Below are a few ideas to assist you with planning for your financial needs when you first come to the United States. This is by no means an all encompassing list of all of your possible expenses, but is intended to provide you with a baseline from which to plan your savings.
The figures used below are meant to serve as an average across the country. Depending on where you work, you may find your costs to be higher or lower, so be sure to do some research on your own, or better yet, reach out to other members of NurseTogether via the forums to get a better representation of your expected costs.
- Apartment: $2000 (first month, last month, and application fee)
- Furniture/Appliances – can be broken down based on what you prefer. Most people will first buy a bed and a television and no other furniture until they get settled. Beds can be purchased for as low as $200. Note that you may need to pay for delivery charges, which can range anywhere from $50 to $100 dollars.
- Kitchen Utensils: $100 – pots and pans, spatulas, eating utensils, plates, glasses, etc.
- Bathroom supplies: $50 – towels, shower curtain, mats, etc.
- Groceries: $50 per week – that’s shopping on a tight budget.
- Transportation: $30 per month – that’s an estimated cost of purchasing a 30 day bus pass. If you prefer to purchase a car, a decent down payment will be about $500 (used car). Be prepared though to pay a very high interest rate (up to 23%) if you decide to finance a vehicle. Having no previous credit history, it will be very difficult to obtain a loan.
- Utilities: $300 per month (water, waste, and electric) – if you have no account history there may be an initial down payment which will be credited back to you after 11 months.
- Computer: $500 for a personal computer. A lot of people chose to purchase a computer right away as this becomes the major form of communication to family members overseas. Internet connection will cost you an average of about $50-100 per month.
Hopefully this can be a baseline for you to begin your planning and budgeting! Remember, take advantage of the NurseTogether.com forums (Working in the US) to gain advice on where to go, or to obtain a more accurate budget!
By NurseTogether Staff
