In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Anne Budzinski, an AABP member practicing at CalfCare in North Manchester, IN, where she focuses on calf medicine and consulting. Dr. Budzinski is a 2015 graduate of Michigan State University. She shares her story of paying off $184,000 of student loan debt in 5 years and 4 months! We discuss her background of growing up on a farm in Michigan and selling potatoes as a child and baling hay to learn the value of hard work and managing her finances. She recommends only borrowing the amount of money you need for tuition and living expenses while in veterinary school versus taking the maximum amount of loans offered. Continually re-assess your needs each year to limit the amount of debt you incur in veterinary school. After veterinary school, she suggests not taking the grace period but starting payments immediately. Dr. Budzinski offered a few tips for those paying off student loans:
Dr. Budzinski also discusses managing work-life balance as a busy associate veterinarian, a wife and a mother of a young child. She states she is a “work in progress” which is true for all of us. She also shares her goals now that she is debt free which includes increasing her retirement savings contributions, starting a small herd of cows, and taking a trip to the “motherland” – Poland!