Case Study- Do I go for the internship?

[corrine.marie]

I am 26 years old. I make 25,000 a year and have 13,000 in savings. I have no debt. Expenses run 1,000 a month (mostly room and board)

I want to apply to an unpaid (room and board offered) internship summer 2015 which is 5 months and 1,200 miles away (with no promise of securing a job with the company)

One of the requirements is to have health insurance which I have with my current employer but I would lose when I quit. So that would be an additional expense.
 
Is that an unwise thing to do?
Should I find an extra job before then to tie me over?

[GizmoTX]

You can get short term health insurance with specific start & stop dates. Make sure it will work with the health providers in the area where you will be.

Why do you want to quit your job for an unpaid internship?

[corrine.marie]

Current jobs are babysitting and working at a grocery store. Nowhere to move up in first position and latter is more stressful than its worth for the pay.
Internship is more in line with what I would like to do long term.

[rmendpara]

What field?

It's rare to have unpaid internships in most fields. Is it common in your's?

Moving halfway across the country for an unpaid internship sounds like you're getting taken advantage of by the employer.

Is this some incredible opportunity, or what?

[Sarita]

I work for a non-profit that has unpaid internships.  We regularly hire from this pool of talent when we have openings.
I second the question that asked what field this is for?
An internship is worth it if you don't have any other work experience in your desired field.  Work your butt off, do excellent work, and network while you are there.  It will likely get you closer to where you want to be than if you stayed home.

[Sarita]

PS I would consider room and board 'pay'.  Take it.

[corrine.marie]

Its a nature therapy, wilderness program. There is nothing like this in my part of the country. I was hoping I could get into this field via internship rather than going back to school.

[NewbieFrugalUK]

Go for it. Sounds a lot more fun than spending the summer working in a grocery story and babysitting, and it gets you experience that may help your career. Enjoy!

[lpep]

I studied journalism in school and did an unpaid internship at a newspaper. I loved it, but I ultimately paid them for the work experience... which was fantastic. BUT at the same time I lived on my parents' dime for rent, so it's not quite the same as your opportunity.

I also turned down another unpaid internship at another better paper to take a summer job that wasn't as good for my resume but paid. I've done fine since then.

I'm now of the opinion that - especially in journalism - the unpaid internships that run rampant are illegal and really shouldn't be tolerated. It means that only privileged people who can afford to not get paid can take those jobs. I'm surprised another commenter doesn't know how incredibly common unpaid internships are these days! Room and board is pay... but anything else you want to do outside of work will cost you, and that means you're still paying for this opportunity. Is it worth it?