Tips and Tricks for Budgeting as a Travel Nurse
Travel nursing can be one of the most fun experiences of your life, but it is easy to forget about budgeting when you are trying to take full advantage of the new city you are living in. We’ve put together some tips and tricks to make sure you are keeping track of your financial responsibilities and still able to have a good time.
Take the time to find discounts
There are countless websites that offer all sorts of coupons and ways to save money. Finding the best deal is always in your best interest when you are trying to maintain a healthy budget. There are places you can find deals on just about everything. Here are some of our favorites:
- For travel costs: Hopper, Google Flights, Skyscanner, Kiwi
- For activities: Groupon, Living Social
- For shopping: Coupons, Retail Me Not, Hip2Save
Keep an emergency fund
You never know what can happen in life, so it is always good to set aside a chunk of money so you don’t have to stress if something goes wrong. Pick an amount you think is a valid emergency fund and add a bit of money from every paycheck until you hit the goal.
Set a leisure budget
When you set out to experience a new city, it can be easy to forget how much you actually spend on activities and experiences. Before your placement set a goal of how much you want/or are willing to spend on experiences. Once you are at your placement keep track of how much you spend to make sure you don’t go over your limit.
Cook meals at home
Nursing schedules can be sporadic and random- this means you don’t usually have a set in stone eating schedule. Eating out starts to become the easy and convenient option, but that is most definitely not the cost effective option. It is amazing how much money you can save by eating and preparing meals at home. Check out these quick and easy snacks you can make a home to fuel you through your shift. Of course this doesn’t mean you have to forgo the food culture of the city you are in, but being smart with when you eat out will allow you to spend more on the food that is worth it!
Savings
Your savings account is so important. With a lucrative job like travel nursing, you will be able to put a percentage of every paycheck into a savings account for safe keeping. Putting just a little in every paycheck will add up and you will thank yourself later.
Choose the Right Agency
Choosing a travel nursing agency like Stability will ensure you get the bang for your buck. Not only do they find the highest-paying placements, but the agents also help you find affordable housing and insurance packages. Find an agency that will take care of the major details so you don’t have to.
In the end, it is all about being aware of where your money goes. When you have a big paycheck every month, the easy option is to not think about how much you spend, but before you know it your savings account will have a lot less than you planned. Budget yourself so you can enjoy your traveling lifestyle and take full advantage of your new home.
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Compare For Cash- Compare Your Current Rate with Stability’s for $10 Cash
Who doesn’t love getting paid? Stability Healthcare knows we aren’t the only source for nursing careers, which is why we’re here to prove we have some of the best rates on the market. This month, Stability is running Compare for Cash, a campaign where you compare your current salary or competitor’s quote with us and we will send you 10 dollars!
With travel nurses in high demand, travel nursing salaries are often higher than the salaries of the permanent hospital staff. If you want to fill your wallet and your desire for adventure, travel nursing might be the right fit for you. When picking a travel nursing placement, salary is one of the main considerations for a lot of people because no one wants to be financially stressed on top of moving to a new city.
Stability makes travel nursing easy for you; just pick your destination and we’ll sort out the details. Not only are you getting the base salary advertised, but, typically, you will receive additional benefits through the Stability Healthcare Nursing Agency. The benefits vary from placement to placement, but the agency assists you with housing, travel reimbursement, licensing support and fees, bonuses, incentives, benefit packages, and retirement needs.
Think you are ready to learn more about the competitive wages that travel nursing offers? Go compare your rates with Stability. All it takes is some basic information about your current position, and not only will we compare your rates with the desired Stability placements for free, but we will also send you $10 just for doing so!
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Top 3 Big City Placements Right Now
Craving the hustle and bustle of the big city? Stability is here to help you find a travel nursing placement that will give you your fill of art, incredible cuisine, music, and culture.
Spread out all across the US, are cities that are rich in culture in opportunity. We’re here to highlight a couple of cities off of Travel + Leisure’s list of the Top Cities in the US from 2017. Read more to learn about Austin, New York City, and San Francisco, and hopefully get some inspiration for your future nursing placements!
Austin
Lying in the heart of the Lone Star State, Austin combines classic Texas with a hip and trendy twist. The residents of Austin make sure the city stays true to its motto of “Keep Austin Weird” by straying away from what one might expect to see when they visit Texas. The city is made up of several different neighborhoods that each hold their own reputation. Some of our favorites are South Congress, home to public art displays and hip coffee shops, and University of Texas, home to of course UT and also a strip of hip bars and 24-hour diners. If you want to learn more about the neighborhoods, Thrillist compiled a complete list of the different neighborhoods that will give you the inside scoop.
Food will be a recurring theme on this list because, let’s face it, a city isn’t that great if it doesn’t have the food to back it up. Austin is a food lover’s dream… from barbecue to Mexican, there’s something everyone is bound to enjoy in the city. You can even combine the two at one of Austin’s many taco joints like Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ, where you can get smoked carnitas, pulled pollo, and smoked brisket tacos.
You can’t mention Austin without taking note to its famous music scene. The city is home to festivals like South by Southwest® and Austin City Limits. The city truly comes to life through its live music culture. Being in Austin during SXSW or ACL is guaranteed to satisfy any music lover’s wildest dreams. Not to worry, even if you aren’t able to line up your placement with that timeline, there are countless venues and live shows happening every night.
Photo via minitime.com
New York City
A list of some of the best cities to live in wouldn’t be complete without New York City. It is the picture that everyone thinks about when they think of what a city should be- yellow taxis honking through the overflowing pedestrian groups making their way to the subway stations, walking through Times Square at night with billboards flashing after attending a famous Broadway play, and of course the picturesque NYC skyline.
If city life is what you are yearning for, then NYC is guaranteed to give you your fill. The city is made up of 5 different boroughs, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island. Each borough is known for its own unique history, but the most popular is of course Manhattan, closely followed by Brooklyn. Manhattan is full of skyscrapers and luxurious neighborhoods from Wall Street in the South to Central Park in the North. You could spend your entire placement on Manhattan and still not get around to seeing and doing everything. Brooklyn is more neighborhoods and parks, a slower pace than Manhattan with artsy neighborhoods waiting to be explored.
As the melting pot of America, you can only imagine the diversity of food that you can find in the city. Try some authentic Chinese food in Chinatown or head to Eataly for some world class Italian food. If you are feeling really adventurous you can make your way to Brooklyn to try the famous Unicorn Bagel or try cereal milk ice cream at Momofuku Milk Bar.
With the flexibility of your hours as a travel nurse, you will have plenty of free time to really enjoy the city. Especially when the rest of the city is stuck in their 8-6 jobs, you will have the freedom to relax and take a stroll around central park or cruise your way through the MET.
San Francisco
On the opposite side of the country lies the coastal city of San Francisco. Known for its place in the tech scene, the Golden Gate Bridge, and its booming popularity. With its mild and gloomy temperatures, this is a city for someone who isn’t looking for a hot summer or a freezing cold winter. People from all over the world migrating to this growing city, has led to the city gaining a reputation of rent prices as steep as the city’s streets. Lucky for you, travel nurses in San Francisco make anything from $1,400 to over $2,300 a week so money won’t hinder your experience.
Even though this is a huge city, there’s still a decent amount of nature surrounding it. From Golden Gate Park to the San Francisco Bay, this city never makes you feel like you are trapped in a concrete jungle. Some of the more natural highlights of the city include hikes around Land’s End and Telegraph Hill’s garden-lined stairway walks.
This city is home to some of the world’s most famous restaurants. The city is best known for its sourdough bread and fresh seafood, but has so much more to offer than just that. According to Lonely Planet, San Francisco is home to the most restaurants and farmers markets per capita in North America, making this city one for any food lover. Exploring the neighborhoods of San Francisco will lead you to finding a new favorite spot on every corner.
The great part about travel nursing is that it is just a six-week placement. It is the perfect amount of time to go and experience a new city and what it has to offer without having to commit to living there full-time. Who knows maybe you’ll fall in love!
If you feel like trying out city life for a few weeks, head to stabilityhealthcare.com to request a quote and see what placements are available.
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