CHAPTER 2

You may be a doctor now, but that doesn’t mean you’re earning enough for the flashy car and extravagant tropical vacations (not yet, anyway!). As Chapter 1 of our book Advanced Wallet Life Support: How to Resuscitate Your Finances (And Your Sanity) During Medical Training discusses, the average monthly take-home pay for a medical resident in the U.S. is $3,000-$4,000. Definitely not enough to be spending money frivolously.

But you don’t necessarily have to live on as tight of a budget as you did as a medical student, either. There is a happy medium, and you can be frugal while still living comfortably. Here’s how!

The biggest way to save is to minimize your fixed expenses.

Most of your fixed expenses will fit into the following categories.

Housing: This is likely your biggest monthly expense, and being that many residency programs are based in large hospitals in big cities, your rent can really take a big bite out of our paycheck. Despite this, there are still some ways you can save money. One of the most common ways to save on rent is by splitting it with roommates, co-residents, or a partner. You can save tens of thousands of dollars over the course of your residency by splitting your rent with one or two other people.

Being that you are likely living in a more expensive city where the cost of living is higher, you may be eligible to apply for Affordable Housing. It may sound ridiculous, being that you are a doctor, but as a resident you may actually qualify as low income based on your residency income, and this can grant you a housing stipend or qualify you for reduced rent  in certain cities.

Transportation: If you can, try to avoid buying or having a car. Gas, insurance, and parking can quickly add up to several hundred dollars a month. Your residency or hospital may subsidize public transit for you, and some may even pay for taxis home at night.

If you absolutely have to have a car, get a reliable used car. Now is not the time to go deeper into debt and purchase an expensive car that you can’t afford, and will likely sit in the hospital parking lot for extended periods of time anyway!

Another option is renting cars, such as hourly ZipCar rentals, for weekend driving and road trips, as this will save you from the monthly costs of owning a car while still allowing you the freedom to get out of town when you need to.

Food: Cook your own meals, brew your own coffee, watch the grocery bill and keep your eyes out for free food. Sometimes, you’ll have nothing left in you but to order delivery and crawl into bed. And that’s ok. But you can’t do that all the time- $15-$20 per meal for take-out adds up quickly and puts a large, unpleasant dent in your budget. There are plenty of ways to make your own food in big batches and even try DIY Starbucks recipes at home to save big on your food costs.

The fringe benefits of being a resident are few and far between, but free food is definitely one of them. Lunch lecture? Conference? Grand rounds? Go learn something and get your lunch on too. You might even be able to scoot out with an extra serving for dinner (But keep it classy, people).

This is just the tip of the iceberg- there are plenty of other ways to cut down on your costs and stay frugal while living comfortably during your residency, plus many other budget categories you can tighten up. For more insight and info, you’ll need to check out Chapter 2 of our book Advanced Wallet Life Support: How to Resuscitate Your Finances (And Your Sanity) During Medical Training.