(This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information.)
Wow, adulthood is trippy.
This financial drought between the last med school loan disbursement and first paycheck is…intense. In combination with that triple punch of postgraduate training license fees, USMLE Step 3 exam registration, and a full-front cost for independent own-occupation disability insurance and…oof. I wouldn’t say I’m living “paycheck to paycheck” because I was fortunate to plan for a “cush” buffer– borrowing more loans for my last semester of medical school–but I’m feeling it. It’s the first time in a long time that I feel the impact of trying to budget for the month when my payroll starts off cycle (Weeks 2 and 4). (Shameless plug: I use YNAB—as someone who’s tried Mint for over a year, YNAB is easily worth the price and much more effective.).
It’s been sparking that same anxious itch that during my research year, when I was actively paying down over $25,000 of my student loans (and keeping my living expenses afloat). Back then, I binged Aja Dang’s debt payoff journey while doing stats in the lab or prepping veggies at the restaurant.
Now it’s just…audiobooks galore. And podcasts. And Reddit subforums. (Shoutout to Ramit Sethi’s book for keeping finances light-hearted and Graham Stephan for drilling in some fundamentals). I know that I should be using that precious brain space to study for Step 3, learn about my patients, or practice surgical skills, but being able to focus and ruminate on something outside of medicine feels so therapeutic in its own right. (Moreover, the trials, tribulations, and tremendous growth from intern year thus far deserve a post of its own…) I wonder how long this will last.
