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Login to post Forums » Off-topic discussion » Welp, the car habit will have to wait another three years!

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Dec. 13, 2011 9:43 a.m. Twin_Cam SuperDork

Finally, after paying for a wedding ourselves, we didn't have anything ridiculous to save for. So I've been doing some maintenance that I'd put off on our two daily drivers, as well as buying some new tools, and some that I didn't have, and some other stuff to make life easier around the house. I was also thinking about finally purchasing a toy/second beater car, whether it be XJ Cherokee, Miata, E30, Subie 2.5RS etc etc.

Then my wife drops this on me: "I'm going back to school for nursing. It's gonna cost $40K and take three years."

Ok, we'd talked about it, but I thought she was going to do the community college thing, and it would only be a couple thousand a year. Turns out the quickest way to do it is at the local PSU satellite campus. So now there's tuition, health insurance for her coming out of my paycheck, books, and us living on just my paycheck, not to mention she'll be a total wreck all the time, because she'll have to study constantly, because she's one of those "needs to get an A++++++" people or will cry.

Sorry, needed to vent. Please post lots of build threads so I can work on cars vicariously through you guys The V12 MBG thread and that Hayabusa Miata website kept me going through saving for our wedding!
Dec. 13, 2011 10:02 a.m. Ranger50 Dork

Well.... Coming from a guy in nursing school right now, unless she has zero college credits, yes, it will be three years for a two year degree. Now I "walked", had to take an entrance exam to qualify, into my current program with all my prereq's already taken. So, all I have to do is take the nursing courses for a degree. Take all your prereq's your first year. The students that struggled the most are trying to do this in two years. On paper it can be done, but reality will quickly make you realize that it is NOT possible.

But seriously, 40k?!?!? Someone needs a grip on financial reality. There isn't anything you are going to get different there then at a CC. Just have to make sure the program you choose has transferable credits to another institution when finished.

Back to reality again, if she has a got to get an "A" on everything, halfway through the very first semester, she will either have a complete nervous breakdown or just up quit and say it isn't for her. The only people getting A's in my school have taken these classes at least once BEFORE and they are still studying for "nothing". A funny but truthful saying I heard this semester was, "It is never good to be an A student because you will be working under/for all the B and C students out there."

Just my observed opinion from inside the insanity of nursing school.

Brian
Dec. 13, 2011 10:03 a.m. DrBoost SuperDork

Women, can't live with 'em, can't bury them in the backyard....
Dec. 13, 2011 10:03 a.m. 914Driver SuperDork

R.O.T.C.
Dec. 13, 2011 10:40 a.m. N Sperlo SuperDork

Bout to drop some scrilla on a 107 year old 2 family for me and the wife. I'll be in the same boat. We can drink together, buddy.
Dec. 13, 2011 10:45 a.m. sachilles Dork

It will be worth it in the end. Good salaries, and the job will be in demand for the foreseeable future.
Dec. 13, 2011 10:52 a.m. Ranger50 Dork

Oh and one other piece of info on nursing school, every school has different grading scales. My school is for an A you have to be in the 94-100% range, B is 85-93, C is 79.45% to 84%. They round up on the percentages. Now the other school I applied to has the lower C range at 76%. But they only accept 30 students/yr compared to the 74 in my class, so maybe that is why their range is lower for student retention. So for my school, a C is really a B in any other course I would take....

Oh and I passed my two classes this semester with a B in Assessment and a C in Fundamentals of Nursing, which means I continue on just like an A student...
Dec. 13, 2011 11:01 a.m. Klayfish HalfDork

Yep, three more years for her to be in school. Then she'll be ready to start a family. So there goes more of your budget... welcome to married life, my friend.
Dec. 13, 2011 11:16 a.m. mad_machine SuperDork

I would check with the local hospital. I know the one in Reading PA (which is highly acredited) will offset a lot of your tuition if you sign a contract with them that has you basically agreeing to work at the hospital for a set number of years before you seek work elsewhere (yes, you still get paid, they just need nurses)
Dec. 13, 2011 11:44 a.m. HiTempguy SuperDork

I couldn't imagine being with someone that expected "me" to pay for their education...

Maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way? I guess I never thought I'd be with someone who wasn't educated to begin with. I could see doing it 10 -20 years down the road when the kids are grown up, but damn...
Dec. 13, 2011 11:56 a.m. 1988RedT2 SuperDork

If she's truly motivated to do well and complete the program, I can't see anyone mounting a credible opposition to the idea of a nursing degree. Given the associated salaries and very high demand, you be glad you supported her through this down the road.
Dec. 13, 2011 12:19 p.m. fifty Reader

I'm a Physical Therapist, but work mostly with nurses. Nursing is a great gig to get into, and with the shift away from physician based care (to PA's, Nurse Practitioners etc) will only get better. SO, 2 or 3 years from now, there will be a definite upside :)

Like Mad Machine said, see if one of the local hospitals will cover all, or part of your wifes tuition. Here in town the local university hospital offers a BSN and also offers unit nursing aide positions for their students - if they work 2 x 12 hour shifts on the floor (Sat/ Sun), they get paid as fulltime employees, get benefits, retirement, vacation pay etc. Something to think about.
Dec. 13, 2011 12:22 p.m. xflowgolf New Reader

HiTempguy wrote:

I couldn't imagine being with someone that expected "me" to pay for their education...

Maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way? I guess I never thought I'd be with someone who wasn't educated to begin with. I could see doing it 10 -20 years down the road when the kids are grown up, but damn...

Well that's what happens when you get married. "me" becomes "us". If you happened to fall in love with someone who doesn't have a degree... and then they decide to pursue one...

Klayfish wrote:

Yep, three more years for her to be in school. Then she'll be ready to start a family. So there goes more of your budget... welcome to married life, my friend.

Pretty much how it worked out for me as well. Wife is now a stay at home full time student and mom... wants to wait to complete her Bachelors before we have another kid, and then take a few more years to be home with that child before going to work, and then my as well get her Masters.

I paid my own way through college so it's a bit hard to swallow "paying for somebody else's" college when she doesn't make a drop of income, but what are you gonna do...?

My car projects are therefore extremely low budget. I try to keep my head up by funding it through "extra" activities outside of our "normal" household income. If I part out a car, flip a used car, etc., I try to keep a portion of the proceeds to fund some car fun. Never give up! Where there's a will there's a way.

In hopefully ~5 years we'll be a dual income family and I'll be able to pursue any of my own dreams/hobbies with any more than a shoe string budget.
Dec. 13, 2011 12:46 p.m. mtn SuperDork

She should be able to get health insurance through her school. I think it costs me $200 a year.
Dec. 13, 2011 12:54 p.m. nocones HalfDork

HiTempguy wrote:

I couldn't imagine being with someone that expected "me" to pay for their education...

I couldn't Imagine being Married to someone who doesn't think of it as "us". When my wife and I got married everything became one big pot. I don't make income for "me" I make a living to support our family. She does the same. She actually makes more than I do but we work together to take care of the house/family/life stuff and we both reap the rewards of working together to create a better life for "us" and our daughter. When we first got married she worked for 6 months while I finished my Engineering degree. When our daughter was born she spent 15 months at home raising her while I was the sole worker.

To the OP support her when she needs it as I'm sure it will be tough but you'll be stronger when you come out the other side. Don't let this Automotive Hobby get in the way of whats really important in life.
Dec. 13, 2011 2:18 p.m. Strizzo SuperDork

In reply to xflowgolf:

not to go all "dave" on you here, but what is the point of getting the bachelors degree if her plan is to just stay home with the kids once she's got it? i can understand if she wants to get it because she wants to finish college, but if thats the case there are cheaper routes than full time university in order to not have a job. as you might have seen in the occupy thread, just having the paper doesn't mean you'll get hired, and having the piece of paper from 4 years ago and you haven't worked since isn't going to do you any better. if she just wants to stay home, then the two of you need to be honest about it, not waste time/money basically getting a bachelors of housewife.
Dec. 13, 2011 2:28 p.m. z31maniac SuperDork

^Read the last line of his post.
Dec. 13, 2011 2:35 p.m. xflowgolf New Reader

Strizzo wrote:

In reply to xflowgolf:

not to go all "dave" on you here, but what is the point of getting the bachelors degree if her plan is to just stay home with the kids once she's got it? i can understand if she wants to get it because she wants to finish college, but if thats the case there are cheaper routes than full time university in order to not have a job. as you might have seen in the occupy thread, just having the paper doesn't mean you'll get hired, and having the piece of paper from 4 years ago and you haven't worked since isn't going to do you any better. if she just wants to stay home, then the two of you need to be honest about it, not waste time/money basically getting a bachelors of housewife.

fair point... and happy to discuss. To clarify, she has about ~1.5 years left in her Bachelors program. Our current child just turned 3. In a perfect world we'll time baby #2 about when she gets her Bachelors. She wants to pursue a Masters anyways, and basically she'll just take 1 year off while the new baby is an infant. The goal is not to stay home forever, just until the little one is 1.5~2 years old.

So.. at that point the Bachelors will only be ~2 years old, and the Masters would be fresh. She currently does volunteer work in her field as well so there's resume building along the way... just no income.

She's also pursuing a fairly focused field, not just a piece of paper for the sake of having it. Unfortunately to make a decent living in the long run in her field, a Masters is almost required (Social Work).

So I agree with you in that I would nix a Bachelors if her long term plan was to stay home, but since she plans to pursue a Masters, followed with employment, we just keep things simple (house/budget/etc.) for the interim. To save money she maxed out credits she could take at the local CC before transfering into University this past year as well.
Dec. 13, 2011 2:47 p.m. ProDarwin Dork

1) Good for her! Can't fault anyone for pursuing a higher degree. Be glad you've got someone like that.

2) I'd look into cheaper alternatives. An extra $13K a year in tuition plus the loss of a 2nd income is a big deal. What will that cost you at the end of 3 years? 130K? 200K? I'm sure you've discussed this, but maybe its time to take another look at the situation before you commit to something too drastic.

3) Cars are a fiscally irresponsible hobby. Treat them as appliances for 5 years and pursue other ways of having fun. I found that mountain biking is not only cheaper than autocrossing by a factor of 10, its healthier, flexes around my schedule, and is 90% as fun. The same applies to rock climbing, paintballing, etc. That doesn't mean I wont be racing my S2000 next year, but the instant money becomes any sort of issue, I'll be glad to drop my automotive hobbies and pocket an extra 5-10k a year.
Dec. 13, 2011 2:48 p.m. Mental SuperDork

Years ago, OK, deacdes ago; a co worker's wife went back to nursing school and graduated. The job she landed before graduation was quite nice. He said her student loan check was the happiest check he wrote every month.

As far as shoestring gearhead budgets, consider motorcycles. Simple, cheap and they take up very little space.
Dec. 13, 2011 3:13 p.m. Strizzo SuperDork

In reply to xflowgolf:

that is a much clearer description of your plan, and seems sound. also good for her pursuing social work, which ranks right up there with teachers for level of appreciation received vs. deserved.

i'm also in a field that all but requires a masters for what i want to do, so i know its not easy to make yourself go back. (currently struggling to make myself start looking)
Dec. 13, 2011 4:33 p.m. HiTempguy SuperDork

I'm sorry if I came off of as being rude! I didn't mean it that way.

The idea that I was trying to point out is that you are now out of debt. Presumably, considering she is your wife, you have or will have kids.

It's not only a $40k education, but a minimum of probably $40k per year income your family misses out on (so that's $160k in lost gross income over 3 years including the expense of the education). It seems an odd time to do the education is all.
Dec. 13, 2011 4:36 p.m. pete240z SuperDork

I have family members in the nursing field and it is wide open. My sister works part-time weekends for in nursing and I know she pulls down great money.

My S-I-L who struggles with some health issues was able to be a manager for home health care on the late shift and also drew a bunch of money as all she had to do was schedule and cover all the home nurses.

As I grow older I find I put my family way ahead of my wants/needs. Did I really want a used beat up French horn for $500?
Dec. 13, 2011 5:38 p.m. bastomatic Dork

Somewhat new RN here, with some advice, take it or leave it.

Background: 1) I graduated last year from a Big-10 University with a BS in Nursing. I took an accelerated course that took 16 months, as I already had done the prereqs at a local community college, and I had a previous BA.

2) I found a job in about 2-3 months after graduation. Starting jobs pay about $21-26 an hour in Michigan for RNs. Some of my coworkers had a lot more difficulty finding jobs, and many had to leave state to get a decent job.

3) We failed about 10-20% of our class, and many schools have a higher dropout rate. Just so you know - she absolutely will be a wreck.

Advice:

1) Skip the university route and get her RN from the community college. It's an order of magnitude cheaper, just as fast, and it pays as well. I was hired in with RNs with 2-year degrees.

2) Once done with the two-year degree, get a job. 90% of all hospitals will help or entirely pay for an RN-to-BSN course, and give you a pay bump when you complete it. All coursework is online, so you can easily work while doing it.

3) What does she want to do? If she wants to be a Nurse Practitioner some day, advise her instead to go directly to Physician Assistant school. All the schools are currently re-engineering their NP programs to be doctoral programs instead of Masters, which means two more years of school, and many tens of thousands more in debt. Physician Assistant programs continue to be Masters programs, and PAs are paid as well as NPs.

If you want any background or advice or info, don't hesitate to PM me.
Dec. 13, 2011 11:53 p.m. gamby SuperDork

Strizzo wrote:

if she just wants to stay home, then the two of you need to be honest about it, not waste time/money basically getting a bachelors of housewife.

EXACTLY

I've always found that to be ponderous. I just don't get it.

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