Bridge Loans

[DrBandMe]

DrBtobe and I sat down and really hashed out the sad state of our finances. I'll spare you the gory details.

I'm coming to the brain trust to help me understand those bridge type loans between medical school and residency. We are considering getting one to help with relocation for residency but we're debating if that's a better idea than simply using a credit card with a moderately low interest rate.

So what do you know about them? Where can I look to find out where the place is to get one? Is it worth it? Have any of you btdt? Halp!

[SoonerTexan]

Had any of those no interest for X months offers lately and would it be enough?

[ladymoreta]

We got one between residency and attending job, and I imagine there are some available for medical school to residency. His school financial aid advisor may have some recommendations. Ours was a lower interest rate than our existing credit cards, but it may be different for residency moves. Like ST said, if it's an amount you can pay off within the 0 interest period, that may be a good option.

[JDAZ11]

I have no experience - we only moved for DH's fellowship and my parents paid for it. It would have been way less expensive if we had moved ourselves, or even moved directly (we house sat for four months so didn't send out stuff out for months). I wouldn't worry too much until you know where you're headed. Perhaps it will be close and you can just rent a uhaul? Do you have tons of stuff you need to move?

Btw - since you're getting married soon - don't take anything out of the boxes. It makes packing easier. I left our stuff in the original packaging for 1.5 years in anticipation of our move. Nothing broke in transit

[MAPPLEBUM]

The questions to ask are how much do you need and how soon can you pay it off? If you have a job waiting for you chances are you'll be able to pay off a couple grand in a few months. Which means a 0% cc would work. If you dont, and move to a far away expensive area sounds like a bridge loan would be necessary. Idk, if i were you id probably forgo an expensive wedding (i did do this for other reasons.) Other options would be to just ask for monetary gifts for wedding to help pay for the move?

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[bobk]

Had any of those no interest for X months offers lately and would it be enough?

Don't forget that there's usually a one time 3% charge that goes with this. It still may be cheaper than a conventional loan, but it's not insignificant.

[houseelf]

Way back in 199, we took out what was called a Medachiever loan to cover the expenses of applying for/traveling to/moving to residency. The interest rate was locked at 2% around 2000. With such a low interest rate, it will be our last student loan to pay off. (4.5 years out and we're about almost 1/2 way done with *&&^% student loans). I found this googling:

http://www.scholarships4school.com/s...dachiever.html

Whatever you do, good luck! When you are trying to budget for future years, please keep in mind board review courses, licensing exams, DEA numbers, licensing fees, fellowship applications, costs, and travel. I'm not trying to overwhelm you with my helpfulness, I just don't want you to be caught unaware. Maybe not knowing would be better?

[spotty_dog]

You still have three months until you need to move. Is there any chance of a second job? Or the dawkter picking something up on the side? My DH taught spinning classes for $20 a pop during MS-4. Not much but it's something. And I'd definitely be seeing if there is a etiquette-friendly way to pass the word that as newlyweds you need cash more than tchotchkes right now.

[DrBandMe]

Thanks for all the suggestions! After going over the numbers again I realized he made an error that made the situation look dismal at best. Reconfigured it looks like we'll be $300 short of our goal. Yeah, that's nothing to panic over; we can curb spending enough in the next 4 months to make up $300.

We meet with the financial advisor tomorrow to discuss the mountain of student loans but overall I feel positive about where we are financially. Wedding is covered, honeymoon is covered, a close move is covered. If the move ends up being far, we'll have gift money and backup savings to get us by. Crazy how a small mathematical error can send terror shooting through my veins.

[scrub-jay]

Or you could match to a program that reimburses moving expenses.