My hubby works, but doesn't make a whole lot of money, and we have two kids, so my financial aid not only covers my needs, but it also pays to feed and clothe the kids.
I wouldn't worry about it.

they don't care what you spend your loan money on... once it's in your checking account its your money to spend whatever you want on. They're not going to audit you! HOWEVER, there are lots of things that you're going to have to spend that money on. Rent, transportation costs, books, laptop, groceries, clothing, etc. so you need to make sure you budget it out correctly.

jonb12997 said:

they don't care what you spend your loan money on... once it's in your checking account its your money to spend whatever you want on. They're not going to audit you! HOWEVER, there are lots of things that you're going to have to spend that money on. Rent, transportation costs, books, laptop, groceries, clothing, etc. so you need to make sure you budget it out correctly.

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Check with your school. We have a specific loan program designed for car payments up to 200 dollars a month... because a car is needed to get to various rotations. Ask the school about a specialty loan for that very purpose.. we can also get a loan for laptops as well..

How much do you pay per month? If it's a reasonable payment you should be able to pull it off by taking advantage of other areas of the student budget, like "textbooks" that nobody really buys. Or the diagnostic kit.

I hope my school budgets for a car, because I need to purchase one. I don't see how a car it's not a necessity, since I can't get to school/the hospital if I don't have reliable transportation. I'm not talking about buying a BMW, either, just a decent car that's not going to break down the second I get on the interstate.

Maybe I can use money budgeted for other things (like a laptop, since I'm planning on keeping my old one since it's only 1.5 years old) and stretch it for car/insurance payments.

lilnoelle said:

Our financial aid includes budgeting for car payments/gas, etc in it. In addition, they alot way more than you'll need for books and schools suppleis. I'd say that if you live cheaply, med school financial aid should cover all of your needs. I certainly haven't felt financially challenged this year. My hubby works, but doesn't make a whole lot of money, and we have two kids, so my financial aid not only covers my needs, but it also pays to feed and clothe the kids.
I wouldn't worry about it.

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OMG!! what school do you got to? I have a wife and a child we BOTH work to cover our expenses while I am in med school (on the side of course) I get 18,000 a year to cover all of my expenses including insurance (FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY) Our rent alone is 12,000 per year and believe me it is nothing special or luxurious. As you can see we really can't making it on my schools BS excuse for a budget...

So to the OP We try to cover expenses throught creative working. My wife does some daycare so she can watch the kid too. I tutor (this is an EXCELLENT job btw) I charge $35/hr to do physics/chem/math etc and I have no shortage of people willing to pay.
(I recommend this to anyone who feels they must work a little while in school it is a lot of money for few hours, not to be prideful but I am a very good student so my grades/scores are excellent even with this I know not everyone can pull that off so choose school first, of course.). Plus, thankful we have a good savings. anyway hope that helps.

LifetimeDoc said:

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Haha, I'd rather take out a private loan than pay with my CC and get charged 18% interest rate. I'd just pay out the loan like I would the CC. Plus, my card already suffered enough with interview expenses.

living on the budget is definitely a challenge...i have a no interest credit card that i use for unplanned expenses...such as car repairs or other bills. i try to pay it off in the beginning of the semester when i get my loan check...and then usually open another one. maybe not the best advice...but its worked for me so far and i haven't had to ask friends or family for money

RockShox said:

OMG!! what school do you got to? I have a wife and a child we BOTH work to cover our expenses while I am in med school (on the side of course) I get 18,000 a year to cover all of my expenses including insurance (FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY) Our rent alone is 12,000 per year and believe me it is nothing special or luxurious. As you can see we really can't making it on my schools BS excuse for a budget...

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No offense, but the issue isn't whether you can provide for a small family with a student loan budget. Obviously not. That's 3 people living off of the budget meant for one. Didn't sound like that's what he was asking.

Kudos for making it work, though.

RockShox said:

OMG!! what school do you got to? I have a wife and a child we BOTH work to cover our expenses while I am in med school (on the side of course) I get 18,000 a year to cover all of my expenses including insurance (FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY) Our rent alone is 12,000 per year and believe me it is nothing special or luxurious. As you can see we really can't making it on my schools BS excuse for a budget...

.

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Hmmm, well, my hubby pulls in about $30K a year and we don't have any problems (in fact, we have a bit excess). Our mortgage payment is about the same as your rent. I am borrowing the max amount and am borrowing an additional $9K a year for daycare (otherwise my hubby wouldn't be able to work). I think that ends up being around $31K to pay for school supplies, fees, extras and to live on (would obviously be less without the daycare alottment). Its definitely enough for us.

Our school budget is only for ~$1000/mo. for living expenses. So I have to get family help for my car payment and car insurance. If my family couldn't help me out, I'd end up using my credit cards more than I already do (which is way too much) and dropping my car insurance completely (not mandatory in WI). Totally depends on what your school *thinks* you need to live on.

akpete said:

Our school budget is only for ~$1000/mo. for living expenses. So I have to get family help for my car payment and car insurance. If my family couldn't help me out, I'd end up using my credit cards more than I already do (which is way too much) and dropping my car insurance completely (not mandatory in WI). Totally depends on what your school *thinks* you need to live on.

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1000/mo ?!?

I guess it depends on the city, but it seems to me that it's insufficient.

Even if you rent is cheap ($400-500/mo), add utilities, car insurance, health insurance, food, gas and extra expenses and suddenly it's not enough.

baylormed said:

1000/mo ?!?

I guess it depends on the city, but it seems to me that it's insufficient.

Even if you rent is cheap ($400-500/mo), add utilities, car insurance, health insurance, food, gas and extra expenses and suddenly it's not enough.

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Exactly. Plus, our budget has not changed other than for tuition in a number of years. Next year they're changing our utilities budget slightly because they just figured out that most people have a cell phone, rather than a landline. ($40 vs. $20/mo.)

akpete said:

Exactly. Plus, our budget has not changed other than for tuition in a number of years. Next year they're changing our utilities budget slightly because they just figured out that most people have a cell phone, rather than a landline. ($40 vs. $20/mo.)

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Wow. This school needs to reconsider how they budget expenses. Since when is a landline only $20? My parents have the cheapest plan possible in our area and it's ~35/month.

sara3426 said:

Hey,
i'm trying to figure out if i'm going to have to decide between car money and beer/life money.... if so, i'm leaning towards the beer/life...

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I had similar issues.

Assuming you are a pre-clinical MS, and you live either near your school or along the public transportation system, I'd ditch the car and stick with beer/life. The other positive part is that it tends to prevent those pesky DUIs. During your third year, the car is pretty much mandatory.

I get the dilemma about only getting a grand budgeted for living expenses. However, there are always the ALP (MedLoans) loans to get a little more cash to live on. The interest rates are a little higher than the Staffords, but still very doable.

Tired said:

I get the dilemma about only getting a grand budgeted for living expenses. However, there are always the ALP (MedLoans) loans to get a little more cash to live on. The interest rates are a little higher than the Staffords, but still very doable.

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Except that if you're borrowing the max of the school's budget, additional loans can't be certified through the school, the interest rate tends to be ~10% or so, and you need a co-signer because you have no income.

akpete said:

Except that if you're borrowing the max of the school's budget, additional loans can't be certified through the school, the interest rate tends to be ~10% or so, and you need a co-signer because you have no income.

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Darn.

Eh, but all in all I'm happy and I still like my school.

akpete said:

Except that if you're borrowing the max of the school's budget, additional loans can't be certified through the school, the interest rate tends to be ~10% or so, and you need a co-signer because you have no income.

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Four years ago when I did it, the interest rate was around 8% and did not require a cosigner. Not up on the current specifics.

10% may seem high, but odds are these loans would make up a very small portion of your total loans, and so you wouldn't feel the interest all that much.

sara3426 said:

Hey,
for those of you that had no money going into med school (you know, like thousands saved up from that part-time job you had or something) and were living off the grace of your parents, how do you pay for things like a car payment or car insurance on the meagerness that is the med student budget, especially since they can't include that in your loan amount? is there a way to squeeze out a $200/mo payment for insurance/car/parking costs, or are you just screwed? i'm trying to figure out if i'm going to have to decide between car money and beer/life money.... if so, i'm leaning towards the beer/life...

any advice from current med students would be appreciated.

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For people entering med school car-less, it's a squeeze. Luckily you may not need one, depending on the public transport situation and your school's neighborhood. Ask students at your school. One thing to consider-find another other transportationally challenged student and share a car. Instantly cuts expenses in half. This works very well if you can get to your main site by bus/walk, and only need to drive to get groceries, go to off-site rotations and random stupid ridiculous offsite assignments, etc (I'm not bitter at all). You and your car buddy (buddies?) just need to try to avoid both scheduling off-site rotations at different sites at the same time (not hard at all at my school).

psipsina said:

I have never heard of anyone getting audited for their student loan expenditures. And how is a car not a living expense? I mean I can see the moral questionability of purchasing say an ps3 with your loans, even though once again you're not going to get audited, but in many communities cars are pretty friggin necessary to grocery shop and even get to the school and sites where you will do rotations??

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Also, as far as the car things go there are companies like zipcar which are a good deal for students who just need groceries and what not....I have heard nothing but good things about zipcar...they aren't everywhere but check it out...ends up being 7 or 9 dollars an hour...which compared to the price of gas and insurance works out great.

You should be fine with loans. I know people in undergrad that are taking out loans that almost make medschool look cheap and they live quite nice even. I don't think some of them understand they have to be paid back (purchasing a bike, alcohol, and um...illegal things) but still....budgeting makes everything possible. Sticking to grocery plans is a big way to conserve money and basing meals off of coupon deals (cherry picking) also save a lot of money. I've heard of people saving 300 bucks a year just by using coupons. Little things add up very fast. Cable tv? Just get an antennae for the basic stations. Internet? You don't really need the super ultra max cable, basic broadband will probably be enough...albeit a bit painful at times. Dialup is just too slow or i'd say that. You avoid ordering out......save another 50+ bucks a month. You can skimp money all over to have extra to use for certain things. As an undergrad I spend 7-10 dollars a day on food...and I'm not a tiny person so it is easy to be cheap.

I don't know about the feasibility of owning a car in Chicago, but if you're coming to Philly and attending Penn or Jefferson (and perhaps even Temple), I think having a car is completely unnecessary until at least your clinical rotations. I've lived in Philly for six years (in University City/West Philly and also Center City) and only rarely find that I need a car to do anything I want (like go skiing, go to Ikea, or visit friends outside of the city). When I do need a car, I rent and it's actually cheaper than maintaining a car in Philly since insurance rates are high compared to the national average and parking is either crazy expensive or really inconvenient around where I've lived. If you're going to Drexel, I think a car is necessary for all four years since the campus is kind of removed from the downtown area. Also, for very short trips, Philly has a service called Philly Car Share where you can rent by the hour. It's not cheap at all for day rentals, but if you just need to go to Ikea or the grocery store across town, it's definitely convenient since you get your own key in the mail, reserve the car online, and then just pick it up at any of there locations all around town and in the burbs.