Ways to save money?

[I'mFillingFine]

I don't want to seem all money-obsessed and all that; my last two questions have just centered around finances. And who better to ask than you amazing SDNers?!?!

Anyway, do you know if we can make a lot of our own decisions for some of the projected expenses from the school? I know that things like housing, food, and transportation are obviously up to us, and that we can save money here and there depending on our living conditions. But do you always have to go THROUGH the school for things like:

--Instruments
--Instrument sterilizing (we can each by our own autoclave for those prices!!!! Easily!)
--"Gown fees" (again, we can buy cheap gowns on our own...are they embroidered with the school logo or something?)
--Books (can we go through half.com)

etc. etc. Are there things that schools FORCE you to buy through their own programs? It seems like people could potentially save a lot of money by doing their own thing.

I do know that some schools charge for sterilization because you don't keep your instruments: you hand them used ones, go to the next window, and get clean ones. But not all schools!

Any insight?

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[Comet208]

These will all depend on the school you will be attending


Instruments: most schools will have you rent some of the instruments and buy the rest. Renting has shown to be as expensive as buying the instruments anyway. many prefer to buy the things and keep them. So, in this case being forced to buy isnt a bad thing since you could be paying twice if you had to rent them. In general you will have to buy a postion of stuff and rent the rest.


--Instrument sterilizing (we can each by our own autoclave for those prices!!!! Easily!

This is a big NO! no contaminated instrument should leave the clinics, are you crazy?? do you really want to carry bloody stuff all day and take them home to wash them in your sink??
part of the fees is to hire someone to take all the dirty instruments, wash and sterile them, pack them, and have them ready so you can attend to more importamt things. This will help you appreciate the works of dental assistants in your office.


--"Gown fees" (again, we can buy cheap gowns on our own...are they embroidered with the school logo or something?)

Depends on your school probably they will give you one that is included in your fees. scrubs vary from $10 to $150.

--Books (can we go through half.com)
Dental school books tend to be specific, so maybe harder to come by. If you go to a school that uses the DVD system (BU, NYU, etc) you wont have the option of buying books elsewhere.

 

[hockeydentist]

Not to mention Sterilization is not just throwing your instruments in the dishwasher.

I just bought a autoclave for my lab. I spent 70,000 dollars!

In order to kill anything you have to reach a temp of over 230 degrees and pressure of over 30 psi.

 

[grmaster1]

I don't want to seem all money-obsessed and all that; my last two questions have just centered around finances.
Any insight?

Hopefully, you're not gonna be that cheap when it comes to dental practice and your patients.

You can't make all the money in the world--so, relax and take the expense of dental school and everything that's associated with it as "neccessary evil."

What do you want to do with saved few hundred bucks anyway--spend it on coffee, shoes, going out?

 

[I'mFillingFine]

Hopefully, you're not gonna be that cheap when it comes to dental practice and your patients.

You can't make all the money in the world--so, relax and take the expense of dental school and everything that's associated with it as "neccessary evil."

What do you want to do with saved few hundred bucks anyway--spend it on coffee, shoes, going out?

Oh, I'm well-prepared to sell my soul to the government or whoever else is blessing me with loans I'm prepared to take it, and it is SOOO worth it for me!

I was just wondering if we have to take everything at face value. Since I go to a big, public university, they have so many options where you can tailor your finances. For example, various on- and off-campus meal plans, textbook store versus online ordering, renting a fridge through them versus buying one yourself, whatever!

I was just wondering if there was as much flexibility in dental school, that's all...

 

[grmaster1]

Oh, I'm well-prepared to sell my soul to the government or whoever else is blessing me with loans

I was just wondering if there was as much flexibility in dental school, that's all...

Good luck with finding someone to pay for your school.

I wish I could tell you more and real info, yet I'm in the same situation, starting dental school next summer...

 

[ARguy]

If you really want to save some cash go to UAB. It's about 60k for the whole 4 years. How in the world do they do that??

 

[superchris147]

I don't want to seem all money-obsessed and all that; my last two questions have just centered around finances. And who better to ask than you amazing SDNers?!?!

Anyway, do you know if we can make a lot of our own decisions for some of the projected expenses from the school? I know that things like housing, food, and transportation are obviously up to us, and that we can save money here and there depending on our living conditions. But do you always have to go THROUGH the school for things like:

--Instruments
--Instrument sterilizing (we can each by our own autoclave for those prices!!!! Easily!)
--"Gown fees" (again, we can buy cheap gowns on our own...are they embroidered with the school logo or something?)
--Books (can we go through half.com)

etc. etc. Are there things that schools FORCE you to buy through their own programs? It seems like people could potentially save a lot of money by doing their own thing.

I do know that some schools charge for sterilization because you don't keep your instruments: you hand them used ones, go to the next window, and get clean ones. But not all schools!

Any insight?

i think for the most part if you want to save money then you have to do it on non-school related type things such as living conditions, food expenses, and recreational expenses.

for example, like a week and a half ago i was drinking by myself again instead of studying, got excited cuz it was snowing so much and bought a snowboard online. probably not the best decision

in my experience, the school expenses are set and the same for everybody to make it fair

 

[I'mFillingFine]

Good luck with finding someone to pay for your school.

I wish I could tell you more and real info, yet I'm in the same situation, starting dental school next summer...

I was referring to the Stafford loan, etc.