Budgeting advice for a soon-to-be med student?

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GBCrzzyy

The moon is just the back of the sun.
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Hello! I'll be attending ACOM this year as a first year student and I'm super excited! However, I'm also extremely stressed about money. I'm going to have to take out loans for everything (shocker) and will likely borrow the maximum amount at least the first year. I have never created a budget before but I want to make sure I stay on top of my money and know where it's going. Last thing I want is to miss a bill or run out of money too soon. Any advice at all on how to prepare a solid budget would be helpful! I will have a car with me but it is totally paid off and my apartment will be right next door to the school so I should only have to make occasional trips to the store, I won't need to drive every day. Hopefully that will help me save some money.

Thanks!

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Divide your disbursement by how much time it has to cover so you have a monthly total. Like if you get $10k for 5 months, your monthly budget is $2k. Live within your means and try not to run up credit card debt on top of your student loan debt.

Your biggest single expenditure monthly is most likely going to be rent. I'm not sure how bad it is in Dothan but I'm guessing it's probably < $900 a month for a nice 2BR, so having a roommate will help you save. Aside from rent, there's food & transportation, car insurance, health insurance, cell phone, and then anything on top of that (Netflix, etc). Try to avoid impulse purchases of stuff you really don't need, and avoid buying books until you talk to some upper classmen at ACOM about what you actually need.
 
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Get a wife asap
 
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I'd be sure to divide your disbursement into 6 mos, not less. You only get 2 a year and although there may only be 5 mos between the two, it will probably be 7 mos after the second one. Dividing by 6 will help you budget across the whole year.

Take the max amount now, but plan to save some amount every month. Whatever seems reasonable for you. Then next semester reduce how much you take by that amount. In second year, I'd start with taking the max again, because you'll have to pay for boards too, and if you take the USMLE,that's another $600, but again do the same thing.

Only use credit cards if it already fits into your budget. Like for regular monthly expenses. It might also help to make a weekly budget, so you're not running out of money by the end of the month.

If you're mindful of your purchases, you should be fine. The majority of what you take out is going to the school anyway, so it's not like you can significantly reduce the amount of debt you'll have coming out, but budgeting and saving will help you cover the unexpected (car trouble, travel, extra board exams).
 
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I'd be sure to divide your disbursement into 6 mos, not less. You only get 2 a year and although there may only be 5 mos between the two, it will probably be 7 mos after the second one. Dividing by 6 will help you budget across the whole year.

Take the max amount now, but plan to save some amount every month. Whatever seems reasonable for you. Then next semester reduce how much you take by that amount. In second year, I'd start with taking the max again, because you'll have to pay for boards too, and if you take the USMLE,that's another $600, but again do the same thing.

Only use credit cards if it already fits into your budget. Like for regular monthly expenses. It might also help to make a weekly budget, so you're not running out of money by the end of the month.

If you're mindful of your purchases, you should be fine. The majority of what you take out is going to the school anyway, so it's not like you can significantly reduce the amount of debt you'll have coming out, but budgeting and saving will help you cover the unexpected (car trouble, travel, extra board exams).

What happens if we take out mor ethan we need?
 
Then you will know for next year that you can borrow a bit less.
Ah I see. So there's no way to put money back into where it came from if there's more than we need. Thanks.
 
Ah I see. So there's no way to put money back into where it came from if there's more than we need. Thanks.

This isn't true. Contact your financial aid dept once school starts and they will tell you the date by which you can return some of your money. The govt takes it back free of interest and the refund the loan fee for that portion.

Depending on your living situation over the winter and summer breaks, this may be a great way to save some $$.

Another budgeting tip that I used was to figure out your rent internet and cablebills (and anything else that will remain constant each month) and pay for those in advance. Basically I pay 6 months of rent and internet bills at the very beginning of each semester. Then I know exactly how much I have to work with for variable bills, food, and misc stuff.
 
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My family takes out the max. We have the lump sum and immediately set aside the cost of boards or whatever big known expenses are coming up in the next year like residency applications. These numbers are not an accurate representation of my budget. Just giving an idea.

Disbursement: $13,800
COMLEX $600
USMLE $600
Total available for 6 months: $12,600

Upon estimating my budget based on fixed expenses, I realize I only need $2,000/month, so I decide to live off that. I set this into my money market account, then on the first of every month I transfer to my checking $2000 like a paycheck. Officially I could live off $2,100 each month, but I always try to live below that because I've got a wife who stays home and 3 kids so the tends to be unexpected expenses that can at times make us exceed the $2K a month. The cushion has helped us avoid credit card debt completely.

Basically, figure out what you have, live off less, and don't forget about the things like boards or residency applications.
 
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Hello! I'll be attending ACOM this year as a first year student and I'm super excited! However, I'm also extremely stressed about money. I'm going to have to take out loans for everything (shocker) and will likely borrow the maximum amount at least the first year. I have never created a budget before but I want to make sure I stay on top of my money and know where it's going. Last thing I want is to miss a bill or run out of money too soon. Any advice at all on how to prepare a solid budget would be helpful! I will have a car with me but it is totally paid off and my apartment will be right next door to the school so I should only have to make occasional trips to the store, I won't need to drive every day. Hopefully that will help me save some money.

Thanks!

First order of business for staying under budget. Don't stay at summerfield. Lol. There are cheaper options around town
 
You're going to be poor. Really poor. So poor that you could get a windfall of 100k and still be broke. Live like it
 
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Thanks so much for all the advice everyone! it's all been really helpful
 
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