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Tips for Nursing School Budget

Heading back to school for a nursing degree? Interest rates may be low for federal education loans, but don't let that lull you into complacency about the need for a budget, advises an article in a recent issue of Advance for LPNs.

Among the commonsense advice in the article are these tips:

• Send in your loan and scholarship forms to the school as early as possible, even before you're accepted.
• Check out other scholarships at www.fastweb.com.
• Find loan information at www.finaid.org.
• Once in school, only subscribe to the cable tv you need -- who has time for premium channels during nursing school anyway?
• Don't skimp on supplies, but don't go for premium either.
• Pack your lunch.
• Avoid the temptation to get an extra credit card -- too many credit cards can hurt your credit rating.
• Put off buying a computer until you really need one. Use computers at your school, or ones at the public library.

The key to all of these tips, and the others in the Advance article, call for a realistic approach, as well as skills in organization and preparation -- in fact, the type of skills that nurses should already have in abundance.