How to pay for living expenses (rent, food, etc)?!?

[speechpathy]

How are you all planning on affording living expenses? What type of job will you try to get to offset some of these costs? Are you going to use student loans to cover these expenses? I don't want to do that, but it looks like I might have to :/ Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated!! 

[hopefulslp1]

following!

[Jordyn_M463]

This is probably one of the most stressful parts of school. You could always apply for a Graduate Assistantship or a part-time job on/off campus. I know that a lot of people look for more laid back jobs like working reception somewhere, so when they are not busy they can be working on school work. Graduate Assistantships are nice because (in my case) it helps pay for about 3/4 tuition and a paycheck/stipend for working and doing whatever they may need you to do. My Graduate Assistantship is 18hrs a week and $7.50 an hour. So that is something you could look into! I know people who have worked at the library, tanning salon, dining commons, etc. You can always work a summer job and put money away to save for when you go to school as well to try to minimize how much you need to put on a student loan. 

Good luck! 

Edited March 28, 2018 by Jordyn_M463

[speechpathy]

@Jordyn_M463 Yeah it is super stressful! The programs I was accepted into didn't offer me a Graduate Assistantship, but thankfully the school I've decided to go to has a really great scholarship they offered me. This however doesn't provide me with a stipend so I need to find a small part-time job. But making minimum wage isn't enough to pay for an apt, so I'm stuck right about now. Considering finding a roommate, but scared it'll end up being some type of psycho lol. Yeah, a small job like that would be nice. Those are good suggestions. 

Edited March 28, 2018 by speechpathy

[purplefuzz2]

My graduate school does not have graduate assistantships or TA ships. I was able to snag a small scholarship (and hopefully I can grab a few more). I do not have a job, and I do not plan on getting one. This was a really hard decision for me because I worked for most of undergrad, and I have not been completely without income in years. Our program director stressed over and over again that we should not work unless we have to, which really discouraged me taking on a serious job. I looked for smaller jobs like work study or tutoring, but nothing allowed me to make enough money for me to feel like it was worth my time. Realistically I could probably only make a few thousand dollars during the 20 months I am in graduate school. I had to ask myself, is a few thousand dollars worth losing sleep, study time, prep time or time spent on other other educational programming, and for me the answer was no. I do have a roommate (who is great), and I do go to a public school where I get in-state tuition. I got accepted to school in November and then started  class at the beginning of January so I did not have much time to think about finances or find a good job. I am not saying that someone should not get a job, or that it isn't necessary. I just thought I should explain my thought process of deciding to use loans for everything. Loans are unfortunate, but they are we are essentially making an investment in ourselves, and they allow me to put all my energy into learning.

Edited March 28, 2018 by purplefuzz2

[snoves]

Can you not use loans for housing? I know some schools will allow you to use the loans you take on for housing/food, if you don't need them for tuition purposes. Not exactly ideal but ya gotta do what ya gotta do

edit: lol just realized you included that in your original comment. What is reading comprehension.

Anyway loans aren't ideal but I get the impression that it is how people tend to pay for housing. I am fortunate to have some money I can use for housing, but I'm planning to get a part-time job if I can!

Edited March 28, 2018 by snoves

[DDolores]

2 hours ago, speechpathy said:

@Jordyn_M463 Yeah it is super stressful! The programs I was accepted into didn't offer me a Graduate Assistantship, but thankfully the school I've decided to go to has a really great scholarship they offered me. This however doesn't provide me with a stipend so I need to find a small part-time job. But making minimum wage isn't enough to pay for an apt, so I'm stuck right about now. Considering finding a roommate, but scared it'll end up being some type of psycho lol. Yeah, a small job like that would be nice. Those are good suggestions. 

Could you find a roommate in your program through your school's FB page?

[speechpathy]

@DDolores I will definitely look and see! Thanks for the idea

[AlwaysaFalcon]

I know that for myself that I took out loans to cover my cost of living. While this is not exactly ideal, I know for me personally I'm doing what I have to do. It's two years of my life and then after that I will not need to take out anymore loans. I also work through federal work study on campus. I work about 14 hours a week and for me this is enough time to keep my time management in place and provide me with extra income to mainly cover my utilities and groceries. I worked throughout my undergrad and before I start my clinical I like having the opportunity to work. Otherwise I would find time to goof off haha. So look into jobs on campus and the surrounding area! I know my friend is a GA in the speech department and they pay for some of the tuition cost and a stipend every month.