schoolbooks, ramen noodles and closing costs
The Times published an article comparing the benefits of buying to renting in the current housing slump. Buying took a drubbing. Their calculator estimated that it would take me about eleven years to start saving money over renting if I bought today.
If I continue to rent, I continue to have the flexibility to fritter away income on education, which seems to be my default course of action. But it hasn't been a bad investment. I spent no more than $7500 on my ADN. My hourly wage immediately went up five dollars an hour, so in about 1875 hours of straight time, the degree had paid for itself. That's nothing compared to the killing I made on my medic cert. $2500 for a $3.50 hourly raise. . . Even in 2001, $15.81 an hour was not a lot of money, but it was better than BLS wages, and the schooling paid for itself in a little under 900 straight hours. And I was working overtime like a Jamaican, so that didn't take long.
The numbers look the way they do in part because I paid cash for the tuition. I was broke, and relied on credit at times for daily expenses, but I never had a student loan hanging over my head.
I don't expect to see a dramatic return on the BSN in the short term, but it opens other doors. And I can make measured, deliberate choices, now that I eat ramen noodles by choice, not necessity. I'm not sure I'd feel the same way if I had a mortgage. I think I'd be spending a lot more time worrying about job security. Recent events aside, hospitals are not famous for being the best employers.
So to all my fellow rootless renters, and to all the perpetual students, take heart. Our adulthood avoidance tactics may just be a shrewd disguise for a solid investment plan.
If I continue to rent, I continue to have the flexibility to fritter away income on education, which seems to be my default course of action. But it hasn't been a bad investment. I spent no more than $7500 on my ADN. My hourly wage immediately went up five dollars an hour, so in about 1875 hours of straight time, the degree had paid for itself. That's nothing compared to the killing I made on my medic cert. $2500 for a $3.50 hourly raise. . . Even in 2001, $15.81 an hour was not a lot of money, but it was better than BLS wages, and the schooling paid for itself in a little under 900 straight hours. And I was working overtime like a Jamaican, so that didn't take long.
The numbers look the way they do in part because I paid cash for the tuition. I was broke, and relied on credit at times for daily expenses, but I never had a student loan hanging over my head.
I don't expect to see a dramatic return on the BSN in the short term, but it opens other doors. And I can make measured, deliberate choices, now that I eat ramen noodles by choice, not necessity. I'm not sure I'd feel the same way if I had a mortgage. I think I'd be spending a lot more time worrying about job security. Recent events aside, hospitals are not famous for being the best employers.
So to all my fellow rootless renters, and to all the perpetual students, take heart. Our adulthood avoidance tactics may just be a shrewd disguise for a solid investment plan.
posted by Nurse Cha at 10:47 AM
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