tips for frugal living

[AmoryBlaine]

AB's top way to save money in med school:

Don't take massive vacations.


It's amazing to me how many people are "penny wise, pound foolish" i.e. they live relatively frugally, never want to pick up a round at the bar, wear awful clothes on rotations. Come spring break however they are off to the Carribean/Europe/wherever.

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[lyn2006]

I was making up my monthly budget, and wondering if seems realistic for med school? My school has a living expenses budget of about $1,500/month but I have changed around the amounts in each category a bit to suit my needs. Here it is: about $850 for rent and utilities, $200 for food, $300 for gas and car insurance, and $150 for miscellaneous personal expenses. Does this seem good? Admittedly, my rent is a bit high because having my own apartartment in a safe area is important to me. Have I alloted enough in the other categories? Thanks for the help.

Based on where I've been living for med school, I'm not sure how well that budget will work... 200 for food is great - if you're not planning to eat out often. It's really easy to go out to dinner, get a few drinks and have spent $50 on one dinner! I budget $450 for food for my husband and myself (so $225 for myself I guess) but we get a nice dinner maybe once every 4 or 5 months. We get a pizza/thai food/burritos once a week but it's only ~$10 for the two of us. Other than that we almost always eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at home. We do cook really good, expensive food once in awhile (like spend $20 on tuna steaks or something) but it is still considerably cheaper than eating out.

Your car expenses seem high- could you cut them down? Our insurance costs ~100 a month and we spend ~50 on gas because we walk/bike/take public transportation.

The miscellaneous expenses could be good, but if you're planning to have that budget for going out to bars/clubs/whatever it might not be enough. I'm assuming that will also include books, etc for school which can add up fast if you're into buying the recommended/required textbooks.

Also- one important (and relatively cheap!) thing not to forget is renter's insurance. I know that it's not the first thing on most students' minds but it is important to have in case something happens.

 

[Dancer1986]

Thanks for the advice. I will be living in Buffalo, NY so I guess I should elaborate a bit more. The $200/month is only for groceries, and I plan on packing a lunch if I am going to be at school all day b/c buying lunch at school can be arond $10/day! Right now I go grocery shopping about once a month and spend around $100-$150, so I would think $200 would be good for food and things like toiletries, cleaning supplies, etc. I also will be living alone next year and I am a pretty small girl.

I was planning on the $150/month in personal expenses being used for fun stuff like going out to dinner, movies, or whatever. I don't really like going out to bars that much. Now I only go out once every couple weeks or so. Also, this does not include books. My school has a seperate budget of about $6,000 for books and supplies for first year! I can't imagine what we will have to buy for that kind of money!

The $300/month for transportation will be used about $100/month for insurance and about $50/week for gas. I will be living only about 5 min from school, but I figure I will be driving every day so I will probably need to fill up every week.

Also, thanks for the tip about renter's insurance! Do you know about how much per month that runs? Thanks!

 

[Bartelby]

Or if any of your neighbors are ignorant enough not to secure their connection, just mooch off of it for free. That's what I did for six months at my old place. If they don't bother to secure their router (very easy, and it'll keep most people away), I'll just help myself.

It's not always the case that just ignorance keeps the network unsecured. I have an old computer with an old wireless card, and every time I try to set a password I can no longer access my network. Thus, I have to leave it unsecured and deal with slow connect speeds because people leech off of my network. It really pisses me off, so realize that you might be stealing from someone who can't prevent it.

Also, that Squat 'n Squeeze guy made it over 500 posts?! How? Today he would be banned in a couple of days! (Also, did he reincarnate as Stoop 'n Poop and Crouch 'n Crap? Very original trolling, I have to say.)

 

[kypdurron5]

Are you trying to use WEP or WPA encryption? Network cards past a certain age won't support WPA/WPA-2. Also, some cards that support WPA only support WPA TKIP and not AES. Stick with WEP to be safe- next, the issue could be with the key you're choosing. Try a 64-bit key first in case your card doesn't support 128-bit. Also, some routers seem to let you use ASCII characters rather than forcing hexidecimal- my guess is that it does the conversion behind the scenes. Select "64-bit" encryption and try using this key: 0e49f8783d. If you can't get it to work after some troubleshooting, one thing you can do is stop your router from broadcasting the SSID. People will still be able to see your connection, but they won't be able to connect without knowing the SSID. The SSID is the "name" you give your network, and it's CASESENSITIVE. Every router I've owned has had an option under wireless security that will say something like "Allow broadcast of SSID." If you do this keep two things in mind- 1) make sure you change the name so people who currently know it won't be able to guess it and 2) you'll have to change a network setting in Windows- what the option is depends on XP vs. Vista, but in Vista it's a checkbox that says something like "connect even if network is not broadcasting." It's on the same page/tab where you enter your WEP key in both XP and Vista. Make sure you enter the SSID (also called network name/ID) exactly as you did in the router settings.

Oh, and make sure you change your router's admin password if you haven't done so thus far. I read about a new internet attack the other day that guesses the usual default passwords of "password" or "admin" and uses it to change your settings.

/end geekfest

 

[Bartelby]

Are you trying to use WEP or WPA encryption? Network cards past a certain age won't support WPA/WPA-2. Also, some cards that support WPA only support WPA TKIP and not AES. Stick with WEP to be safe- next, the issue could be with the key you're choosing. Try a 64-bit key first in case your card doesn't support 128-bit. Also, some routers seem to let you use ASCII characters rather than forcing hexidecimal- my guess is that it does the conversion behind the scenes. Select "64-bit" encryption and try using this key: 0e49f8783d. If you can't get it to work after some troubleshooting, one thing you can do is stop your router from broadcasting the SSID. People will still be able to see your connection, but they won't be able to connect without knowing the SSID. The SSID is the "name" you give your network, and it's CASESENSITIVE. Every router I've owned has had an option under wireless security that will say something like "Allow broadcast of SSID." If you do this keep two things in mind- 1) make sure you change the name so people who currently know it won't be able to guess it and 2) you'll have to change a network setting in Windows- what the option is depends on XP vs. Vista, but in Vista it's a checkbox that says something like "connect even if network is not broadcasting." It's on the same page/tab where you enter your WEP key in both XP and Vista. Make sure you enter the SSID (also called network name/ID) exactly as you did in the router settings.

Oh, and make sure you change your router's admin password if you haven't done so thus far. I read about a new internet attack the other day that guesses the usual default passwords of "password" or "admin" and uses it to change your settings.

/end geekfest

Thanks for the advice! It sounds like that may be the problem, so I will give that a try and hopefully finally get some decent connection speeds. It comes up with some message about ASCII/ hexadecimal password problems. If I can't figure it out from your post I may try PMing you the error message.

 

[nogolfinsnow]

The $300/month for transportation will be used about $100/month for insurance and about $50/week for gas. I will be living only about 5 min from school, but I figure I will be driving every day so I will probably need to fill up every week.

Also, thanks for the tip about renter's insurance! Do you know about how much per month that runs? Thanks!

Is riding a bike or walking feasible for you when the weather's good? You can save a bunch of money not just on gas but on routine car maintenance as well plus you get some exercise. I've also found for me the 10 minute bike ride actually takes less time than the 5 minute drive + 3-5 minutes looking for parking + 5-10 minute walk from parking to class. You can probably get a decent bike on criagslist or even a new one for $200, which is only a months worth of gas.

Renter's insurance is pretty cheap. My wife and I have a policy that covers $25k worth of stuff and it's about $150 for the year

 

[Bartelby]

And to add a little to the topic at hand-- cheap rent! Get roomates if you can stand them and shop around for low cost apartments or rooms (they are out there if you look hard enough). It amazes me how many people freak out about buying a $6 meal out a few times a week or a $3 coffee once in a while yet happily pay $200-300 a month more than they have to in rent. Don't just consider rent a fixed cost that you can't do anything about-- try to minimize it and you will save a lot of money in the long run (or be able to spend that money on something more worthwhile)!

 

[kypdurron5]

Actually, bicycles are dirt cheap at Walmart/Target. I frequently see 18 speed MTB/ATB bikes for under $100, sometimes $60 or $70. They're not the best bikes in the world, but they function properly and it won't be a big deal if they get stolen. Make sure you either buy one with road tires (as opposed to horribly knobby mountain tires) or else plan to buy road tires (can be had for ~$10 each online). It makes a big difference in performance.

My motorcycle is one of my hobbies, so I consider its cost part of my "fun" money. However, using it for commuting/errands is fantastic as I get 50-70MPG. I can park just about anywhere I want also. If you want to go purely economic then you might consider a used 50-100cc scooter. I've seen them around $400-600 locally and at 70MPG+ they're hard to beat. Not to mention you might also save money on parking.

 

[kdburton]

Hii

What did y'll guys did/do for frugal living during medical school?

If I don't get in to school in my city, I will have to move to other school where I got accepted.

So please give tips on moving and finding apartment?

Is it wise to have student from your class as your roommate?

As far as finding an apartment goes the easiest way to go about compiling a list of possible places is to ask current students (if you know how to contact them) what websites, newspapers, etc are the best. Its a good idea to go look at the places in person rather than just online because you never know how they'll spin the advertisement. I never got a chance to look at my apartment prior to moving in so I asked for floor plans and pictures and they hooked those up. I made sure that it was one of the nicer complexes in town so that I couldn't go wrong. Now that I'm established here I can move into a cheaper place for next year since I'll be able to go around and look at them in person to make sure they're not dumps.

As far as the frugal living part goes... On top of rent and regular monthly bills (cell phone, cable, undergrad loan payment, etc) my biggest expenses are FOOD, random sh1t, and gas. Obviously the easiest way to cut down on gas $$ is to move close to school or use a cheaper alternative such as some of the public transportation systems. As far as the random sh1t goes, a) try not to go out to the bar too often or at least don't spend a lot there, b) keep track of how much you spend over one month on random little things like a soda and candy at the gas station here and a night at the movies there. Once you see your monthly total you'll be thinking a lot more about how fast that stuff adds up when you're about to buy the next $3 energy drink. As far as FOOD goes, you just gotta decide "out of all the things I like, what is the cheapest food that is at least somewhat healthy?" and then buy that stuff. Once you get sick of it move on to something else that is also cheap. I could eat oatmeal every morning for like 5 cents followed by a sandwich and some fruit at lunch for dirt cheap, and then something similarly cheap for dinner. In fact I've been doing it for years haha. DON'T EAT OUT VERY OFTEN - thats where many people spend lots of money. Sure it can save time to just grab food at noon but you'll be spending 5X as much as I did and I probably ate a healthier meal than you

 

[PharmDstudent]

Cut off the cable tv and share wireless internet with your neighbor (that's what I do). I don't miss tv at all! My neighbor is my friend's boss, so he doesn't mind sharing his wireless access.

I only have to pay for rent and electricity. My mom pays for my cell phone, because she works for a phone company. I still get health insurance benefits through her work until I'm 25. My car's under her name, so she pays for the insurance at a really low rate ($70/month).

I still have to bust my butt for all of the other stuff, but I get by.

I rarely go out to eat.

Don't buy drinks at a bar for $5/bottle when you can buy a six pack for $6-10.

Buy a frozen pizza and heat it up instead of ordering a pizza.
When pizza is frozen, you can crack it into quarters by bending it in half twice (while it's still in the plastic). You can cook half of it in a toaster oven for 10-15 minutes, which saves on electricity compared to cooking a whole pizza in an oven for 25 minutes.

Bulk frozen food and PB&J sandwiches can really save you money over ordering out.

Bananas, bean burritos, and frozen vegetables are cheap.

You can buy two Liter soft drinks and fill up a 20oz bottle instead of buying a 20oz every time to go to school (just make sure you wash the bottle first!)

 

[PharmDstudent]

I just thought of a couple more things...
During the winter, you can use an electric blanket instead of turning up the thermostat to 65-70F. You don't need to heat your entire place all the way up to room temp at night when you're sleeping in one spot.

Don't buy trendy clothes. If you pick out clothes that are simple yet chic, you could probably wear them for years instead of one or two seasons. I would buy plain pants such as khakis or classic blue jeans. You can always dress them up with a cute top that's more trendy and considerably less expensive.

 

[PreMD86]

IMO the best way to save money is by saving on things you buy and do regularly. I don't think that cutting costs to the point where you feel deprived saves money in the long run .

Like others have said, get a cash back credit card. My card gives me 5% back on utilities, gas, groceries, and drug stores, and 1% on everything else. I have my whole family use my card, and get $25-$50/month back for doing nothing. Instead of buying bottles or cans with lunches, I buy in bulk. A bottle of coke in any restaurant will be $1.5-$2, or 20-30 cents in a warehouse supermarket. Not buying drinks at retail saves me around $50/month alone, and again, you don't feel the difference.
As far as eating out, I still do it 2-3 times a week, but try to order less food. For example, I eat sushi quite often, and instead of ordering 2-3 rolls, I just order 1 and have a snack before I leave. Again, I don't feel deprived, and save $. Renting movies instead of going to the theaters will save you money. Going out to bars is the biggest waste of money known to man. If you must "rent" your drink, pre-game instead. I still buy nice gadgets and clothes, but I do it from EBAY for 50-75% off. Also, don't leave your loan money or savings in a regular checking account until you use it- Put it in a high interest savings account. Mine gives me 6% interest.

Turning your themostat off? Putting gatorade bottles in your toilet? Seems a little extreme to me. The key is to live comfortably and happily within your means and save money doing it.

 

[kypdurron5]

If you must "rent" your drink, pre-game instead.

What does this sentence mean?

 

[shantster]

Renter's insurance is pretty cheap. My wife and I have a policy that covers $25k worth of stuff and it's about $150 for the year

If you are still considered a dependent for your parents (coming straight from college to med school) you might be covered by your parents homeowners insurance so check with the insurance company. My parents policy (with American Family) covers my apartment for up to $10k worth of stuff for no extra charge for a few years. I think it expires at the end of the school year that you turn 25.

 

[45408]

If you want to go purely economic then you might consider a used 50-100cc scooter. I've seen them around $400-600 locally and at 70MPG+ they're hard to beat. Not to mention you might also save money on parking.

You can probably also get better parking. Our med school's parking lot for students is across the street and down a hill, so it's not exactly super convenient. The bicycles and mopeds can park right next to the front door though, so you can shave off 10 minutes of walking to and from the parking lot every day. My college was the same story - parking was horrible, but motorcycles and mopeds could get great parking.

 

[45408]

What does this sentence mean?

If you "have" to go out to a bar, do some pre-gaming. AKA, make yourself a few stiff drinks and drink them in rapid succession (or take a few shots) or have everyone come to your place first and start having some drinks. That way, by the time you're getting to the bar, you're already feeling a good buzz, rather than standing around at the bar feeling stone sober and spending $25 on drinks before you feel anything.

But don't drive.

 

[Eddie]

What does this sentence mean?

Adding to TheProwler's response, you only "rent drinks" because you will eventually have to give it up. (ie: urinate)

 

[PharmDstudent]

Turning your themostat off? Putting gatorade bottles in your toilet? Seems a little extreme to me. The key is to live comfortably and happily within your means and save money doing it.

I don't know about the Gatorade thing, but...
I live in a divided house that was built in the late 1800's. After the city flooded, the house was gutted and restored. It's a nice place and super convenient to school and work, but it has its disadvantages. I have lowered twelve-foot ceilings (they're actually fourteen-foot), my apartment is really drafty, and I have gas heaters.
My neighbor upstairs didn't have to worry about heating his place too much this past winter, because he got plenty of heat from me. Contrary to what sounds reasonable, I will be using an electric blanket next winter.

 

[MDpride]

I propose to make this thread STICKY
So that anybody can use tips anytime

 

[samenewme]

Contrary to what sounds reasonable, I will be using an electric blanket next winter.

The electric mattress pads don't suck, either.

 

[PharmDstudent]

The electric mattress pads don't suck, either.

 

[45408]

Turning your themostat off? Putting gatorade bottles in your toilet? Seems a little extreme to me. The key is to live comfortably and happily within your means and save money doing it.

Agreed. Especially when some people are penny-wise and pound-foolish, like buying a new car with student loans or carrying a credit card balance.

 

[CopperStripes]

- Walk barefoot in the gym locker room
- Steer clear of dandruff shampoo
- Roll around in patches of sphagnum moss
- Partake in promiscuous, unprotected sex
- Use someone else’s toenail clippers
- Don’t clean off the wrestling mats
- Ignore your baby’s diaper rash

 

[45408]

- Walk barefoot in the gym locker room
- Steer clear of dandruff shampoo
- Roll around in patches of sphagnum moss
- Partake in promiscuous, unprotected sex
- Use someone else's toenail clippers
- Don't clean off the wrestling mats
- Ignore your baby's diaper rash

while I was searching for that, it seems that Candida may be a porn star's name as well

 

[bjolly]

I got rid of cable. You're not going to have a lot of time to watch tv anyway. It's a huge time waster and when you have 100 channels you tend to put the tv on all the time because you can always find something to watch. When you only have 5 channels, you turn the tv on when there IS something you want to watch - big difference. Also got rid of long distance on my home phone and use my cell for free long distance.

 

[Eddie]

Load up on Top Ramen, bread, peanut butter, and eggs. You may develop crazy cholesterol problems along with a high sodium concentration in your blood but you'll be saving cash!

 

[PharmDstudent]

Load up on Top Ramen, bread, peanut butter, and eggs. You may develop crazy cholesterol problems along with a high sodium concentration in your blood but you'll be saving cash!

You don't have to eat the yoke or drink the soup juice.
All last week I had boiled eggs, but I threw out most of the yoke.
Top Ramen is better than Maruchan Ramen, because the noodles are bigger and softer.

There's nothing wrong with bread and peanut butter as long as its whole wheat bread and a single layer of peanut butter. If you throw some whole fruit jelly or preserve in the middle --> you've got a meal!
Have you ever seen peanut butter slices? That stuff looks soooo weird!

 

[kypdurron5]

I've honestly tried...but I hate Ramen.

Senseo update: I did the www.sharesenseo.com thing someone suggested in an earlier post. It really was only $15, they promised on the site not to send any junk mail, and they shipped it out the very next day. I'm pretty sure this machine is refurbished, but I don't care...esp. not for $15. This will be great to have for medical school study sessions. I'm not actually a big fan of coffee...but this coffee is really good, it doesn't seem to have the bitterness I've found with pot coffee. Also, there are cappuccino pods (probably not as good as my cappuccino maker, but worth a try), and you can get a special holder to make tea. I couldn't be happier!

PS- make sure you answer the questions correctly. I'm sure you can figure out what that means.

 

[Rocket3004]

Just take out a bigger loan... what's another 25-50K to tack on to an already large amount.

 

[Sol Rosenberg]

Are you trying to use WEP or WPA encryption? Network cards past a certain age won't support WPA/WPA-2. Also, some cards that support WPA only support WPA TKIP and not AES. Stick with WEP to be safe- next, the issue could be with the key you're choosing. Try a 64-bit key first in case your card doesn't support 128-bit. Also, some routers seem to let you use ASCII characters rather than forcing hexidecimal- my guess is that it does the conversion behind the scenes. Select "64-bit" encryption and try using this key: 0e49f8783d. If you can't get it to work after some troubleshooting, one thing you can do is stop your router from broadcasting the SSID. People will still be able to see your connection, but they won't be able to connect without knowing the SSID. The SSID is the "name" you give your network, and it's CASESENSITIVE. Every router I've owned has had an option under wireless security that will say something like "Allow broadcast of SSID." If you do this keep two things in mind- 1) make sure you change the name so people who currently know it won't be able to guess it and 2) you'll have to change a network setting in Windows- what the option is depends on XP vs. Vista, but in Vista it's a checkbox that says something like "connect even if network is not broadcasting." It's on the same page/tab where you enter your WEP key in both XP and Vista. Make sure you enter the SSID (also called network name/ID) exactly as you did in the router settings.

Oh, and make sure you change your router's admin password if you haven't done so thus far. I read about a new internet attack the other day that guesses the usual default passwords of "password" or "admin" and uses it to change your settings.

/end geekfest

Good advice. I'll add that to completely lock your network down, in addition to the steps mentioned above, turn on "MAC Address Filtering" on your router. Each network adaptor has a unique MAC address, and MAC address filtering disallows connections from all but the approved MAC addresses. So, you turn on MAC address filtering, add the MAC addresses of all of your own network adaptors, and viola, no more problems. It doesn't matter if you use wireless encryption or not (though, someone can sniff your packets flying through the air if you do not) -- others will not be able to connect to your network.

 

[kypdurron5]

Good advice. I'll add that to completely lock your network down, in addition to the steps mentioned above, turn on "MAC Address Filtering" on your router. Each network adaptor has a unique MAC address, and MAC address filtering disallows connections from all but the approved MAC addresses. So, you turn on MAC address filtering, add the MAC addresses of all of your own network adaptors, and viola, no more problems. It doesn't matter if you use wireless encryption or not (though, someone can sniff your packets flying through the air if you do not) -- others will not be able to connect to your network.

Good point, I actually use all 3. The only trouble with MAC filtering is that every time you want to allow someone else to connect to your network (someone over to study, for instance), you have to first find out what their MAC address is, write it down, and then add it to your router settings. My router's MAC filtering applies towards wired and wireless, and since most computers with wireless have a wired connection as well that you might want to use eventually...that's 2 MAC addresses per computer. It's not a HUGE deal, but you've got to remember to do it or you'll be banging your head against the wall wondering why you can't connect.

 

[Slide]

For bulk food I often just make a lot of pasta using whole-wheat pasta, lean protein, onions and green peppers, and some sort of sauce or olive oil/garlic blend. More often than this it's spaghetti, but it's really tasty and much healthier than what most people at my school stuff into their faces (chicken tenders should be a treat, not a daily food staple!)

 

[shantster]

For bulk food I often just make a lot of pasta using whole-wheat pasta, lean protein, onions and green peppers, and some sort of sauce or olive oil/garlic blend. More often than this it's spaghetti, but it's really tasty and much healthier than what most people at my school stuff into their faces (chicken tenders should be a treat, not a daily food staple!)

Whenever I make chicken tenders (which isn't often), I bread them myself. Just get some generic eggbeaters to coat and bread them a mixture with seasoned breaded bread crumbs and grated parmesean cheese. Obviously you can alter the seasonings as you wish - I'm thinking of doing curry instead of parm next time. Bake them for ~20 to 30 minutes at 350 or golden brown and cooked through. Much cheaper and healthier than if you bought them already processed at the store. They also taste better.

The most expensive item at the store is going to be meat so get as large of portions as you can fit in your freezer on sale. Then just remember that you have it there so that you can plan meals around it rather than purchasing more.

 

[Slide]

Whenever I make chicken tenders (which isn't often), I bread them myself. Just get some generic eggbeaters to coat and bread them a mixture with seasoned breaded bread crumbs and grated parmesean cheese. Obviously you can alter the seasonings as you wish - I'm thinking of doing curry instead of parm next time. Bake them for ~20 to 30 minutes at 350 or golden brown and cooked through. Much cheaper and healthier than if you bought them already processed at the store. They also taste better.

Oh heh I should've mentioned that everything down here is fried. If you order anything with chicken, fish, or shrimp, it's probably going to be deep-fried, haha. But your recipe sounds much better and tastier than what I'm accustomed to seeing here.

 

[Sol Rosenberg]

Good point, I actually use all 3. The only trouble with MAC filtering is that every time you want to allow someone else to connect to your network (someone over to study, for instance), you have to first find out what their MAC address is, write it down, and then add it to your router settings. My router's MAC filtering applies towards wired and wireless, and since most computers with wireless have a wired connection as well that you might want to use eventually...that's 2 MAC addresses per computer. It's not a HUGE deal, but you've got to remember to do it or you'll be banging your head against the wall wondering why you can't connect.

...or you can disable MAC address filtering while they're there.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Load up on Top Ramen, bread, peanut butter, and eggs. You may develop crazy cholesterol problems along with a high sodium concentration in your blood but you'll be saving cash!

Lol. One good thing about Top Ramen is that their Oriental Flavor is supposedly vegetarian. Even if it saves money, I still can't bring myself to buy the cheap PB, but natural is still not super spendy.

I don't know if it's been mentioned yet, but space heaters are a good idea. The new ones are safe, and it's a good way to just heat the room you're in instead of heating the whole place.

My husband's a big coffee snob, so we can't buy the cheap stuff at the store. We order 5 lb bags from Amazon -- you can get some pretty decent coffee for much less than you'd get it regularly.

 

[DulyNoted]

Daily budgeting absolutely does not work as a sole plan. You should look to cut/reduce all recurring expenses, invest whatever you have left over after loan disbursement into a place you won't "plunder" it, and make every penny count _without living miserly_.

What do I mean by this: Take the max possible in federal Stafford loans if you have unmet expenses or if liquidity is an issue. If you have plenty of cash, take the first 8500 and leave your already invested money alone. The interest rate on these loans right now is high relative to prime, but their fixed rate is guaranteed. Shop around for a loan provider. Most importantly, find someone willing to cut the 4 or 5% origination fee. If your school is a direct lender, you are screwed and have no way of getting out of it (to my knowledge?). Your school takes 5% extra for providing a worse service.

(Not a fidelity salesperson, just like their services and convenience. You may check the offerings at other institutions to see how they compare. They are cutting fees and improving all the time.)
If you've any money in a Fidelity account whatsoever, you'd do well to sign up for a mySmart Cash account. Ask your parents to spot you a minimum amount to buy into one of their better mutual funds (if you know what you're doing). Then with some paltry amount into a mutual, MySmart Cash becomes a free service (maybe it already is now? Have not checked). It provides free checking, a free debit card, and refunds your foreign debit charges. It advertises that it grows at 4x a traditional checking account, but it's still a measly 1.75% APY right now. I think Scottrade offers something similar. If you have $2000, it does better in a Fidelity account and makes you less likely to spend it. You can link this directly to your bank account to "refill" your daily purchases. The advantage is not that it's growing at 4x a normal checking, but that you are keeping it separate from your Starbucks, cafeteria food, etc.

Keep two debit cards (Bank and fidelity) and zero credit cards. Use the Fidelity card for unavoidables (rent, utilities, insurance). Use the bank's card for daily purchases (coffee, food, groceries, entertainment). Sign up for the online services for both of these things and track your spending without obsessing over it. You will be very, very surprised at how much you're spending on daily niceties. Some financial "gurus" have nicknamed this the "latte factor", and while I think most of their advice is comically simple, it is an appropriate term. Once you track these things and watch your spending, you will stop buying lattes.

Use cash on vending machines and places in which you feel unsafe using plastic. Check your debit card charges and holds frequently to make sure that no smaller businesses make a mistake or try to rip you off. When you quit using cash, you make yourself accountable for every purchase. Try it and see.

Or if any of your neighbors are ignorant enough not to secure their connection, just mooch off of it for free. That's what I did for six months at my old place. If they don't bother to secure their router (very easy, and it'll keep most people away), I'll just help myself.

Easy solution to cable internet: Meet your neighbors! Chip in 5$/month and promise not to do any uploading or illegal file sharing. Free internet.

Buy a SkypeIn number and a wireless handset. Let people call your PC if you *must* have a home phone. My parents recently moved to SE Asia and people can call them at a US based area code for free. The only cost to my parents being the 2c/min (or whatever) intra-US usage charge. It allows them to receive US based calls for nearly zilch. You can set this up to forward to your cell phone also. If it forwards to your cell, you are charged wireless minutes but not by Skype. Cheap home phone that only charges you when you use it.

Save more money:
Go renegotiate your car insurance. Stop insuring your audio equipment from theft. Get the following discounts if you qualify: good driver, good student, safety course, drive <10k mpy, and commute only a short distance. These can reduce your premiums by up to 20% or so.

 

[DulyNoted]

Agreed. Especially when some people are penny-wise and pound-foolish, like buying a new car with student loans or carrying a credit card balance.

I'm probably going to buy a car of some type (new or used) with some money from student loans, but I have a very unique situation. Does it make perfect financial sense? No. I'd be much better off waiting for this business cycle to get worse, for stocks to dip, and to buy up a whole bunch of solid companies' shares (or solid mutuals) with the $8500 (or up to $25000, depending on how hard you search) you can get at a current rates of 0% and later fixed rates of 3-7%.

It's not really appropriate to withdraw the COA and use it to invest, though.

Before anyone accuses me of having a silver spoon, I worked for most of my cash on hand and have received great support from my state in terms of tuition, fees, and living expenses based on merit. My current vehicle has 185,000 miles and gives me lots and lots of trouble.

But yes, I basically agree with you that cars should not be purchased with student loans. Unless you need them.

 

[samenewme]

But yes, I basically agree with you that cars should not be purchased with student loans. Unless you need them.

I think it's the "new" part that is the issue. At most schools you eventually need a car to get to rotations safely and in a timely manner. But it's usually smart to let someone else eat those first 2-3 years (or more, if you find a good, solid vehicle) of depreciation on a car.

 

[DulyNoted]

I just thought of a couple more things...
During the winter, you can use an electric blanket instead of turning up the thermostat to 65-70F. You don't need to heat your entire place all the way up to room temp at night when you're sleeping in one spot.

Don't buy trendy clothes. If you pick out clothes that are simple yet chic, you could probably wear them for years instead of one or two seasons. I would buy plain pants such as khakis or classic blue jeans. You can always dress them up with a cute top that's more trendy and considerably less expensive.

I second these tips (FOR MEN). I'm amazed at the number of kids that spend small fortunes on the current jean, shoe, and accessory trends. Some of the jeans I see most frequently fit hideously (tight or baggy) or ship from the factory pre-ripped, pre-distressed, "acid washed", or all three. A timeless, slim cut, darker and distressed jean I can understand. One that clings to your jewels, makes you walk funny, and is riddled in holes and frayed edges I do not. Females should disregard everything I just said and continue wearing the tightest, least practical pants you can squeeze into in the morning.

I cut my clothing spending drastically by just deciding to dress in the same "style" wherever I go. Here are a few tips (again for men). (1) Buy quality white and light gray t-shirts in bulk to exercise in and wear around the home or under layers. (2) Get some non-iron, slim fit button downs from BB online and on sale. 3 shirts would be a good start and will run about 200. But these are timeless, sturdy, easy, and will last for a long time if you take care of them. (3) Rotate darker jeans, khakis (flat), and chinos with the button downs. Can vary the nicety of the pant from Austin Reeder (14 a piece) to much higher end pants for dressier occasions. (4) Carefully pick out 1 running or x-training shoe, 1 casual shoe, and 1 dress shoe and wear them till they fall apart. (5) Carefully consider every clothing purchase for practicality and value. Wait on these purchases and see if it still qualifies as a "must have" after 1 week.

After doing that list of stuff, I basically quit buying clothes unless something falls apart. I don't buy anything trendy and get a great deal of satisfaction when a staple item must be retired because of wear and tear and NOT from mothballs. Sorry for the rambling, I obviously used to have a major problem with impulse clothing buys that basically went to waste.

 

[DulyNoted]

I think it's the "new" part that is the issue. At most schools you eventually need a car to get to rotations safely and in a timely manner. But it's usually smart to let someone else eat those first 2-3 years (or more, if you find a good, solid vehicle) of depreciation on a car.

Oh, I guess I was not reading carefully and do completely agree with that. I have searched a lot for a used, 2004 or 2005, small car lately (corolla, mazda3, etc.) and have met with nothing but frustration due to: history reports with accidents or multiple owners, them being smoked in, them being bright red or yellow or some other horrible color. I also splurge on leather seats (as a sanitary rule) and find it hard to find the higher packages on cheap, used cars. Finally, new cars cost the same to repair as old cars and my experience with my current vehicle has left me acutely aware of the cost of repairing older cars. (Recent 1500 repair on 5000 car)

Can you not also deduct the depreciation of new cars? So if you financed beginning in year 3 (and got 0% apr for 60 months or a similar deal) and had a residents salary at the end of year 4, you could write off at least two years of the dreaded first-3-year depreciation?

 

[Eddie]

You don't have to eat the yoke or drink the soup juice.
All last week I had boiled eggs, but I threw out most of the yoke.
Top Ramen is better than Maruchan Ramen, because the noodles are bigger and softer.

There's nothing wrong with bread and peanut butter as long as its whole wheat bread and a single layer of peanut butter. If you throw some whole fruit jelly or preserve in the middle --> you've got a meal!
Have you ever seen peanut butter slices? That stuff looks soooo weird!

You're right. I've never seen those!

 

[PharmDstudent]

You're right. I've never seen those!

Since you live in Texas, you might be able to find them.
PB slices website

PS The pharmacy forum is boring now , and I'm stuck at home due to illness.

 

[PreMD86]

If you've any money in a Fidelity account whatsoever, you'd do well to sign up for a mySmart Cash account. Ask your parents to spot you a minimum amount to buy into one of their better mutual funds (if you know what you're doing). Then with some paltry amount into a mutual, MySmart Cash becomes a free service (maybe it already is now? Have not checked). It provides free checking, a free debit card, and refunds your foreign debit charges. It advertises that it grows at 4x a traditional checking account, but it's still a measly 1.75% APY right now. I think Scottrade offers something similar. If you have $2000, it does better in a Fidelity account and makes you less likely to spend it. You can link this directly to your bank account to "refill" your daily purchases. The advantage is not that it's growing at 4x a normal checking, but that you are keeping it separate from your Starbucks, cafeteria food, etc.

1.75% is very low. You're going to want to put your money somewhere that is at least close to inflation. My Schwab checking account offers everything your Fidelity account offers, plus nationwide ATM fee refund upto $25/month, and it's currently at a measly 2.25%. As I already stated, I keep my money at an account with 6% interest, which is unusual, but many banks offer 3-4%.

Keep two debit cards (Bank and fidelity) and zero credit cards.

I really don't see the harm in credit cards. Mine gives me back around $500/year for using it. If you get a card with 0% APR for 12 months, you could put your tuition on it and save a year's worth of your loan's interest. My sister did this on for her MBA, and saved hundreds of dollars. Oh, and they're also crucial for building credit history. Bottom line is compounding is a powerful force- So long as you pay your credit card in time and don't have it work against you, you're fine.

 

[DulyNoted]

1.75% is very low. You're going to want to put your money somewhere that is at least close to inflation. My Schwab checking account offers everything your Fidelity account offers, plus nationwide ATM fee refund upto $25/month, and it's currently at a measly 2.25%. As I already stated, I keep my money at an account with 6% interest, which is unusual, but many banks offer 3-4%.



I really don't see the harm in credit cards. Mine gives me back around $500/year for using it. If you get a card with 0% APR for 12 months, you could put your tuition on it and save a year's worth of your loan's interest. My sister did this on for her MBA, and saved hundreds of dollars. Oh, and they're also crucial for building credit history. Bottom line is compounding is a powerful force- So long as you pay your credit card in time and don't have it work against you, you're fine.

MySmart cash launched with like 5% APY but, like every other checking account, is hurt when the prime rate falls. I cannot imagine your 6% is in any kind of normal, low-medium balance checking account. Either way, you are correct that 1.75% is low, but not when comparing it to the no or low interest checking accounts offered by most major chain banks (where the OP's loan disbursement would probably end up otherwise). And for everything except counter deposits, including check writing, withdrawing at an ATM, online bill pay, and so on, it is every bit if not more convenient. If the OP has a mutual fund there, mysmart cash offers no-fee overdraft protection directly out of your spare cash or a mutual.

The biggest help is that it automates your big, unavoidable purchases and separates them from daily niceties that you could (but don't necessarily need to) do without. It has changed my (and friends') spending habits and will save me thousands over the 4 years of med school. Yes, there are many ways (and probably ones with superior APY) to do the same thing and someone used to living on a budget could probably accomplish the same just out of will power.

That's interesting that your sister put 1 year of tuition on a credit card. Though I don't see how she could have paid it off so rapidly as to be a benefit unless the MBA was a 1 year program? Or was she able to borrow the same number of years of federal loans from the bank and just wait like 11 months for the first disbursement?

 

[Sol Rosenberg]

Can you not also deduct the depreciation of new cars? So if you financed beginning in year 3 (and got 0% apr for 60 months or a similar deal) and had a residents salary at the end of year 4, you could write off at least two years of the dreaded first-3-year depreciation?

Deduct the depreciation from what? Income for income taxes?

1. You are probably not earning any income from which to deduct the depreciation.
2. Even if you are earning income, you can only depreciate the car if it is used completely for business (i.e. not personal driving.) Even if you own rental property (considered a business) and use the car to travel to manage your rental property, you can only deduct mileage, not depreciation. Most medical students don't also concurrently own businesses, but, if so, you CAN depreciate your car according to the IRS rules in Publication 946 (Probably MACRS.)

If none of what I'm saying makes much sense to you, then it is most likely that you cannot depreciate your car in any way.

 

[DulyNoted]

Deduct the depreciation from what? Income for income taxes?

1. You are probably not earning any income from which to deduct the depreciation.
2. Even if you are earning income, you can only depreciate the car if it is used completely for business (i.e. not personal driving.) Even if you own rental property (considered a business) and use the car to travel to manage your rental property, you can only deduct mileage, not depreciation. Most medical students don't also concurrently own businesses, but, if so, you CAN depreciate your car according to the IRS rules in Publication 946 (Probably MACRS.)

If none of what I'm saying makes much sense to you, then it is most likely that you cannot depreciate your car in any way.

That sounds familiar. Someone told me that they rented out spare rooms in their child's college residence to other students and then deducted some of the mileage on one of their vehicles that they used to visit (ostensibly their rental but really to visit their son). I believe they also claimed to have deducted fuel costs on their personal visits there. But I was mistaken about any deduction for the depreciation of a new car, I think. As a resident, you will pay income taxes (possibly a lot if you file jointly).

 

[Blesbok]

You can probably also get better parking. Our med school's parking lot for students is across the street and down a hill, so it's not exactly super convenient. The bicycles and mopeds can park right next to the front door though, so you can shave off 10 minutes of walking to and from the parking lot every day. My college was the same story - parking was horrible, but motorcycles and mopeds could get great parking.

I cancelled my parking pass and now I park in service parking right behind the building (which is about 5 minutes closer than the normal parking lot). I get a ticket about once a month, but the ticket is only for $10, which adds up to $30-40 over the semester. This is a lot cheaper than the $100 they charge for our parking passes. In essence, I am making money by parking closer.


Also, I recommend if you rent a house or something other than an apartment that is sided by other apartments that you spend $20 and get a programmable thermostat. It takes about 15 minutes to swap out and you can take it when you leave. It will save $50-100 in gas/electric during the really hot and really cold months if you turn it off at night and during the day. Set it to turn on before you wakeup then again when you get home at night.

 

[Sol Rosenberg]

Also, I recommend if you rent a house or something other than an apartment that is sided by other apartments that you spend $20 and get a programmable thermostat. It takes about 15 minutes to swap out and you can take it when you leave. It will save $50-100 in gas/electric during the really hot and really cold months if you turn it off at night and during the day. Set it to turn on before you wakeup then again when you get home at night.

This is one of the all-time most debated issues (to lower the temp/turn off the AC during the day or not,) with mounds of "evidence" supporting both sides. I've spent way too much time reading/debating this issue, but I believe that the claims of $50-100/month savings are way exaggerated. If your house is poorly insulated, and the inside temperature becomes equal to the outside temperature during the day, then, perhaps these claims could be substantiated, but for the average well-insulated home, the heat transfer will simply not be quick enough to make a difference, and by the conservation of energy, heat lost = heat gained whether it be a little bit at a time (i.e. you leave the thermostat on/cold during the day, and you are constantly lowering the temperature by a small amount throughout the day) or whether it be a lot at a time (i.e. you leave the thermostat off/hot during the day, turn it on when you get home, and have to lower the temperature once by a large amount.) The only true gain results from the fact that AC systems operate more efficiently with a higher delta-T than with a lower delta-T, so the latter method results in your AC operating more closely to its optimum efficiency. This is not as significant effect as thermostat makers would have you believe.

Anyways, like I said, I have spent WAY too much time thinking about this over the years....sorry for the diatribe....

This may be high in "duh" factor content, but the best way to save on electric bills is simply to raise the temperature that the thermostat is set to as high as possible (all day.) Even 1-2 degrees higher can make a significant difference.