Question

I need some reassurance.  Is $1000 a month realistic to live on for spending money?I need some reassurance. Is $1000 a month realistic to live on for spending money? I will (hopefully) be starting a nursing program at the end of March and after the cost of the program per month and what we are thinking day care will cost we are left with only $1000 of spending money a month, family of 4. The 1k is not including groceries or gas. Just spending money. We are used to having 2800 left over after everything so seeing the 1000 is really discouraging me from attending the program.  

Answer 1

100% do able. Judging by the comments I think most of us live with less than $1000 a month to spend

Answer 2

Yes you can. Write out all of your bills and budget everything.  

Answer 3

A lot of people have less than a hundred and survive?. ‍♀️

Answer 4

Not a joke . We don’t do super specific envelopes and the only debt we have is my car. We also like to save at least $500 a month so that would come out of the $1000. I’ve already budgeted gas and daycare (what I think it’ll be). Please be nice, we all live different life styles and have different incomes.  

Comments

@gulledge4655 if you want to go to school and make some temporary sacrifices I say go for it! You seem conscious of your budget so go for it!  

Answer 5

Use that for some of the materials you may need for nursing school (they can add up). Ex: shoes for clinicals, uniforms, study materials, lab equipment. Off topic: for study materials I recommend the UWorld app and Saunders NCLEX book

Comments

@chronogram thanks girl!  

Answer 6

You’ll live  

Answer 7

I think it’s definitely possible, no judgement. Just go over what you spent your extra money on for the past couple months. Give yourselves a weekly budget/allowance so you can spread the $1000 throughout the month and not spend it all the first week and then be without for 3/4 of the month. Stay focused and positive. You can do it!  

Comments

@embryonic Krusinski i agree! @gulledge4655 it’ll be a tough adjustment at first but a sacrifice worth it for your nursing degree! Just think about the the big picture end game! You don’t need to do the envelopes, but I would suggest tracking what you spent roughly in recent months and then cutting down from there and seeing what you need to do! You got this girl!  

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Thanks y’all!  

Answer 8

Family of four, we live off of $800 ish a month some times less. Gotta be ok with less, no mindless spending and eating the same things

Answer 9

@gulledge4655 I'm in the nursing program too. Look for a nursing home local to help with tuition. Mine pays half. So my tuition is only 589 a month. They pay for books and half of tuition.  

Answer 10

I would say $1000 is VERY doable.  

Answer 11

Use some of the $1000 towards sinking funds. We used to put $920 a month towards sinking funds but scaled it back to put more towards paying off our car. You said you like to put $500 towards savings so I’d say keep putting $500 towards an EF and the rest of the $500 split up amongst spending money and sinking funds. The beauty of a budget is that it’s interchangeable and can always move money around

Answer 12

What do you include in your spending money? Is that random bills that pop up? Is that eating out, Or new clothes, or activities? If it's purely your "let's go see a movie, do we have enough? " Then yes, it should be plenty. But if this is for ANYTHING not accounted for already (unexpected change in bills, books for school, random need to pay for vehicle registration, etc) then I would work on having some fully funded sinking funds before taking the cut to income.  

Answer 13

My husband and I live off about $400 before saving anything, definitely doable  

Answer 14

Is that $1000 then after your bills? I definitely see that as doable!  

Answer 15

I budget $100/biweekly for spending money for a family of 4. $1, 000 is plenty. Also, an RN! Good luck with school  and I agree you’ll be too busy with school to spend a lot of money!  

Answer 16

We have like $50 a month spending money  $1000 seems like a dream!  

Answer 17

Do able. For me personally I never want to have that much for spending money each month. Setting goals for vacations, family time, things we want and “just Incase of” for savings

Answer 18

Well I feel like an ass now. I thank the bunch of you who were kind in answering my question.  

Comments

@gulledge4655 you aren't an ass. I'm sorry some of the comments weren't nice. It's totally doable but doesn't mean it won't be a challenge when it's new! I think you should go for it and if for a bit you can't save 500, it'll be okay. Just list out all the variable spending over the last few months to see what you spend and where you can make cuts.  

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@gulledge4655 Focus on the positive. You’re in a great position.  

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Don't feel like an ass, bonus is that when you're qualified you'll be used to the lower budget and get use your new pay to smash the debt!  

Answer 19

$1000 sounds like a lot but it’s hard to say without knowing what you’re using that $1000 for. Like others have said, look back at what you using the $2800 for and see what could have been cut out without affecting your standard of living. What spending was done just because you had the money versus spend because you needed to at that time.  

Answer 20

It will definitely take getting used to. I understand it’s still a decent amount for spending money but it’s cut by more than half why you are used to. You and your husband work hard for your money and the fact that some people are so judgmental about it makes me mad.  

Answer 21

It'll depend on what you normally spend on. If there are extracurricular activities for the kids then that might be tougher since I'm sure you don't want to cut them. Otherwise, it seems like it shouldn't be a problem, but that's a $1800 cut so it'll seem rough for awhile. I would sit down and look at what you normally spend on and where you can cut and where you can just shave some off. I'm guessing there is a lot you can cut back on without feeling the crunch. Maybe you have a gym membership but will be too busy to attend while in school (or can use the school's gym)? Things like that.  

Answer 22

You'll be okay. My nursing program left me TIRED and trust me you won't have time to spend. Those Hesi test had me pulling my hair out. Good luck in nursing school. Tip use picmonic and follow registered nurse rn on on YouTube. They got me through. ❤ crockpot is your friend.  

Answer 23

Start practicing now with that budget in preparation for March. You have Feb to try it out and see how feasible it might be. That's what I would do. You won't know unless you try.  

Comments

@fine10ces M. Silva this is the plan! Thank you!  

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@gulledge4655 let us know how it goes as I will also begin school in AUG and am actually a single parent of a teenager boy. The struggle is real, but I think we can overcome it and your goals are doable.  

Answer 24

It’s definitely possible. You have to cut out a lot. We have been doing this while my husband is in the nursing program. He is almost finished. We haven’t had much extra but we have survived. Little eating out and only buying what we really needed. Planning meals and grocery shopping helps a lot.  

Answer 25

Totally doable! You got this girl

Answer 26

$1000 seems great! Then again we’re only two people and I try to budget $200/month because I don’t have room for more lol but my hubby thinks otherwise  

Answer 27

If that is not counting groceries and gas you should be fine. More so will depend on exactly what you are including on that 1000. After I pay rent, utilities, cell phone, car payment and car insurance and set aside money for gas and groceries I spent less then 150 in January.  

Answer 28

If that is strictly - spending and fun money - where all bills AND debt are already paid for without it. I say - heck yeah .  

Answer 29

Losing 1800 a month is a huge thing. Why are people being snooty?  

Answer 30

What are your budget categories. I gotta see a budget so I can visualize it

Answer 31

That’s an extremely large amount for spending. I’d take it!  

Answer 32

I would start acting like that’s all you’ve got now, and see how it feels. Adjust before it actually happens and you’ll feel better about it

Comments

@shinn2332 that’s what we are going to do in feb! I figured it would give us a taste before throwing ourselves into it.  

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@gulledge4655 and you could save that $1800 you would be getting as a buffer for when the cut does start

Answer 33

Okay these comments need approval as well as the post. @gulledge4655 these people are haters! Do you girl!  

Answer 34

Just to clarify. we moved from OK to MI a few months ago and everything is way more expensive here than I’m used to. Also, since we moved I haven’t tracked spending because life was too much for me during the transition. We weren’t actually spending 2800 willy nilly, money was always in the bank I just haven’t been keeping track. Last night I redid our budget since moving and saw we had the 2800 extra and when I start school we will only have 1000.  

Comments

@gulledge4655 we just left Oklahoma too, but went to GA. I miss Oklahoma’s cheapness in some areas.  

Answer 35

Yes it can be do able. If you’ve been tracking this months spending, see how or what you spent it on. Then definitely do a tracker for February. Decide what you can live without and what you really need to stay.  

Answer 36

$1000 is more than what we allot in the Seattle area so I'm gonna say yeah.  

Answer 37

Seriously I just don’t understand how people can be so dang judgmental and some just straight up rude! Ladies she is just asking for advice- not your snarky comments. I get that for a lot of people that is considered a lot of extra, but when she’s used to another $1800 on top of that, it’s a big adjustment and she’s clearly stressed. How about we go back to grade school lessons and only say something If you have something nice/helpful to say!  

Answer 38

I would track and make sure you accounted for everything but yeah I think it’s totally doable. Ignore all the negativity too. We had a huge drop in money leftover and it hurt for a little bit. It’s takes time to adjust to a new normal but you’ll get it. Good luck with school too! I just started my semester too.  

Answer 39

@gulledge4655, it is going to be a struggle at first. I think you will do fine. Maybe take a look back at the finances for the last couple of months and sit down and see what you could either purchase in bulk on rotation from something else so it’s not so much at once. Or maybe even cut back for a while. Plus, look at it this way, you’re going to be spending more time occupied with schooling and homework that you’re not gonna have that extra time to go spend money. I switched from a midnight job to a day job and girl, the money I’m saving not going shopping while the kids are in school just for something to do, holy moly it is unreal! Good luck with the program and I think you will be ok, I know it’s just the thought of cutting a limit that much that is super scary.  

Answer 40

Sounds like you need a side gig

Answer 41

It probably would be possible but it’s going to be tight. Could you work as a CNA during the program? It would be a way to get extra experience while making some extra cash. Depending on where you would get a job some facilities will give you tuition reimbursement which might help with some of the costs.  

Answer 42

@gulledge4655 this is totally do-able. Though it will be tough to adjust to 1k monthly. I would recommend that you start saving for any extra expenses that nursing school may require. scrubs, polos, any additional academic supplies. Best of luck in your academic year! Are you in the LVN or RN program?  

Answer 43

I can understand that is a big drop which will take adjusting. If I can live on $200 a month you can live on $1000. Perspective can be a beautiful thing. Saying this with love and grace but hard to convey that via text