[ADRN]

Fellow nurses,
Out of curiosity what is the housing stipend your company offers if you choose to RV or secure your own housing? I have heard anywhere from $750-$3500. Please reply with your agency name and stipend offered I am sure we would all like to know.
Happy travels,
Ann

[Kdog]

Hi Ann,
I've never taken the stipend yet but am looking into it.
Stipends $ range depends on the area. An RN that worked in Cape Cod and lived at her mothers 45 minutes away got $1800.00 per month and she made out becasue she worked there 6 months...
NYC,DC,pay large amounts. But you have to be savy on finding housing. It's not always so easy. I could have gotten $1800 for suburb of Boston. But housing was not easy to find. Places like Vermont and boondocks pay less just due to the lower rates for housing etc.
Look into it more.
k

[Anmutasc]

From my experience, San diego you can get 1800-2000, but they only offer 1500 to start and unless you know someone who makes that much, they refuse to give it to you. You end up having to give another travel nurses full name so the company can verify you can get that much too. American mobile is really shady like that. I negotiated $3200 for NYC, but they started out offering me $2000. And san francisco they will give 2000-2200. Thats just what i have seen in my assignments.

[jtf77]

i was getting $2000 in NJ
found a place for $500 a month
had roommates but i could deal with it, they were cool
made out like a bandit on that assignment
just wish i didn't chase those girls on the beach so much
maybe could have actually saved a little, LOL
i'm not an RN, scrub tech actually
i make 1-5 dollars more an hour depending on where i go
but really you don't see a huge jump in your check due to taxes and what not

but if you can take the housing and live cheap like a room in a couples house
or a downstairs or what not you can make out like a bandit

i have read that these comps would prefer to give you more $$$$ in housing cause they are not taxed on it, you are but not them
they are taxed on your hourly rate as are you
ya gotta love the big gov, LOL

so when i take an assignment i look at the pay and the housing and figure what the total hourly rate is then i start to check that area for rooms available and what they are going for

i should go back to Nursing school
i know with the way i live and the money they offer you RN's could easily be bringing in 70 g's a year
if you play the system the way i do though of course

good luck and enjoy if you decide to travel

[jarbelius]

Is it easy to find leases/furniture/ for only 3 months at a time? It seems like that would be very difficult and a hassle...
thanks.

Originally Posted by jtf77

i was getting $2000 in NJ
found a place for $500 a month
had roommates but i could deal with it, they were cool
made out like a bandit on that assignment
just wish i didn't chase those girls on the beach so much
maybe could have actually saved a little, LOL
i'm not an RN, scrub tech actually
i make 1-5 dollars more an hour depending on where i go
but really you don't see a huge jump in your check due to taxes and what not

but if you can take the housing and live cheap like a room in a couples house
or a downstairs or what not you can make out like a bandit

i have read that these comps would prefer to give you more $$$$ in housing cause they are not taxed on it, you are but not them
they are taxed on your hourly rate as are you
ya gotta love the big gov, LOL

so when i take an assignment i look at the pay and the housing and figure what the total hourly rate is then i start to check that area for rooms available and what they are going for

i should go back to Nursing school
i know with the way i live and the money they offer you RN's could easily be bringing in 70 g's a year
if you play the system the way i do though of course

good luck and enjoy if you decide to travel

[NomadNurse000]

Originally Posted by ADRN

Fellow nurses,
Out of curiosity what is the housing stipend your company offers if you choose to RV or secure your own housing? I have heard anywhere from $750-$3500. Please reply with your agency name and stipend offered I am sure we would all like to know.
Happy travels,
Ann

Hi, ADRN.

Housing stipends vary from contract to contract and company to company. Some contracts and companies offer a higher hourly pay rate, but then they give you paid housing and no stipend. I worked with CCTC for 3 years, and that was the arrangement that I made with them. Occasionally, I could get upgraded housing by paying the company an extra $200-300 a month. If you choose this option, and if you set things up right, you can deduct a lot more on your taxes and save in the long run. I also chose this because I could get a higher hourly, typically over $40 an hour.

Other companies pursue a "tax advantage" plan which means that their hourly rate is very low ($20-25 an hour), but they offer a huge stipend. That's when you'll be getting the $3000 figures that you're hearing. But, the stipend tends to be tax free, because it's a "living expense". From my experience, (over 8 years traveling). Hospitals usually pay agencies a fairly set rate per hour. How the agency chooses to pay the traveler tends to vary widely.

So, the answer to your question is: it depends.

Hope the info helps, though.

[jtf77]

Originally Posted by jarbelius

Is it easy to find leases/furniture/ for only 3 months at a time? It seems like that would be very difficult and a hassle...
thanks.

i go on roommates.com or roomsters.com or look into the local paper for roms available that are already furnished

there are a lot of people out there looking for financial help and have an extra room in the house to charge for

i don't mind roommates and have had very good luck with the ones i've had

i usually get to my traveling destination 3-5 days early and look in the local papers or if possible make contact through the internet to see a place and set a price

i pocket a nice chunk of change when i do this

[arandall46]

I know my post is sort of old. I recently found housing and furniture for myself on an assignment in Sacramento. I found I could get it cheaper myself then having the agency do it for me. Plus if I didn't have my furniture there on time it was my own fault. I used Intelligent Furniture Rentals for that one. I wish they operated in other states, pretty good prices and my rep was friendly. Housing is sort of hit or miss though. In this case it turned out okay.

[battynurse]

I seem to get around $2000 (tax free) so far in Ca. regardless of where I'm living. Worked great in Fresno and Sac but not as well in Santa Barbara. I also had a roommate once and that worked very well but am afraid to do it again as I have 2 cats I travel with and I worry a roommate wouldn't want to put up with them.