Travel nursing assignments provide an excellent way for healthcare professionals to earn a highly competitive salary for administering licensed and compassionate care to patients across the country.
While the paycheck boost is a welcome benefit, many nurses quickly learn that exploring their temporary hometown, while fun, is also expensive. Checking out the culture, sights, and attractions of a new city when not on duty can quickly add up, simultaneously driving an increase in both spending and stress levels.
Know How to Plan, Save, and Spend Wisely While on the Road
Yes, you’ll want to set aside some of your hard-earned extra income every week to experience everything your contract community has to offer. However, you’ll also want to go into each travel nursing gig armed with some financial tools and resources to help you (and your budget) strike a healthy balance during your time on the road. Some essential planning, saving, and spending tips to consider when managing your travel nurse salary include:
Set Saving Goals
Resist the temptation to throw economic caution to the wind while on contract. Begin your travel nursing jobs with at least a tentative financial plan that establishes some guidelines for spending and saving success. Not sure where to start? Consult with an accounting professional to designate attainable goals, as well as fully understand any relevant tax considerations.
Automate Budget Tracking
Manually tracking your earnings and spending habits is both tedious and time consuming. Fortunately, there are several free apps explicitly designed to automate the process and mitigate the stress and monotony of number crunching. Digital solutions like Mint, PocketGard, and Wally all offer an easy (yet effective) way to maintain a balanced budget, without ever having to sharpen a pencil. You Need a Budget (YNAB) is another popular online tool favored by young professionals. YNAB simplifies money management, allowing users to plan ahead for both expected and unexpected costs to eliminate the anxiety that stems from overspending.
Pay Bills Online
Unfortunately, many of your hometown bills can’t be put on hold while you’re away on a travel nursing gig. While snail mail is fine for paying bills when you’re local, you’ll want to digitize the process when traveling to avoid getting charged unnecessary late fees for misdirected payments.
Eat-In
Travel nurses can quickly find themselves in a habit of eating meals out (or during the car ride home after a shift). You’ll absolutely want to include money in your entertainment for sampling the local cuisine. However, leading traveling nurse staffing agencies will help you locate accommodations with well-appointed kitchens and a full suite of appliances that make eating in an easy and affordable mealtime option.
Choose the Right Traveling Nurse Recruiting Team
Working with the right recruiting company not only has a direct impact on the fit and success of your engagement, but it can also significantly (and positively) influence your overall budget while on contract. Leading travel nurse staffing agencies have access to exclusive opportunities in the country’s most robust healthcare markets to secure the highest possible pay rates. Additionally, an innovative staffing firm will also offer its nurses a comprehensive and competitive benefits package. Perks like group discounts, 401k savings, short-term disability, meal allowances, health plans, completion bonuses, and certification reimbursements can all defray costs and drive savings opportunities for optimized work/life balance throughout every client engagement.
What are some ways you use your travel nurse salary to plan, save, and spend during your assignment? Tell us about it in the comments below, or contact ARMStaffing today to discuss your next project with one of our experienced industry recruiters.
