Nurse Wealth 101

Housing is one of the biggest expenses most everyone has. Us travel nurses must duplicate expenses (rent or pay down a mortgage in our home state), and pay for a place in our travel destination every month to be eligible for our tax free stipends. It makes sense to control this number as reasonably as possible to keep more cash in your pocket. Some agencies will help set you up in a short term rental but will not pay a housing stipend. My advice is to find your own housing and pocket the difference. After all, most of my wealth has come from the stipend these days. Here are the choices I have made in the past couple of years.

Albuquerque Furnished Finder

This place I found on Furnished Finder on my first contract. It is a one bed, one bathroom rental for $1500/mo. I didn’t do great on affordability with this one, but it was safe and comfortable. This unit was part of a fourplex in Albuquerque, NM. About 9 minutes away from the hospital. October 2022-April 2023. Two 13 week contracts. Contract: $2600, $2800/week.

Belmont Furnished Finder

Out of respect for the tenant, I did not include inside pictures of this apartment. It is a room in a house type I found on Furnished Finder, with roommate. This apartment was located in Belmont, CA and I paid $1350/mo for 6 months and $1400/mo for 6 months after. Pretty great for 30 minutes from San Francisco! My roommate was respectful of my space and I had a parking space in the parking garage nearby, a room, and a bathroom for myself. About 15 minutes away from the hospital. May 2023-May 2024. Two 6 month contracts. Contract: $3100/week.

Louisville Furnished Finder

This place is a room in a house in Louisville, KY. The door had a keypad, shared kitchen with four people and shared bathroom with one person. This place was affordable at $700/mo. About 15 minutes away from the hospital. June 2024-January 2024. One 13 week contract, one 18 week contract. Contract: $2400/week.

Rapid City Furnished Finder

This place was found on Furnished Finder, and is part of a remodeled motel in Rapid City, SD. This is where I’m staying these days and currently I’m paying $995/mo. It is close to everything. About 8 minutes away from the hospital. 13 week contract, looking to extend to October.

As you can guess, I have found success on Furnishedfinder.com when I am looking for short term stays. These days, I look for companies with track records who post furnished short term stays and then go to their external website to apply for residence. If you use Furnished finder for your stay, it is harder to contact a tenant (independent, not part of a company) and better to let them contact you. You can sign up to get notified when a tenant contacts you to stay in their rental. In my experience, it is faster this way, and generally easier.