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Tips for New Social Work Graduate (MSW) Students

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  Happy start of the school year! Perusing social media, I came across a NASW blog article called “Guide for the First Year Social Work Student”. This post provided lots of great information tailored for new undergraduate students interested in studying social work. I wanted to take that NASW post a bit farther and compile a list of tips specific to graduate students pursuing a masters in social work (MSW). In my opinion, graduate school is a completely different experience from undergraduate, so my hope is that these tips will serve to be beneficial. Tips for New Social Work Graduate (MSW) Students -Don’t worry about grades so much When I was in graduate school, one of my professors told a story about a straight A student who committed suicide several years after graduation. His point was that given the people we need to work with, we social workers need to focus less on being perfectionists (as demonstrated by obsessing over grades and test scores) and work on being empathetic and co

The Costs of Moving Out

Hello, and once again, my apologies for not posting for so long! For a quick update, please check out my post here.

Currently, I'm working towards moving out of my parents' house. Given that I have fairly reliable work hours and a decent sum of money saved, I feel that I can support myself on my own. However, while the ideas of independence and self-sufficiency are appealing, I'm somewhat pensive about the fact that I won't be able to save much, if any, once I move out. Here's a sample budget I've drafted showing my monthly expenses:

Rent: $850 for a studio (Bay Area housing is expensive)
Utilities: $50
Internet: $50
Food: $250
Health insurance: $250
Car insurance: $100
Gas/Car Maintenance/Commuter checks/BART (subway) parking: $150
Hygiene, cleaning supplies: $50
Grand Total: $1750

Eeep! While my estimates look pretty scary, they are a little on the high side. I know I can cut down on some of the costs by conserving energy (using energy saving bulbs and skimping on heating and A/C), taking advantage of cheap internet deals, downgrading my health insurance plan, and cutting down on food. Here's an updated budget accounting for this:

Rent: $850
Utilities: $30
Internet: $20
Food: $150
Health insurance: $200
Car insurance: $100
Gas/Car Maintenance/Commuter checks/BART (subway) parking: $150
Hygiene, cleaning supplies: $30
Grand Total: $1530
Annual Cost: $18,360

The above budget does not include retirement savings, rainy day fund, vacation spending, entertainment, shopping, and future home savings. If I were to move out, I would have to make some sacrifices when to comes to my remaining expenses. For instance, I could choose to max out my IRA and 401K, but that would leave me no vacation money, no rainy day fund, and a small sum for a future house down payment. Most likely, I'll choose not to max out my 401K (since none of my jobs offer one anyway) and delegate that money towards other things.

I suppose other methods I could employ to save even more money include finding a cheaper apartment, getting roommates, finding a part time job with health benefits, and/or settling into a full time job with benefits. Another option is to stay with my parents. However, I feel that the non-monetary benefits of moving out outweigh the money I'd save by staying at home.

The apartment hunt will likely continue over the next few weeks/months. I'll try to keep everyone updated on my progress! Wish me luck!

Comments

  1. Can anyone suggest to me any good movers in philadelphia? the ones i have been going with are http://www.louderbackmoving.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic. If possible, as you gain expertise, would you mind updating your blog with extra information? It is extremely helpful for me. west hollywood moving company

    ReplyDelete

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