Staying positive while descending into negative net worth

[Brokefuturedoctor]

I am just starting medical school, and my first loans got disbursed recently. I entered them in Mint and my net worth became pretty severely negative. I understand that it is going to get a lot worse before it gets better, and I know I will be alright in the end once I can aggressively pay them down as an attending; however, I think it could weigh on me psychologically.

Did you all have any techniques for dealing with the mental stress of having a negative net worth when or if you ever had one?

[Bracken_Joy]

Frankly? I didn't add my loans to Mint until I graduated. There wasn't much I could do. So I thought. If I went back in time, though, I might have used that discomfort to drive me to find alternate living arrangements, reduce my expenses, etc. You know, on the other hand... maybe not. Nursing school was enough for my to focus on (well, that and my mom having cancer) without adding neuroticism about my finances. So if you're going to restaurants and bars often, and taking 4 ubers a day, yeah, maybe keep them on there for the push you need. But if it'll drag you down? A little bit of "out of sight, out of mind" might be indicated. You know your psychology best!

Good luck, by the way.

[marty998]

Ok for starters, don't refer to your net assets as net worth. You as a person are not only worth the sum of your assets and liabilities.

You may have a liability from the loans but you are purchasing an asset (knowledge and skills) that will generate you a large income in years to come. Accountants go stir-fry crazy when it comes to the question of valuing intangibles on a balance sheet, but I think it's important to be able to place some value on future earning capacity, provided you are actually going to use said knowledge and skills.

[mcneally]

Provided you are confident that you will finish med school and residency, just don't worry about money. If you continue a lifestyle that remotely resembles anything like you are living now, your time from finishing residency with $300k (or whatever) in debt to FI will be less than less your time from now to finishing residency. I'd also say if things like restaurant meals or other conveniences make things a little less stressful, don't sweat it. Life as a resident sounds awful and a few thousand a year for the next few might mean you delay FI a few months. It's the drastic lifestyle inflation after you get the big salary you need to worry about.

[Cannot Wait!]

You are 22 years old and you've made it into med school.  Your future is so bright it must be blinding you!
Start a gratitude journal to remind yourself of how lucky you are.

[lizzzi]

Yeah, congratulations on getting into med school. Don't worry about the net worth at this point--obviously the loans are high and you have a period of hard work ahead of you for a while--I think your main concern should be maintaining your own health--trying to get enough rest, etc.--you probably won't be leading a fancy pants lifestyle because you won't have the time or energy. Don't drive yourself crazy worrying about the cost of med school--just get yourself through it and then shift gears into MMM mode once you are working and earning. My brother was in family practice for years--he got rid of some of his debt by starting work in an area of West Virginia that the federal government deemed was a poverty area, or hard up for doctors, or some such thing. You could look into something like that--working on a Native American reservation or something.

[Bracken_Joy]

Also, if you need some inspiration of how "big a shovel" you will have, go read through FuckRx's journal on here. He just FIRE'd like... last week? And a pretty awesome story getting there. http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/journals/rx's-$$$-journal/