Personal loans for last couple months of MS4

[Baxter56]

Anyone have any advice on personal loans to cover the cost of the last couple months of school/relocating for residency? I have heard of some people doing this. I have racked up 3 cc of debt during interview season/medical school in general. Loans are running thin and I'm stressing about making a cross country move and putting first/last and security on a new place when I move for residency.

Is it a bad idea to take out a personal loan to pay off cc, and to get enough extra for the move for residency? I think the interest would be lower than my credit cards (I need to look into it more, obviously), and it would be nice to have one payment instead of 3 different cc payments. I feel like I would be much less stressed knowing I have a financial cushion for the next few months until I begin getting real paychecks. Any advice/resources are appreciated. I am not great with finances (just purchased White Coat Investor- plan on reading soon!). TIA!

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[Quantal Reasoning]

Gotta do what you gotta do. I would take out a personal loan, try to negotiate with banks, and pay off that loan first as quickly as possible. Personally, I think it's worth it for the reduction in stress.

 

[DiscusKeeper]

You should see if you can talk to your school about adjusting your cost of attendance. If you're not at your max in federal loans, you might be able to withdraw some more in federal loans if you have expenses that can be counted towards school.

For example, I realized that I'm paying 120 more in rent monthly than what is allotted for in my school's estimated expenses, so I was able to get an increase in my loans to cover the additional expense (which is over 1K for 10 months!). If you've had things like that during your M4 year, you might be able to adjust your COA and then use the funds for moving expenses.

It sounds convoluted but could help you avoid getting screwed on interest rates for private loans.

 

[NotaCop]

Shift your cc debt to to a card with 0% apr promo for 12-18 months via balance transfer. That’ll buy you time

 

[Keona]

You won’t get paid most places until August 1st so budget for that as well. Do whatever you have to do to get to residency.

 

[Baxter56]

Shift your cc debt to to a card with 0% apr promo for 12-18 months via balance transfer. That’ll buy you time

I initially tried to do that, but the balance between the 3 ends up being so high that I can't find a 0%apr card that will give me a high enough limit to transfer all balances!

 

[Baxter56]

Thank you for the advice everyone.

 

[sinombre]

I had to take out an extra loan at the end of med school (it was a federal loan so I went through my school). It was nice because I didn’t have to start paying that loan off until 6 months after graduation, along with my other med school loans.

I would definitely talk to the financial person at your school. I believe the loan I took out is available to all medical students.

 

[d-dimer]

Look into Fannie Mae medical student and residency relocation loan. Up to 20k.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

See if your family can help with a small home equity loan which you will pay them back.. Although the interest is only deductible for home improvements, it is still less than a commercial loan.

 

[Wordead]

You are going to screw yourself if you dont pay those credit cards asap. 3 high balance credit cards as a med student before you even relocate is a recipe for disaster. Not sure how that happened but do NOT open any more credit cards you've already proven to be unable to manage them.