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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
19 comments

The Costs of Moving Out (2015 Edition)

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As many of you are aware, I've been trying to move out of my parents' house for several years. Back in 2011, I ran into barriers with the rental markets and couldn't justify the costs. In more recent years, I've lost numerous bidding wars in my failed attempt to buy a house/condominium in the Bay Area thanks to bubbling prices. Now, I've decided to try out the rental markets again and had set a goal to move out by this August. Unfortunately, I'm now having serious second thoughts over whether I can afford to live on my own without sacrificing my retirement and living paycheck to paycheck. Here's a rundown of expenditures should I choose to move:

Rent: $1100 for a studio (one of the cheapest in the Silicon Valley)
Utilities: $0 (included with the studio)
Internet: $50 (no cheaper options)
Food: $100
Cell Phone: $30 (T-Mobile prepaid plan)
Health insurance: $250
Car insurance: $100
Gas/Car Maintenance: $300
Hygiene, cleaning supplies: $20
401K Contribution: $1500
Roth IRA Contribution: $458.33
Monthly Grand Total: $3908.33 
Annual Total: $46899.33
State and Federal Taxes: $15588 (if making $60000) to $21881 (if making $75000)

According to this calculation, I basically have to make roughly $65000 a year pre-tax to cover shelter, food, basic necessities, taxes, and retirement without going into debt. This does not account for an emergency fund or entertainment. Really not a lot of wiggle room here.

Possible solutions:
-Contribute less to my retirement funds
-Get some roommates
-Move in my boyfriend (and risk getting disowned)
-Continue living at home
-Eliminate all travel, shopping, and entertainment
-Get a higher paying job, or work multiple jobs
-Move out of the Bay Area

I definitely have a lot to think about over the next few months.
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*UPDATE* It looks like I forgot to add my HSA contribution to my initial computation. Here's the updated budget breakdown:

Rent: $1100 for a studio (one of the cheapest in the Silicon Valley)
Utilities: $0 (included with the studio)
Internet: $50 (no cheaper options)
Food: $100
Cell Phone: $30 (T-Mobile prepaid plan)
Health insurance: $250
Car insurance: $100
Gas/Car Maintenance: $300
Hygiene, cleaning supplies: $20
401K Contribution: $1500
Roth IRA Contribution: $458.33
HSA Contribution: $279.17
Monthly Grand Total: $4187.50 
Annual Total:  $50250
State and Federal Taxes: $15588 (if making $60000) to $21881 (if making $75000)

Looks like I have to make more than $70000 now. Decisions, decisions.

Comments

  1. TEDMay 11, 2016 at 6:49 AM

    How did you get on, Did you save enough to move out?

    If your still saving you may want to try out the Daily expense saving calculator on the same webiste :) http://www.taxformcalculator.com/calculator/daily-expense-savings-calculator.html

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJune 30, 2016 at 12:21 AM

    I would say this blog is very useful for everyone. Please visit http://goo.gl/FbRTbR

    ReplyDelete
  3. Suzan BakerJuly 24, 2017 at 12:26 AM

    Oh, real estate market is always high when you need to buy it and low when you sell.


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  4. Patricia CarterAugust 11, 2017 at 5:13 AM

    Not everyone is gonna be able to afford it.
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    ReplyDelete

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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
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