The Medical Student Budget and Saving Money II

So here are more real-life examples of budgeting and money saving during my medical school journey.

1. I bought a lot of music on iTunes but it was getting to be so expensive that I switched over to Spotify's $10 a month plan.  Saved me a ton of money and it was the most reasonable thing to do because I love discovering new music.

2. I cancelled my cable television and just use internet.

3.  When looking for apartments, I went for the best balance of safe, affordable, and close to school.  Being on a public transport route saved me a lot of money too.  Some med students with more money than sense decide to live in luxury condos.  Brilliant.

4.  I cooked my own meals and brought them with me.  Made my own coffee too.  Otherwise, I'd be spending $200 a month on  just lunch and coffee.

5.  I'd go to the liquor store to buy what I like to drink and then have gatherings with friends instead of going out to a bar to pay $7 for a beer when a six pack of that beer would be like $10-$12.

6.  Along that theme, I would get together with friends and we'd cook/do pot luck dinners.

7.  I've never gone on a vacation that involved airplanes in med school.  I just don't have that kind of money.  Probably missed some great memories, sure, but debt is terrible.  I'll go on vacation when I can afford it.

8.  I only bought clothes for clinic when they were on sale.  I wore scrubs to class or wore whatever I had around.

9.  I didn't buy a new computer just for med school.

10. Saved money by plugging my desktop into a TV.  Didn't have to shell out for a new monitor.

Basically, just live within your means.  Carpool, have roommates, don't throw lavish parties.

Also, lose your ego.  You're a med student, not a celebrity, so you don't need to be treating people to expensive dinners or show off this stereo or tv or whatever.  All my friends know I'm in serious debt and that's cool because that's just life.

As far as future income, who knows what it'll be.  Watch ortho's reimbursements get slashed, see primary care's get bumped up, or start seeing dermatologists get the shaft.

It's going to get harder and harder to hang up a shingle and run your own practice, honestly.  That's a thing of the past.  Health care has gotten to be so expensive that you should expect to practice in a hospital or a multispecialty kind of center.  Sorry if that was your dream, but let's be real here. Shadow a doc who has their own practice and you'll see them have their family members be the secretaries and billers and all this.  It's out of control.

Also, don't be a surgeon because that lifestyle is terrible (unless it's ophtho I guess.  ENT can be insane with facial reconstruction/neck dissections, but it's not as bad as ortho or trauma).

Just because you're in med school doesn't mean you're smart with your money!  Take care of your money and it'll take care of you.