Getting Married, finances, kids, etc.

[kc2073]

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Hi! I am fairly new to the board. I'm actually a soon to be spouse of a med student. He is taking a year off before med school though so that we can get married and he can take a break from school. He will doing a research position and I am still looking for a job.

Now to my question, we will obviously be able to support ourselves financially this next year because we will both be employed. However, the following year, I will be the only one employed. I know there are probably hundreds of other couples out there that have experienced this but I am curious as to what you have done. Did you take out loans, both for med school and for living expenses? What did some of you do if you also ended up having children? Basically, how did you make ends meet? Thanks for your help!

 

[Constellation]

Well I can only speak for my situation, but my husband is a second year med student and I work full time, and we have loans for both his tuition and living expenses.
I know of a few couples who're able to live off the wife's salary alone, but I work in a very low-paying industry, so we're not able to do this (yet).
Obviously each school is different, but at my husband's school almost everyone takes out loans for living expenses. I know it won't be fun paying back the loans in a couple years, but it's just a way of life for most med students (even the married ones) these days.

 

[kc2073]

Yeah, I figured we would end up probably needing to do that. I have a degree but with the economy the way it is, and the fact we'll be in Michigan (highest unemployment in the nation!) I'm assuming we'll be pretty low on funds.

So the money that you are making in your job, are you just saving it or also using it towards living expenses?

Thanks for your help!

 

[mshheaddoc]

I would suggest doing a little bit of both saving and using it. You need to have a cushion and expenses will pan out, but its hard living on one salary. I had to give up school while my husband was on intern year because we ran into financial issues and other personal things but the main thing was money. We're paying down debt and then I'm reapplying. I highly suggest that you pay down ALL debts you can in this year and build up a small savings. Maybe having your wedding gifts go to cash fund or something like that (they have them these days!) Or maybe go to pay your honeymoon to save you some cash ... just some idea. Best of luck and congrats on your upcoming wedding!