Hi there. As a new MT myself with just 8 months of working under my belt, I would like to caution you strongly that, being single and needing health beneftis, you will almost assuredly not be able to support yourself on MT work even full time your first year UNLESS you fortuitously land a position in-house in a hospital or local service that pays on an hourly basis and offers benefits. If you are unable to land this type of position, you will probably have to work another job in addition to MT for the first six months to a year to remain on your feet and to be able to afford health insurance benefits. I think the only way around this is if you have a nice nest egg tucked away that will cover expenses for six months to a year. In my case, I had the latter two - a second job and a significant amount in savings (not to mention a hubby with a nice income). Check out health insurance premiums on the 'net; many sites offer free quotes. This will give you an idea of how much individual health insurance will cost, if you haven't had the chance to do so already. 
I know I was surprised at how high the rates are, having always had my insurance paid in full by my previous company.Make sure you read everything you can about MT on the Internet to gain a broad perspective of the job; but for reliable income information, read everything you can here on this site. There was an interesting series of posts in the Hot Zone from the past 30 days or so titled "Insanity" that deals with the reality of the early days of MT, and there is more information down in the Go To box. From my own experience, I would say that anywhere from 18-28k might be a rough range of a full-time MT's income after the first 6 months to a year, but for the first few months, if one is paid only on production, one will probably be making no more than $700 a month.
I would also caution you again (sorry) that if you are single, and with no children (I don't think you mentioned children in your post?) your time and money may be better served by pursuing another career goal. I don't mean that all MTs should be stay-at-home moms (I'm not a mom myself) because there are other compelling reasons for people to want to work from home, but that there may be other, better choices for you if you do not have a compelling reason for wanting to work at home or work on a production basis. Despite how it sounds, there are many drawbacks to working in isolation and many more to being paid only what you can physically produce.
There is an "old" adage about home renovation that, when edited slightly, applies equally to making the decision to become an MT. That original adage is, whatever you think it's going to cost, double it. Applied to MT, whatever negatives you can possibly imagine, double them. This is the only way to overcome the singing-birds-and-dancing-butterflies image of a work-at-home MT to discover the often painful reality.
Best of luck to you on your decision -- whoops! I went back and see you're already in school! Oh dear, I hope this is not a complete shock for you. Best of luck,
-A
[This message has been edited by Cottage (edited 05-22-2000).]
