Example Budget for Med School

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Ajt14

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Hello All,

I have read around trying to figure out how I can afford living throughout medical school, and I have seen vague advise, but I don't think this would help as much as compared to an actual budget. I'm at a point where my fiancee and I are considering kids, but we will also have to figure out living, food, cars, etc. Any examples will help!

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What I am doing for the year to come is just track everything I am spending on currently and borrowing appropriately when I start school next Fall.
 
Your school's financial aid office should publish an expected cumulative cost of attendance. Granted this is typically for single people and doesnt account for additional costs associated with supporting a family but i'm sure once you decide where youre going, said financial aid office will be able to provide you with a decent idea for what to expect. Even if they cant ,their estimated COA should give you a general idea
 
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I'll start by just listing what I know the recurring and one-time expenses that are relatively common for adults:

Unless you live with family and/or have insurance coverage through your parents, your two largest expenses, other than tuition, are likely to be housing and health insurance. In some places, your best bargain will be campus housing while in other locations, it is cheaper to rent non-campus housing. Some housing includes electricity, heat, water, cable and other utilities while in other areas you'll need to budget for those.

books, learning aids, fees associated with Step exams
Travel to interviews for residency
laptop or tablet if you need to acquire or replace
Food,
Clothing,
transportation (vehicle, insurance, maintenance & gas, and/or transit pass and/or ride services)..
medications, co-pays for medical visits, glasses/contacts & supplies.
Hair styling and other salon services (this may be very little or quite a bit more depending on your style and your location).
telephone/cell/internet/cable/streaming services.
Toiletries, cleaning supplies, laundry costs (unless included with your rental).
Entertainment including meals out, drinks, tickets to events
Vacation/wedding travel (even if it just means driving to a campsite or taking Mega bus to couch surf with friends) -- and you are at that age when friends & relatives are going to get married and you'll want to be there for at least some of the celebrations
Gym membership (deep discount or free at some schools) and/or costs associated with hobbies.

You shouldn't need to pay student loans during your med school enrollment. If you are paying off credit cards, you will need to be making those payments.

this doesn't tell you how much you should plan on spending for each of these items because it is going to depend on where you live and your specific needs.
 
Take a look at your average expenses over the last ~3 months and use that as a rough ballpark. If you move somewhere else for medical school that has a significantly different COL, that'll make things more challenging but you should be able to be at least estimate.

If you're asking about how to actually make a budget and what kinds of these to budget for, there are plenty of things that you can read online to help educate you. My wife and I personally use You Need A Budget (YNAB), which is an online-based application that also has phone/desktop applications, but there are many of these types of things available to help you, including common expense/spending categories that help you think about how you're spending your money.
 
Thank you all, but I should probably preface that I took a few more years off college than expected, and my fiancée and I are now trying to consider having kids in medical school. I’m less worried about time (although I know how challenging that will probably be), but I’m more concerned with the plausibility of actually having a family while in medical school. Especially because my fiancée is on a teacher budget.
 
Thank you all, but I should probably preface that I took a few more years off college than expected, and my fiancée and I are now trying to consider having kids in medical school. I’m less worried about time (although I know how challenging that will probably be), but I’m more concerned with the plausibility of actually having a family while in medical school. Especially because my fiancée is on a teacher budget.

Kids are expensive. About the only thing you can't borrow or get second hand is daycare and that is going to be a major expense although you won't really know how much it will cost without knowing what is available in your area. There will also be the cost of getting the kid to and from daycare which can be out of someone's way with the car at the start & end of the day.

For all the rest: adding the kid to insurance may cost you something depending on the insurance benefits that come with the teacher's contract.
They don't eat much or require much extra room when they are little. They do have a bunch of stuff that costs money and takes up room starting with diapers and running through car seats, toys, books, clothing, etc, etc. Much of this stuff can be borrowed, handed down or purchased second hand so it doesn't have to cost an arm & a leg.

What you can't anticipate is an unexpected illness or injury to mother or baby that could end up costing a bundle.
 
Thank you all, but I should probably preface that I took a few more years off college than expected, and my fiancée and I are now trying to consider having kids in medical school. I’m less worried about time (although I know how challenging that will probably be), but I’m more concerned with the plausibility of actually having a family while in medical school. Especially because my fiancée is on a teacher budget.
childcare while you are in session is one of the few allowable increases in COL amount that your school can approve
 
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