<prompt> Human: Im 27, and have made rudimentary budgets before but my current situation has me a little stressed out.Im a new Grad RN making 27hr in an area of the country where a studio apartment costs 1300. I am considering renting a shared space with several strangers but that in and of itself is a little daunting althoughI am working 3 12 hour shifts a week and right now I am living at home with my parents. My original plan after nursing school was to move to a cheaper area but things didnt really work out sick family member and couldnt find a job in the area of preference. After my orientation I will transition to the night shift, and Ill be getting off of work at 8am at best after Im finished giving report and charting. Ill be getting off right in the middle of rush hour. Taking that into consideration, my commute to my parents house from work will probably take close to an hour, which I consider to be dangerous after working 13 hours straight in the middle of the night.My student loan situation is as follows: 34K at 6.25 and 17K at 7.5.I have no experience handling this kind of debt at all, but I estimate I will have to pay 500 towards my loans every month.When I transition to nights, I will get an additional 3 dollar shift differential and I will be making 4 dollars on top of that for my weekend shifts.If I move out my expenses would be as follows:RentUtilities: 800-1300 depending on the kind of living situation I can find.Loans: 500Food: 200-250Gas: 100Cell Phone: 60My car is paid off right now. My goals are to leave this expensive area after a year or so for a cheaper area once I have the experience as an RN to do so. I would need to save around 4-6K minimum. I was hoping to also possibly get a new tattoo for 2K if possible, but I understand if that sort of thing is completely out of reach for me at the moment.Assistant: You can afford an apartment. Dont commute an hour to your parents house.You are only working 36 hours. You need to take on an extra shift here and there or fill in for people or take the holiday pay, and youll be golden.When I was paying off student loans, I literally colored in squares on a piece of graph paper on my fridge. Fancy cocktail, less squars. Extra shift, more squares. Maybe when you get all the squares, you can color in squares for your tattoo. Sometimes seeing it helps you stay focused.This is doable. Youre a nurse, and you will be fine.Human: An apartment of my own would be 1100-1300. A shared space would be 800 at best. My concern is that if I get my own place that I would not be able to save enough money or that all of my money would be going towards my loans and rent. I dont plan on staying in the area long term. I am perfectly willing to work extra shifts but I wont be able to do so until I get off orientation and become more confident as a new nurse.Can you explain further what you mean about coloring in squares? That sounds like an interesting system and I would like to hear more about it.Assistant: Youre fine. You can afford an apartment. Rent a room if you want to instead. You need your own space that isnt your parents.I literally colored in squares on graph paper. I calculated how much each square was worth and used several markershighlighterscolored pencils as I made payments on my loans. It was on my fridge.Human: My take home pay every month will probably be less than 3000. I guess I am worried because that means more than 50 of my pay will be going straight to rent and loans.  <response>: 50 of my pay will be going straight to rent and loans Lol. Thats life. Best to knock the loans out as fast as possible before you have more expenses down the line. Id stay living at home for one more year. Save 500 a month towards moving out, in a year youll have 6k. Pay 1200-1500 towards loans. If you take home about 3000 a month, that still leaves you with about a grand for food, car, gas. 