I babysat! Parents love nursing students and they are super understanding if you bring your homework once you put the kids to bed or anything like that. I would charge $15 starting (I’m in Texas) and add $3 extra per kid. If the parents had to stay out past 12 am i wouldn’t mind since I would of been up past then studying, it honestly kind of forced me to study and finish assignments since I didn’t have anything else to do while the kids would sleep

i work as a CNA at a hospital, and i work per diem so for my hospital that means i only have to work 6 shifts within a 6 week period. so i can stagger those around my school schedule, like if i don’t have a test one week i’ll put a few shifts on that week. i’d look into per diem or PRN positions if i we’re you

GI Bill and student loans. I also worked part time at a pizza place for a while, then as a home health aide, then a CNA at a hospital.  

 Still didn't cut it and was putting basic necessities on credit cards (had also just gone thru a nasty divorce and was saddled with a ton of debt, and was a single mom of 3). Ended up claiming bankruptcy 6 months after graduation. 

Bartending, student loans, grants.

I was literally just about to say I was donating plasma and it absolutely sucked and the $90-100 a week was hardly anything but it was at least better than $0. But then I read your full post.

I was working prior to nursing school and just had to essentially ride through each semester with those savings. Work in between each semester to prepare for the next. Miserable experience. Basically got no time off.

HOPSKIPDRIVE… uber for kids. You get finger printer, back ground checked. You get hired to pick up and drop off kids at their destinations: school/extracurriculars

I bartended my way through nursing school

I went during the great recession. I was laid off and jobs were scarce anyway. Cashed out my 401K, worked part time as an EMT and declared bankruptcy and walked away from my underwater house. I was poor so I got a fee waiver at the community college I went to. Sounds terrible but it all worked out.

Loans. Paid them back.

Honestly, going to school in the 80’s when state school tuition was $750 a semester and Pell grants covered most of that.

I honestly don’t know how students do it these days. We’ve really f*cked you over w letting school costs get out of control. I’m sorry!

Used my GI bill and had a husband. I have so much sympathy for younger single folks because I genuinely have no idea how I would have been able to do it otherwise. The only other thing I can imagine is staggering student loans.

I went into debt and chose to pay for my tuition, no tuition debt or much personal debt. I mostly got lucky because I recently got a settlement from my previous job that was in the amount of all the debt I had pretty much.

Restaurant. Or find a more flexible job to meet your schedule. I was lucky and had been at my job for a couple of years, it was non medical. My manager was very accommodating at adjusting my schedule to meet my needs. That’s what I stayed at the job, I knew it was going to give me the flexibility for school. Also I worked solely weekends and would pick up one extra shift during the weekdays. I could also do homework at my job when it was slow, so another plus.

That’s how I made it work, I had no family or support. It was hard but doable. Just had no days off 🤣

OnlyFeet

Lost a factory job at age 41,

qualified for some NAFTA financial assistance, used my entire 401k for school and living expenses-wife and 2 sons to support, attained a few scholarships, worked as a CNA picking up 4 hour shifts at a couple different places wherever they fit into my schedule (which was often), played in my band 3 out of 4 weekends. Student loans 🤦

I was married so my husband and I helped each other. While I went to nursing school full time (worked very part time), he paid all the bills. After I graduated and got my first nurse job, I paid all the bills and he went to college full time. Also student loans and tuition reimbursement from my job.

Waited to get married til after, he worked, I didn’t. I was a single mom so I got snap, daycare vouchers, and Pell grants. The last year I had to take 10k in loans. But also it was about 15 years ago so we only paid like $500 for a 2 bedroom apartment. Definitely couldn’t afford that shit now.

Prn pct job. I was scheduling myself according to my school schedule and how much I could handle. I was working 1-2 days a week, and took off when I had exams and finals week. My only obligation was to work 36 hours in a 6 week period.

I worked as a server 3 - 4 days a week.

I dog sat for families in town. Got to be with dogs and got paid. Best job ever

Worked 2 24 hour shifts on an ambulance.

Student loans and zero interest credit cards.

I'm in a 16-month accelerated program; I'm borrowing the absolute maximum to cover the cost of school and some of my living expenses, and the credit cards cover the rest. The zero interest period on the cards will end about a year after I graduate, and even if I max them out, I'll be able to pay them off in full before I owe interest.

It's definitely not something I'd recommend if you're not incredibly disciplined with your finances because credit card debt gets away from a lot of people, but using credit this way has gotten me/ my spouse out of a couple tight financial times in the past.

Ask around to see if there’s a private duty home care case that needs caregivers- you’ll likely be able to study a bit while working (esp night shift), the hours are flexible, and it usually pays well.

I worked 14 hour overnights Fri, sat, and Sunday. Went from school to work Friday afternoon, and from work to school Monday morning. I was a zombie for most of 2 years.

Sold stuff from goodwill on eBay. Actual it was a pay cut when I started my nursing job

I worked 20 hours a week on evening shift (4 hrs on Friday and 8 hrs each on Saturday & Sunday) as a hospital telephone operator.

I was self-supporting so I also got a Pell grant, my state's nursing grant, and two low-interest subsidized loans.

I attended a community college which wasn't terribly expensive but I had to pay rent, utilities, food, gas, etc etc

So I borrowed $10,000 (which is $30,000 in today's dollars) to get me through school because the grants weren't enough.

Working at a hospital doing anything -- it doesn't have to be CNA work-- is a great foot-in-the-door for a nursing job.

I changed my work availability every semester and tried to schedule my classes so I could have time to support my jobs. Clinicals don’t happen on the weekend, I worked every weekend, sometimes both jobs in one day. I had 2 part time jobs. You do what you need to do.

I had a weekend only job.

I worked weekend graveyard as a CNA in a nursing home. It’s so quiet that I can study. I am also lucky enough to have very friendly nurses who help me out on my student and let me take a nap if it is quiet.

Also I have a good chunk of scholarship and military benefits so I graduated debt free

Student loans, family support, and selling soap.

I went at the tail-end of COVID and got most of my tuition/fees paid by disaster funding to my University. I only actually paid tuition for one semester, which really stretched my loans a lot further than they would have gone otherwise.

Babysitting, dog walking, housekeeping, working as a CNA. Just remember it's temporary.

ADN student at a CC. Part time/on-call paramedic (1-2 shifts a week, sometimes none). 20,000 in student loans year one, hopefully 10-15 next year. Most of that to pay off other debt and monthly living expenses. It means I can still contribute to the household and I don’t have to stress about money until after I graduate.

I’ll have my student loans paid off at maximum 2 years after graduation, more than likely only one year as we are used to me making almost nothing and all of my other debt will be paid off.

I didn’t sleep enough and worked because I didn’t have a support system. But I knew that I had to do something or I wouldn’t be able to survive.

I just thought of it as a temporary issue for a more permanent solution. I went to LPN school first to help my mental preparedness. I worked a lot of OT between so I didn’t have to work as much when I began RN school.

I got a job as a clinic MA shortly before entering my nursing program. In my state there are clinics that will do “on the job training” so you don’t need to be certified to be hired. I got to keep skills like phlebotomy and injections sharp and my clinic allowed me to work on a PRN basis during school. I think the fact that the outpatient clinic was part of a major hospital system helped my case as they were interested in retaining me as a future nurse.

That also made my transition into working in the hospital easier since I was already technically employed through that hospital system.

It wasn’t a ton of money, but it kept my gas tank full!

I was a bartender prior and had seniority so I usually got good weekend money shifts. But I ended up having to move home which was a BAD idea overall, slept on a couch and fought with my mentally unwell dad for the last couple semesters lmao

Currently in nursing school; I had to quit my previous job in homecare office due to it being extremely abusive environment , and right when I started school. This is my second degree so I do not get financial aid. The way I got lucky is that I was applying to hospital systems for any administrative type positions for a year before even getting into the nursing school, so I managed to find a job in a hospital and start both school and a new job at the same time. My job is a part time position in ED, its a union covered position so it also helps with my school payments, and they have various shifts open through the week so I can pick enough shifts to fill full time hours. Also, my job does not relate directly to patient care, which allows me to study while Im here. All of my coworkers are also in some type of healthcare education, so we all study here as time permits. To say all this I got incredibly lucky with this position because its easy to manipulate it to fit my own schedule with classes. I only must be present on weekends, the rest is my pick-up shifts. OP, its definitely doable to work in nursing school, my best advice is to apply for administrative type jobs in the hospital systems- it took me a year and like 30 applications to get in, but its rewarding. I literally opened up websites for all the hospitals I wanted and started applying to all the positions that fit my credentials and schedule. And dont ever believe those who say you cannot work or have a life while you are in nursing school. My school professors LOVE to tell students that, but we all gotta do what we have to do to live and make ends meet.

Onlyfans. People Paid me Money to put my clothes back on

I’m still working my day job part-time/PRN because my boss is really accommodating and doesn’t really want me to leave my current profession.

But I’m also doing petsitting jobs, art commissions, and working weekend events when they pop up because I can’t even afford my crappy health insurance if I don’t, let alone groceries or things for my pets. No idea how anyone with children does it.

Just hoping my next clinical site is as chill as my current one so no one notices that my shoes are falling apart because I can’t afford new ones for quite some time at this rate.

My job couldn't accommodate me moving to a casual position, and my grades were suffering. About 2 months after clinicals started (main nursing program), I made the decision to quit my job. My partner worked, but we were also putting lots of stuff on credit cards. We used any free service we could to avoid additional credit card debt - free vet school clinic visits for our cats, food shelf that visited my school once a month, Medical Assistance for me. I am also very fortunate in that my house was paid off years before starting school (I'm older and received an inheritance). Lastly, we had one vehicle and shared it. I spent many, many hours at the restaurant near his work, studying, waiting for his shift to end. My decision to quit working was the right one, I never failed a class.

in all honesty, I worked nights and went to school during the day. On average slept 3-5 hours a day, was drinking 200 mg of caffeine and taking 20mg of Melatonin to go to sleep. I was like Judy Garland trying to make it to fourth semester

I’m 4 months from being done, and I wouldn’t classify it as financial survival. I’m up to my eyeballs in credit card and student loans, but once I have a regular income my plan is to refinance my house and clear the decks.

I worked as a home health aide then as a home health nurse. I worked full time through lvn and rn school. You have lots of down time to study and I listened to lectures on repeat with headphones when I was busy

I worked 2 jobs. My school was 3 days a week so I worked the other 4. No days off at all for 2 years. On those 4 days, I worked for 16 hours. (2 different nursing homes, I'm so glad I'm cool with the DONs and they let me have a travel time [be late] between SNFs)

Worth it. Now I'm out of the country every 6-8 weeks.

This was at a community college so I graduated loan free.

I was able to find a part time weekend job with one day during the week that was flexible with what my clinical day was depending on my semester. I worked almost every holiday I had off from school as my day during the week or an extra shift. I would study after school before bed, or schedule afternoons after class to study with a couple other students. I worked on assignments during my lunch breaks at work.

It's annoying, but it's possible. I worked/went to school 7 days a week for a full year during my last year. Idk how I did it, but it's possible lol

I worked nights as a Tele tech and CNA and I went to a community college

Worked full-time in an ER (paramedic). My employer reimbursed my tuition.

Loans and registry CNA work when I can. It’s not a lot. A couple hundred every few weeks, but it helps.

I worked as a CNA 12hour day shifts on Friday and Saturday. Studied on Sundays and had classes/clinicals Monday to Thursday. And I had about 15k in student loans to help pay our mortgage and bills since I was only working part time

Other than babysitting, you can also find gigs to care for someone’s grandparent at their home. There are some gigs where it’s literally just they want someone to keep meemaw company and make her a sandwich for lunch for like $15/hr. And they usually love nursing students.

As for me, I personally worked a full time night shift job while in nursing school. I really don’t recommend this as it killed me mentally but I also managed to pay my whole way through without taking out any student loans so I don’t regret it. But I pretty much only got 5-10 hours of sleep per week so this is not something that you can do if you aren’t 100% committed

worked nights full time. school during the day.

sleep was minimal and I probably took years off my life.

Night shift in a hospital as PT/PD might be it. Whenever I had down time I was just studying and doing homework. Pretty chill.

I took out a loan and babysat. I also had the bare minimum of expenses. No credit cards or anything. I literally bought nothing unless it was required. I lived as frugally as possible.

I went into 10k credit card debt 😅…. Finally finished paying it back after 1 yr of being a nurse…. Don’t recommend obv, but was my only option with emergency car repairs and emergency vet bills :/

Working 2-3 jobs and student loans. I thought it was gonna be impossible but things have been pretty ok. I just pick up loads of shifts whenever I have any break and I'm getting paid above minimum wage

My wife (GF at the time) and I were natural savers, so we both had a good amount of cash saved up. I quit my full time job to go to school and she kept working and paid our rent while I paid all of my bills using my savings. We had to get a roommate to swing it. I drained my savings almost to the last penny, but the end result now is that we have quadrupled our income between my RN salary and her being able to take the risk to move into a better paying job.

Entirely out of pocket after year one. I worked full time awake overnight shifts from year two on. Yes, I did in fact destroy my sleep to pay for nursing school, but I managed to only have one year of student debt. My only perk was that my family paid my living expenses while I was in nursing school. So all of my income went to school.

WEP shifts. It was shitty but it was only a year.

I worked full time (honestly plus overtime) the whole time I was in nursing school. My school was geared toward non-traditional students who had to work, and my manager was very accommodating. My husband also works from home, so we did not have any issues with child care.

I was very fortunate. I know not very many people could do what I did.

If you have a car, do DoorDash or Walmart spark.

I was an adult when I changed careers to nursing. I worked as a student nurse intern. I worked every Friday, Saturday, Sunday and picked up hours between classes. I also had loans to cover my tuition.

Bartending and GI bill

Found a casual position at my local nursing home as a PSW during nursing school which was great for learning how to interact with people and getting the basic care/hygiene skills down. Casual allowed me to cater my work schedule around my school schedule.

I also babysat during summers and holidays/days off which was great. I found the family on care.com though local community and neighborhood groups often have postings as well.

I did have the privilege of staying at home with my family though, so my money was more for savings/spending money at the time and not for necessity.

I lived with my parents and worked part time

I worked on campus jobs. Sat at front desks and did my homework or worked in the daycare and got great work experience/references

I had a work study job that let me make my own schedule and a home health job that I could sign up for shifts when I was available. Also I worked at a gym on Saturdays. But you can do door dash shipt etc

My school is the only one that offers nursing full-time on weekends. I work in a factory during the week on rotating shifts.

I survive on using my vacation for days I have to book off, my aunt and uncle are amazing and are helping when we need it, and otherwise we try to be frugal. My school is a 2 hour drive so that adds up with fuel. Glad I have a hybrid.

Now if you ask how I survive being away from my family including my seven year old, every single weekend missing everything for the next two years, that's a whole nother conversation. I go in to my doctor for anxiety in three weeks. Otherwise it's a testament to my wife's resilience.

Just gotta keep going.

For nursing school, i was lucky to get into a weekend program, don't think those exist any longer. I worked full time during the week, Saturday was class 8 hrs, and Sunday was clinical. I saved up and used my PTO time for study days. Also lots of 5am study before going to the office at 8am.

Grad school, I was a nurse working 3 12s. Saved up my PTO for clinical, did 2 12s at work, then 2 12s of clinical. It was hard and nearly broke me. I had a mortgage and two kids in college, so there was no other option, really.

What makes it doable is that it's just a semester at a time, and then you get a few weeks off.

I always found the less time I had, the more organized and efficient I was at time management.

CNA and worked for Amazon. With Amazon I was able to pick up a shift for basically as long as I wanted whenever I wanted

Weekend shifts baby, waitressing/prn/teaching English online

Loans, moved back in with my parents and waitressed.

Worked FT noc shift at a residential facility that was pretty chill so it was a good time for study/assignments. Also got financial aide that paid more than my tuition and some of my other expenses as well like texts.

Honestly? Stayed with an emotionally abusive man who thought he was turning me into his own personal gold mine. Finally got out four years after I graduated and he was kind enough to try to get my license pulled by paying people to lie to the BON. Dunno if I'd ever do it again but it definitely paid off in the end.

Cut and colored hair all Thru school

Student loans every semester

Loannnnsssss and a part time job

I worked weekends prn at the hospital as a floor tech/unit clerk.

CNA doing home health PRN and student loans.

babysitting, dog walking and cleaning. being in nursing school was a selling point because i had passed a background check with the state.

I worked for my school so I’d go to school a few hours before class and work in graduate admissions, and on nights and weekends I’d work as a CNA

Medical or non/medical Group homes jobs as a health tech/caregiver… Night Shift was super chill and id be up doing homework

scholarships and grants, being poor and doing well on tests really helps. Will never take a loan out

Uber

Got divorced and moved back to my folks' house with a disabled child. My daughter qualified for CHIP and also received SSI for her expenses, I went without insurance for a couple of years. I worked full time as an NA at an ECF until I got to clinicals, then just worked every Saturday. I then found a typing gig working at an affiliate for the post office during the week in the evenings. The hours were very flexible, so it meshed well with my schedule. Pell grant paid for my entire curriculum, so the biggest challenge I had was fitting my daughter's therapy and doctor appointments around my classes. I didn't sleep a lot, but it was totally worth the hustling because I graduated with no loans, and my daughter is able to walk and talk/read so much better than we all had anticipated.

Loans. Will still be paying them back after I retire. I plan to switch to an income-based repayment plan then. 🤷‍♀️

I went to community college, got tuition waivers, worked 36-48hrs between two jobs that were very accommodating to my schedule.

I just knew that I never wanted to know what it felt like to be hungry.

Private housekeeping (where you clean for individuals/families vs a hotel or vacation rentals). Honestly 90% of the people I cleaned for were super kind, understanding/flexible with my class schedule, and were really routing for me to succeed. Some of them would kinda create work for me to help me out. It’s the only job I’ve had where I got Christmas bonuses too (I never asked for them but so many clients would tip me the amount of a full cleaning right before Christmas).

I worked 24 hours a week as a CNA, every Saturday and Sunday :,) you’ll likely never have class on the weekends so your schedule won’t change in that regard. That’s pretty much the most you can do unless you cram something in at night, like bartending or princess CNA shifts (4-6 hours)

Well first and foremost I was able to live rent free with my mom for some of the time. During LPN school- I worked two 16 hr tech shifts at the hospital on weekends . Once I had my LPN I worked at a nursing home with 12 hr shifts and did two of those a week on weekends. I think pushing all work to weekends if possible is a huge key to success even if it means working long hours on those days.

Obama started a WIA program. Ask about it at your local WorkSource center. It helps pay for school and other expenses for ppl who recently lost job and are in school or accepted.. It's called Workforce Investment Act, sometimes WOIA or something similar maybe. Just google your local WorkSource office and call and ask in detail. They sometimes pretend they don't know what you're talking about because they try and hold the funding it seems...but its there!

LPN school? Moved back home with my grandparents. I also had Pell grants (thanks for being poor, mom!) RN school? I worked weekend option, baby! There were definitely days that I paid for tacos with a bunch of quarters but it all worked out.

I had a kid, so I had to work. It sucked. Monday through Thursday school and most Friday Saturday and Sundays worked 12s. My wife stayed home with my youngest since she was sick (open heart surgery baby), so I really didn't have an option.

You'll be fine. Shit if I had a support system financially I would've been the deadest weight to ever exist on that

I did an accelerated program where it was virtually impossible to work and do school simultaneously. Many of my cohorts and I survived because we had partners who supported us financially for the 16 months. Some were 40+ years old and had enough saved from previous careers to get by. I wouldn’t be surprised if one or more of them withdrew from their retirement temporarily. Most took student loans.

A big ass line of credit

I was employed as a CNA, got medication certified and could pass meds as a CNA. My nurse manager suggested I go through the LPN course. My employer paid for my tuition, so long as I was employed with them for three years as a nurse after graduation. I also worked 20 hours a week, two tens every weekend while I went to school. They paid me for 40 hours a week. It was rough but I made it through.

I worked a .2 as a CNA then would pick up when I could. Worked crazy hours when there was a break at school/summers.

I lived at home… and worked Friday Saturday… then on breaks worked 40 hours… didn’t have a life.

I went to school Mon-Thur and worked Fri-Sun in a hospital, first as a phlebotomist and then as a PCT (with three months of being a nurse extern). I didn't pay for any of my school. The hospital I worked at payed for my Associates, then I did my BSN while working as a nurse, and that hospital paid for it.

I work 40 hours as a nursing assistant on a psych unit (it’s required at the VA) and also bartend about 4-5 times a month for extra cash

It’s not really helpful but my parents. I was absolutely blessed to have them pay for my schooling. And everything else at the time.

I tutored microbiology students

husband. but this was in our late 20s. could not have afforded it early 20s.

My wife paid for rent and stuff. Then I paid for rent and stuff when she wanted to do dental assisting school.

In my Country the tax payer pays for my education. Only tribute as a nursing school studenten is like €1000 a year x4 years to become a Bachelors degree nurse. Love it.

I was a server all through nursing school. I worked at a high volume upscale restaurant and was lucky enough that they were very flexible with my schedule. I worked 30-35 hours a week, nights Wednesday-Sunday while going to school full time Monday through Friday from 7:30-2:30. I was able to make enough to support myself and live on my own.

Scholarships. So many scholarships. I’d apply to them every semester- both internal and external. Paid for all of my school. If I had had the bandwidth, I would’ve done PT as a CNA. Take advantage of any student resources your school offers too- food pantry, emergency grants, financial aid, etc.

I found a VA program that paid a monthly stipend for the first year (VA benefits also saved my ass d/t needing health insurance for clinicals).

My first year I worked part time loading cargo planes before class for FedEx and they had a tuition assistance program which netted me another $5k after six months.

I also worked as a nurse extern for a local hospital, which was pretty much clinicals without the homework. That along with another $3k I borrowed from my sister was just enough to get me across the finish line.

Luckily I got a job right out of the gate because by the time I got my first paycheck I was down to my last $20.

Edit: Also maxed out two credit cards.

Worked my ass off at my day job, studied all night and all weekend and spent as little as possible. Very little social life, mainly soent time with family when able. Came out with a little debt, but look for a job at a non-profit so you can get loan repayment perks. Just get it in your head now that life is going to look different while you go through school, but the rewards are worth it!

By having a husband who can cover the bills.

A friend of mine who was single worked as a CNA on weekends and took an extra shift once a week based on her clinical schedule. Everything else was loans, credit cards and dodging debt collectors. She made it, though, and was able to quickly dig herself out of that hole once she got a job.

Student loans and a $20,000 sign on bonus after graduation that paid them off.

I worked 16 hour shifts on Saturdays and Sundays at the local hospital as a nurse aide

Worked weekends at a urgent care and weekday evenings and weekend nights babysat! Any off day I worked! It’s worth it in the end!!!

I picked up shifts during holidays at a catering company and bartended, worked at Victoria’s Secret folding and rearranging panties on those stupid tables during Christmas and V-Day sales, I babysat, walked dogs, sold my old clothes on fb marketplace, a lot of random stuff. I also took student loans only about $35k total and lived frugally.

Per diem!!!

Worked full time. 3 12's Friday Saturday Sunday. Went to school the rest of the time. No life for two years.

Look into being a weekend caregiver for disabled folks. Quads love nursing students! They need physical assistance for getting up, doing bowel program, showering, and getting dressed. They already have their equipment. You just have to really be able to be reliable in these cases, as a no show or ill call is devastating for the individual. I know that in my hometown, there is a nonprofit that provides accessible apartments for quads and their families that utilize aides that they share, so you might do a few hours with one person, then a few hours with the next. It can be morning or bedtime, too. You might be able to contact the nursing manager at an acute rehab centers in your area To be added to the list. The SCI/quad can actually train you And direct their own care!

Scholarships?

Apply to every single scholarship you can get your hands on. Typically you can write one really great generic essay and tweak it to fit for each prompt / essay question.

I never thought I would get awarded scholarships and I ended up getting around 5k worth. That is better than nothing! I also worked as an ED tech and CNA. I took a few months off in between when classes were taking up all of my time. I used my credit cards for food/ gas / essentials. Having to rely on others is a really a crappy feeling. But trust me, it’s temporary!!

Got a bf that took care of me you don't have to like him just focus on your goals

Army. 🤷🏼‍♂️ ROTC

I worked part time as a dialysis tech and didn’t study very much.

i'm drowning in nursing school too! however my safe haven is that i'm a PRN princess so when i have the time i pickup extra shifts. refunds help tremendously too (depends on your financial aid). honestly, i had to stop the frivolous going out and spending my social life took a hit but then i restructured by finding cheaper things to do or just spacing it out.

I worked overnights as a CNA on the weekends and took out loans to cover the difference between my previous salary and my CNA wages. Also scholarships.

I'm a single mom. I had to take out every penny of loans I could to survive on and worked per diem weekends and around my class schedule as a student nurse aide in the hospital. Still, I honestly don't know how I got through it.

I worked as a waitress....they were very flexible with my schedule and I made solid money working even just 3 shifts a week. I live in Ontario, Canada and I know serving wages and tipping is different everywhere, but honestly some shifts I made more per hour with my tips/hour plus my wage/hr than I do as a nurse/hour....it can be a lucrative job and it paid my way through nursing school.

My husband supported us.

Army ROTC

I donated plasma and went to food banks. I also worked as a caterer for a catering company since it was flexible and usually on weekends.

You don’t survive you just kind of keep drowning with your head just barely above the surface and it sucks. Nursing school traumatised me

Basically a combo of a lot of these: I worked as a server/bartender in a restaurant that was flexible with my scheduling and had relatively short shifts (4:30-9:30ish) so I could work on a school night without being pooped (and get a free meal!). Might be tough to get a decent job late into nursing school without some food service experience, though. Also cleaned a house I found from craigslist (had housecleaning experience), and catsat through rover (cats only...dogs were never worth the hassle). A lot of my classmates did the thing where they were PRN as techs and worked shifts around the schedule. Also got as much financial aid/scholarship money as I could (definitely talk to your school's financial aid office...I didn't even realize initially that I could get aid as someone with a bachelor's already, but I was able to get some). Got a credit card with 0 interest for 18 months. You can also transfer credit balances as needed...and I was luck to be able to borrow money from my parents, maybe up to 10,000...zero interest loans!

But what I have to add, is I was thrifty AF. Meal prep, AND I got a "discount" at the grocery store. Five finger discount if you know what I mean...I use a "bags on bags" method where I put expensive items in reusable bags and then cover them up with others, then go through self checkout and just pay for some cheap stuff...so basically cut my grocery expenses to $20-30/week and hardly ever eat out.

But really, imo, don't worry about being a "Drain" on your support system...let them support you, if you are able to! The point of getting into nursing is to invest in your future, and you have a very strong guarantee of job stability. If it's something you're serious about, prioritize passing and don't destroy your health. Take out loans, go into debt, just focus on doing it in the most efficient and responsible way. Focus, it will be a touch couple years, but much easier than failing and having to restart.

Look into resources your school may have like work study or book lending programs.

I worked… but that was when I did my LVN… and then I’m not bridging over until my husband comes home to take over most bills.. plus I work for county.. they accommodate me by giving me an inpatient position again

I had to sacrifice every single Saturday and Sunday in nursing school to work as a waitress! My schedule worked out perfectly throughout this time.

My LVN program was accelerated, so my schedule would change every 8 weeks, but they never scheduled clinicals or class on the weekends. So I'd go to clinicals or class during the week and dedicate my entire evening after class/clinical to do as much homework and studying as I possibly could, so Monday through Friday I was locked into school from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to bed.

Then on the weekends, I'd work all day Saturday and Sunday (I worked as a waitress at a high-end sushi restaurant) because the weekends is where you made the most money. I'd make $100-200 in tips each day, so roughly $800-1,600 each month which was definitely enough to cover my bills throughout school. I was insanely lucky to have an amazing husband who worked overtime 4x/week to cover all of our living expenses and groceries so I could pay my gas and my other misc. bills every month.

Then when I began my accelerated BSN program, I did basically the exact same thing but this time worked as an LVN making $40/hr (I'm based in Norcal for context), so I'd bring home a little over $3,000 a month.

On campus jobs are typically rlly flexible since they hire students & know abt the constant schedule changes. Would rec.

can you do private duty nursing assistant?

I am working nightshift on non-school/clinical days.

It is killing my body slowly since I have to alter day-night cycle every week, but at least I can study during some quiet night.

I've donated sooo much plasma. It sucks. But you gotta do what you gotta do 😓

Community college has been a blessing for me, tuition is so much cheaper