Money tips
- Seek every source for financial aid as possible. In addition to standard sources from your FAF, consider every possible source. Go to the financial aid office at your school. Research on the internet for scholarships. Talk to your employers, or your parent's employers to see if there is a financial aid available. Talk to whatever club, organization, etc. they are involved with and see what you can muster up. You never know where you might find aid. And once you're in college, don't give up the search. You can still qualify for additional financial aid once you're already in school, and sometimes you have a better chance to get them. Make sure you do all your paperwork properly, and submit them on time. Better yet, submit them early.
- Consider your major before you take out that loan. I've seen this mistake countless times. A student takes out a huge loan towards a degree that won't allow them to get a job that can pay off that loan. It's one thing to take out a $80,000 loan towards being a doctor, but it's another thing to take out that same loan to be a basket weaver making $20K a year. Now, if you really want to do basket weaving and think you can make a go of it, then consider more inexpensive ways of getting an education as well as saving up money so that you are not accruing interest while making a name for yourself and getting on your feet in the real world.
- See if you can get student loan deferrment or forgiveness through service after college. Americorp, Peace Corps, VISTA, can give you loan repayment for a year or more of service. There are also teaching opportunities in rural and impoverished areas that will offer student loan deferrent or repayment. The same goes for the medial and legal field as well. Also, the federal government has a student loan repayment program to help retain employees.
- A credit card is not free money. The credit card companies are not dumb. By getting students in when they are young, they can make a lifetime of interest from them. You will have to pay the credit card company back, and the last thing you want is a terrible credit rating when you come out of college. It will affect you ability to buy big ticket items such as a car, or house and it can affect your ability to get certain jobs (i.e. jobs that require a high security clearance). If you have to use the card, pay it back as soon as you can. Have a plan in hand for how you will pay it back when you do use it.
- Use your meal plan. You paid for it, so you may as well use it. Take an item back to your room if you can. The food is better for you than the dollar menu, and you get more of it. The cost of a meal plan is cheaper than an equivalent of eating out or buying groceries.
- Take into account the additional expense when living off cmapus before doing it. Getting your own pad is great, but it costs more. You will spend more money on cleaning materials, TP, paper towels,utilties, groceries, etc. So consider that when budgeting for that apartment of yours.
- Make a budget. There are two ways to do this. First is to take an account of what you are spending on for the month, break them up into various categories such as gas, utilities, etc., and then assess what you are overspending on. The second method is to begin with how much money you get a month, and then divvy it up among the various categories. If you find that you are having a shortfall every month, then figure out a way to either spend less money or make more of it.
- Put a little bit of money away regularly. Even if it's just a buck, get in the habit of saving a little of your money every month/week/whatever. Emergencies come up, and it's better to tap into those funds than to take out an interest bearing loan or making the call of shame back home. Also, you get in the habit of saving, which will serve you well after college. Spend your money and have a good time, just have a little left over for more fun later.
- Spread out your spending. Most of your spending happens at the beginning of the school year. I was on scholarship, and money came to me in the form of a check at the beginning of each semester, so that's how I spent it. But, I found that if you spread things out, you can save some money. Buying used books is easier to do early, since they aren't likely to run out. But, if you can buy things as you need them as opposed to all at once you can save. Students drop out and give stuff away. You may find a friend who will sell you a book cheap. You may drop a course, and find you don't need that book anymore. There may be a sale on stuff later. There's many reasons to defer a purchase, but sometimes it isn't practical. But if you can do it. You get better cash flow, and more money to use for stuff you hadn't thought of early in the year. For example, money spent on that Lava lamp in September would have come in useful when I needed to replace the alternator in my car in October.
- Get a job. It doesn't have to be a full time job, just one to get some cash flowing. Not only for the cash, but for the work experience which is becoming more and more important than the degree you end up with. Consider starting your own business, since you'll have more free time and energy to do it in college than probably any other time in your life.
- Make friends and trade favors. The more friends you have, the more opportunities you have to buck the system and save some dough. I had a good friend who worked at a pizza place, and every week or so we'd get a burnt pizza or a bad order. Another friend of ours was a model for RJ Reynolds, and we got free Winstons and lighters. Barter services and goods. I wrote a paper for someone who fixed my car, and sold my notes for a couple of pizzas. The list of these types of things go on and on, and without them college would have made me more broke and have less fun.
. Personally, if it's going to happen, I like to tear the condom package before we get started. This makes the application of said condom much easier. Nothing worse that wrestling with a stubborn condom package when your hands are all slick with the girl you're about to score with. Suddenly you're frustrated and sometimes, if your drunk your johnson might lose interest in the whole prospect and go to sleep before you do. Just take care of that first tear before you get started. As soon as you start kissing the chick, tear the condom package. Put it in your pocket. Even if you don't score and get to use it, so what? You've wasted a condom. No big deal. They're disposable. Most colleges give them away for free at the health center. Grab a handful as you walk by. Nobody likes using them, but it beats not having sex at all.
You asked. I gave you my answer. As far as "gross" goes. Meh, I can live with that.
