by 
There are many articles/books on financial well-being. I am a novice and I don’t have anything earth shattering to impart here. I would refer to the experts to tailor a plan to your exact needs. However, for me transitioning to a nomadic existence required some amount of fiscal forethought and I wanted to share that part of my journey with you. Essentially, saving is not too unlike dieting. Diet = less in, more out. Saving = more in, less out. Both require discipline and a small amount of sacrifice for an ultimate long-term benefit. My habit of saving allowed me to have the confidence to feel comfortable pursuing a career doing locums and is also allowing me to volunteer in Kenya this fall.
I’ve always been debt adverse. I don’t like to owe anyone, anything. I’ve also known I wanted to be a doctor since a young age, so I started planning for college and medical school in middle school. (Yes, I know…) I knew my parents could not personally finance my education and I knew I did not want to accumulate a mountain of debt that was common with medical school graduates. So, I set a goal to apply for and receive as much scholarship assistance as possible. Therefore, I finished medical school with only a modest amount of student loan debt compared to the mortgages some of my colleagues acquired.
I enjoy saving. However, residency training does not lend itself well to aggressively saving. But, you can manage your spending to create minimal credit card debt. During my fellowship year, I started actively saving. Each month I siphoned off at least 25% of my check into a savings account. I deferred my student loans, but I paid off the ACOG HELP loan that I applied for and received my fourth year of residency and I made the minimum payment on my credit cards. I bought a car my first year of residency. I had a 60 month lease, meaning I paid it off the last month of my one-year fellowship. I did not then, nor I have I since, bought a new car.
After starting my first job, I continued saving. I was paid bi-weekly. From one check I transferred 25% to my short term savings account and from the second, I transferred 25% to my long term savings account. I set up automatic payments to cover the minimum payment to my student loans to avoid any fees or an increase in interest rates due to missed payments. After I covered my monthly expenses, I used whatever I had left to pay-off my credit card debt. Once I paid off my credit cards, I doubled, then tripled my student loan payments, making sure the additional amounts were applied directly to the principal.
Remember my two savings accounts? Once the short-term account balance equaled my student loan balance, I paid it off in a lump sum.
Voila! Debt-free!
I continued to grow my long term saving account until I felt it could cover me for at least 6 months if I were unemployed.
Take Aways:
- Establish a habit of saving.
- Pay off timed loans first, high interest/credit card loans second, low interest/student loans third.
- Be a Realist. Understand your financial strengths and weaknesses.
- Minimize non-essential spending, but still enjoy life.
- Debt-free = Freedom.
