Broke vs. Woke: My Financial Quest For Freedom

Ever since I was a young girl, I have always wanted to help people. After graduating, taking up a nursing career in the healthcare industry only felt like a natural course of action.

As a nurse, I absolutely love my job. I love what it stands for, I love being able to help people in need and I love making a difference in the community. However, being a nurse in the UK does come with its own challenges.

Although, having access to free healthcare is appreciated by many citizens, I’ve found that almost none of this appreciation is directed towards the healthcare workers who tirelessly put in the hours to make it a possibility.

Initially, I found myself eagerly anticipating a new day of work, however, this eagerness slowly began to fade.

Soon, every day grew monotonous and became a repetition of the previous one. I clocked in, I did my job and I clocked out. I was able to keep up with the harsh pace of my job for roughly ten months before things started to fall apart.

Alongside being overworked, I noticed that as the months went by, instead of my finances becoming more stable, I had begun to dip into my savings more often. At first, it was only to cover a few small purchases, but as the months went by, my financial situation only seemed to worsen.

It was around the ninth month of working at my job when I realised I was officially broke. I was living paycheck to paycheck, unable to save for the future and could see my relationships suffering as a result of being overworked and not having time for any social interaction.

It was at this point, I decided that it was time for things to change and although I still had my love for nursing, it was time to explore new avenues.

Time for Things to Change

At my current job, after months of giving my very best, I was being severely overworked and rewarded with mental and physical exhaustion to boot. I even found myself picking up extra shifts whenever I could just to make enough to get through the month.

After coming home from another draining shift, I realised that I couldn’t just keep waiting for things to get better. I had to actively do something to turn my life around.

This was when I first entertained the idea of changing my career. I wasn’t very familiar with my options so I began with a quick search of ‘most common career change for nurses in the UK’. It may surprise you but this little search was far more helpful than I could’ve ever expected.

My Pursuit of Happiness

Through this search, I went down a rabbit hole of websites and forums that explored many different types of careers in the realm of nursing. Who knew that my ordinary nursing degree could open so many doors of opportunity?

During this search, I also found many first-hand accounts of other healthcare workers who were going through similar financial hardships due to their taxing jobs paired with the rising cost of living.

During that month, I spent any spare moment I could just reading blogs and talking to fellow nurses I knew to collect as much information and insights as I could.

After reaching out to a few close friends and family, I was even able to get my finances back on track. I am blessed to be surrounded by extremely kind individuals who reassured me that they’d be happy to help me in any way that they could. I must confess, I wasn’t proud of having to borrow from them, but I resolved to pay them back as soon as I had the means to do so.

With a new drive to turn my life around, I finally took the biggest step that I could at the end of the year and quit my job to try something new.

Exploring Something New

After all of my research, I finally entered the new year with a new career as a practice nurse in a GP surgery.

While the change was very new and it certainly took a while to get used to the different atmosphere, becoming a practice nurse was one of the best decisions I had ever made.

At my previous job, I was working long hours, my morale was practically at a subterranean level and I was barely able to make ends meet. However, I found my new career path to be a welcome change from that dark period of my life.

At my new job, everyone was nice and welcoming. The staff was very kind and I found myself becoming fast friends with many of the doctors and secretaries working beside myself, my spirits instantly lifting.

With my working hours being more reasonable, I found myself being able to reach home at a decent hour. Moreover, finally having more time to myself gave me the opportunity I needed to get my finances in order.

I was able to create a budget and began to track my spending. After cutting out some unnecessary expenses (I really did not need to be subscribed to 4 different streaming platforms!), I even began to save once again.

In about six months, it felt like everything in my life was how it always should’ve been. I felt happy going into work every day, I had managed to save up and repay the friends and family who had helped me out the previous year and I felt my love for nursing re-ignite.

Things were the best they had ever been and it seemed like they were going to remain that way for quite some time.

Finally Finding Fulfilment

I can firmly say after almost a year and a half into my career as a practice nurse that I feel extremely fulfilled. Making this career change was one of the best decisions I have ever made and things could not be better.

I feel valued at my job, my personal relationships are better than they’ve ever been and I’ve even found the time to explore new hobbies and passions.

As someone who was in a very difficult spot a couple of years ago, if you’re facing difficult times right now, know that things always get better. However, it is up to you to make things better for yourself.