I hate to ask, but what would GRM-land do?

A short back story: Took a job back in March working in a busy ER on weekends. 6 months later, I was out on my ear, partially my fault and clash with coworkers. In the meantime, I started nursing school, very competitive to get into, and paying for it out of pocket. Now, I have about a month left in this semester and under $40 left in my bank account. Wife doesn't make enough at her job to really cover her bills either, LONG story on that I don't want to get into either.

In the meantime, I have been looking for employment, but it is either quit school to work M-F or continue to be unemployed. I can easily go back to "losing money" being a mechanic, but looking for new opportunities, even places I am overqualified for, as well. No callbacks either.

So, what would everyone else do?

Handfull of bennies and an overnight job?

Could you defer from school for a few months, start working hardcore full-time, then go back to school with a bit of cash in your pocket?

It really seems like you should finish the Nursing School if the month left would get you the degree. At least it gives you the option in the future (nursing jobs should be pretty easy to find for the foreseeable future). If you have a year or two left, maybe not.

One note: It really sucks ending up doing something for a career that you don't like. It tends to show in your work also, and effects the people you work with (which would be a lot in a nursing career).

In reply to Streetwiseguy:

If the nursing school staff finds out you are working overnights, you are dismissed from the program.

Alternatively, can you borrow money to hold out for this month, close out the semester, and then work for a while? I'm worried about throwing away this semester's tuition because you don't complete it. That money is already spent.

Do what you have to to finish the degree. There are a lot of different areas to work in nursing. You are not stuck with floor nursing or nursing home work. Although, two years of floor nursing will open up lots of options.

Keep going to school until you get a job. That way you don't give up on school until you have something solid, and if you have to be unemployed until you get the nursing degree, at least you got the paper to prove it.

The problem with leaving school is I would have to reapply and then wait for the spring semester the following year to arrive. Plus I am already 36 and going nowhere around here. Unless I want to kill myself working in an underground coal mine.

I have 1.5yrs left to graduate. If I had the one month left, I wouldn't be asking the question. I really don't mind being a nurse. There are many job positions that open up when you get your RN title. It doesn't automatically mean you are going to work on the floor taking care of grandma with Alzheimer's plus everyone else on your shift.

In reply to Duke:

Everybody is broke. Wife doesn't make enough. MIL is on fixed income that doesn't cover E36 M3. I've already tapped out my parents....

Ranger50 wrote: In reply to Streetwiseguy: If the nursing school staff finds out you are working overnights, you are dismissed from the program.

why on earth is that?

GrantMLS wrote:

Ranger50 wrote: In reply to Streetwiseguy: If the nursing school staff finds out you are working overnights, you are dismissed from the program.

why on earth is that?

Because right now I go to class 9-3 Monday, 9-130-ish Tuesday, and then I have clinicals or lab skills and subsquent checkoff the following week on Wednesday afternoons. Used to have to go to lab on Thursday too. Not including the mounds and mounds of nursing care plans, plus studying for multiple chapter tests every week. Oh and it's stated right in the Handbook we were given the first day of class.

but if you complete everything - and pay the billi don't understand why it would mater to them.. though place to be - wish you all the luck with it..

Do not quit school. Get it done ASAP. Take side jobs doing car work or anything else you know how to do. Once you build a rep doing side work, people will find you. Ask me how I know.

Cut your living expenses to the absolute bone. Get rid of your cable TV (keep the net). Cut out all processed foods (expensive). Do not eat out. Brown bag your lunch. Sell stuff on craigslist, eBay or the local supermarket rag. Heck, buy stuff cheap just to sell for a markup. Other people's yard sales are great for that.

It won't be fun but you'll get done sooner and start earning those big bucks (not to mention living anywhere you want in the country). DO NOT QUIT SCHOOL.

You can get through this period if you put your head down and charge. Just gut it out. Sometimes life has to suck before it gets better.

In reply to GrantMLS:

Because during clinicals, you have real live people you are taking care of. That includes medications and errors giving those out....... Well it will kill them. Plus you are working under your clinical advisors' license. So, if you berkeley up, you could make your instructor lose their license.

I would keep nursing school the top priority. Get that paper, then get the good paying forty hours a week. I've been in a similar position. Its not easy.

Want some good ramen recipes?

One thing to consider with nursing is that you can do it almost ANYWHERE (I don't think they have regional specific certifications do they?). This means you can move to almost anywhere in the country, of course Gods Waiting Room (Florida) probably has a disproportionate amount of jobs. So if you have an area you would like to live, or near something you want to be near (maybe to get into that business) it gives you that option.

Is there anything you can do to earn a side income in your spare time? No suggestion you're working nights but there's got to be a day or two in your schedule that you can do something?

If it's possible at all I'd try to stay in school, if it's not possible at all then take a break now, pile up tons of cash during that break by working like a man possessed and then get back to it.

If you are in an accredited program, you can take out student loans to cover tuition as well as living expenses.

It isn't the best way to do it, but the option is in place exactly for people like you who will be almost guaranteed to have steady employment at good wages when they graduate.

As others have said, work on the side, too.You can even start with "buy the supplies and I'll change your oil for $10" kind of jobs.

Powerball.

^No need to throw money away.

I agree with Jerry. Austerity measures. Sell a bunch of your stuff. Kill cable. Live on rice and beans (buy them both dry, in bulk, at an ethnic grocery store if you have them around - very cheap) and whatever fresh fruit/veg is on sale at the grocery store. (Actually, you can still get some winter greens like spinach, kale and chard in the ground and get good harvests for a month or two. Nothing cheaper than growing your own, and it's just about literally Gassroots. Doesn't take much time, either.) Take on word-of-mouth side jobs out of your garage, go mobile if that helps ("Oil changes in your driveway while you wait, cheaper than Quik-e-Lube!").

Food, shelter and school should be your priorities.

In reply to Brett_Murphy:

No, I can not. I have too many credits to get any aid. Even though financially, I qualify for every low income program out there.

I'm not against side work, I'm against the low life welfare rats, which are WIDESPREAD around here, that want champagne and caviar while paying an amount equal to tap water and a bologna sammich. I know it happens everywhere, but it's disproportionate around here. Which keeps me quiet about doing side work.

I believe some hospitals offer to pay you to go to school, But you have to sign a contract to work for them when you get your degree?

In reply to TRoglodyte:

You already have to be working for them. BTDT.

alex wrote: Food, shelter and school should be your priorities.

Make this your motto.