So lets do a little math. I have money for April and about 1/2 of May (I'm short bc my car broke down on me TWICE this month totaling about $1000 to fix. YIKES!). I need approximately $1500 per month for rent ($895), utilities (+/-$200), a couple of old student loan payments ($200) and my cell phone ($70). Plus another $250 per month for food, gas, parking at school, and anything expendable I might need. So say $1750 per month for June, July, August, and 1/2 of May. That's um....$6,125
Where the EFF am I going to get that from?????
In between telling me the "good" news, the financial aid counselor suggested that I do what most students do.... get money from their parents. After telling him that that was no way plausible and hey, I'm 31 years old now... he hinted that I should ask anyway... he's sure that my parents "care" about me and would be willing to help out. After all, I AM a med student. Guess he's never heard of parents that can't just dole out $10k on a whim.
Now, silly me... I thought he was going to suggest I get a J-O-B... an old fashioned method of supporting oneself. The same method I've used for years... which until now has always solved my financial woes. Maybe I could write a book on these elusive so-called "jobs" and their usefulness, sell a million books and be rich! That would solve everything.
OTHER SOLUTIONS I'VE THOUGHT OF
1) Summer School - denied (see above)
2) Job - tricky
-Problem here is that school ENDS May 30 and STARTS July 15 (only 6 weeks off)... yet financial aid doesn't come in until the beginning of September. So if I work FULL time every day that I have off, I will likely only make about half the money I need.
-Not to mention, I have to take 4 (count 'em) physiology exams during those 6 weeks.
-PLUS who's going to hire me full-time for 6 weeks?
3) Wealthy Relatives - HAHAHAHAHA... wait... laughing... so much.. I ...hahhahhaah... can't ...type
4)Begging for change - I've heard the average pan-handler makes like $70 per day in metropolitan areas. That's TAX FREE baby. But it's also HARD GODDAMN WORK. Plus, the only place to pan-handle in the city is by the urban hospital complex... and my fellow classmates would see me. Maybe since this health-care bill passed I could wear my white coat while begging and I would be more believable. My sign could say "$300k in debt, unemployed, and working towards an MD. Why lie? I need groceries"
5) Robbing a bank - plausible, requires more thought and planning. Best solution thus far.
Me=so screwed it's laughable.
SIDENOTE: Out of REAL and SERIOUS concern, I went grocery shopping last night and bought a crap load of groceries and brought them home and FROZE them. Bread, milk, fruit, pot pies (hey, they're like 69 cents), etc. It's like planning for hurricane season. With electricity. Hopefully....
Don’t stress Ella. I am sure you have already discussed it with your parents and maybe they can help a little. I can only suggest a few other options that might benefit you.
ReplyDeleteSell some junk on Ebay or craigslist.
Make a new resume (use descriptors that show your personal assistant skills) and send it out to all temp agencies in your area (you are only looking for temporary employment anyway – and it tends to pay better since you are not paying into any health insurance pool).
Scour your local undergrad institutions for any paid psychology graduate studies, etc. (paid participants don’t make much, but it usually requires little time too).
Get a roommate if possible.
Walk dogs or look more into that babysitting option.
Call any local newspapers and see if they need a neighborhood distributor.
Find an online gig, like this (https://www.mturk.com/mturk/welcome) or make use of the Blogger AdSense and beg your readers to click on the ads. I am sure many of us are willing to help out!
Scalp Hannah Montana tickets (just make sure you do it legally).
Good luck Ella. I know this stress is not welcome with medical school (or any time for that matter!). You will get through this.
Yep, everything RH said above. Maybe there's an experimental drug or sleep study on campus that you can participate in. Those tend to pay very well.
ReplyDeleteToo bad you're too old to sell your eggs. ;-)
It does annoy me that med schools expect us to beg our parents for money, and that's more or less built into the financial aid process.
Incidentally, I had a couple of med students as RAs at my research job before med school. They were paid $14/hr (you pay out the nose for bilingual) and I was able to give them as many hours as they needed on vacations. One of them (seriously) worked 50+ hours a week over Christmas break. She was a machine. It even looks good on the cv. AND she got a publication out of it.
ReplyDeleteThose above suggestions are great. I was denied provincial funding in September because I had made too much money the previous year, which I'd spent on repaying my existing student loan. Instead, I had my mom cosign a bank loan for me so that I could limp through the sememster and you know, feed and shelter myself. Is that a possibility for you? Go outside the financial aid available at the school and get a bank loan? Your parents aren't in a position to help (my moms isn't either) but they may be in a position to cosign or someone else could. Good luck
ReplyDeletePrivate tutoring might not be a bad option. There are plenty of high school and college students that are taking summer classes and need to pass in a powerful way. A lot of the time, those kids have parents that are willing to throw heaps of money at someone else to help their lazy kid pass their classes.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck to you!
Everyone suggested some great ideas. This is only a temporary predicament so don't get too stressed. Here are some more ideas:
ReplyDeleteSince you have all of April and half of May to save money, I'd get ridiculous and cut out the obvious first.
~ Make a deal with the cell phone company and get on a rentention plan (so you dont have to cancel your contract). You could tell them the truth or say you will be out of the country and your cell phone will be rendered useless until you are back in July. You will pay like $10 a month to keep the cell phone company at bay.
Then get skype (8 bucks for 3 months for unlimited calling in US/Canada).
~ Cut down your utilities in EXTREME ways.
~ Get a roommate or sublease it, and live with a friend.
~ Never eat out or buy coffee. Get weekly circulars of your favourite grocery stores online, note items you need, then look for corresponding coupons for those items by searching google, the manufacturer's website or coupons.com. Then buy in bulk (2 month supply) when the items are on sale.
~ Get an emergency loan from your school. Perhaps even skip a few loan payments? Very bad but if they won't work with you, what are you going to do? Starve?
Your priorities now are: food, shelter, electricity and internet (for school or phone). everything else can wait.
I was just going to suggest temping as above, it tends to pay well and you can work your own hours so those physio exam dates you tell them you can't work. I've temped before and it's not a bad gig. Plus a lot of temp agencies try to match you with what you're good at or something that will help you.
ReplyDeleteThe above solutions seem pretty plausible.
ReplyDeleteI still think that panhandling might work out. In addition to your sign ("$300k in debt, unemployed, and working towards an MD. Why lie? I need groceries") you should also dress nicely, look hot (as u obviously do already) and bring an up to date CV with contact info etc, current financial forms, and a good plan. A small kiosk could work. Someone in the financial district WILL see you AND say something. I've seen it on Oprah once (don't ask why I was watching). Media love these stories-they'll eat it up! And you could be out of debt in no time.
But first follow some of the more mundane suggestions above.
Great suggestions, guys. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteAnon - thanks for saying I look hot.... But I don't think you can tell all that from half my face and a chin.... That's just my good side..... JK :-)