School Archives - Page 2 of 7 - Making Sense Of Cents

Learning How To Survive On A College Budget

October 14, 2015 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 38 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

College is expensive and everyone knows that.

Between paying for tuition, parking, textbooks, extra fees, and everything else, you also have basic living expenses to pay for as well.

All of these costs are either brand new or somewhat new to you most likely as well, so you might not even know how to survive on a budget, let alone a college budget.

Don’t worry, though, surviving on a college budget is possible.

Whether you are trying to survive the whole year off of what you made over the summer or if you have a steady job throughout the school year, there are ways to budget your money and not fall into any extra debt. Plus, you can still enjoy your college years on a low budget as well!

Below are my tips on how to survive on a college budget. [Read more…]

How To Balance Working And Going To College

October 7, 2015 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 34 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

More and more are choosing to attend college and work at the same time.

Whether you are working a part-time or a full-time job, it can be tough to balance both. There are many working students in college who are able to manage both, but there are also many who aren't able to.

If you don’t balance them both correctly, it may lead to stress, lower grades, low-quality work being produced, and more.

No one wants that and I’m sure you don’t either.

This is supposed to be the time of your life where you are growing and changing, not feeling like you are drowning in everything that is going on around you.

There are ways to get around it and manage both successfully at the same time, though.

I took a full course load each and every semester, worked full-time, and took part in extracurricular activities. It was definitely hard and I won't lie about that. However, sometimes a person doesn't have a choice and has to do everything at once or maybe you are choosing to multi-task and you are wanting to better manage your time.

Whatever your reason may be, below are my tips for working college students. The tips below are what helped save me! [Read more…]

How Do You Use a Degree That Isn’t Very Specific?

June 5, 2015 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 33 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Hello! Enjoy this post from my friend Martin. I know this situation applies to many out there (the possibility of what you or others may believe to be useless degrees), so hopefully this post can help someone out!

“Why did you waste your time on that degree?”

The most ignorant question in the world. You deserve a smack across the face if you've ever asked anyone this. There's no such thing as a waste of time if you learned a few things and opened your eyes a little. Also, it's none of your business what someone else studied, unless you of course paid for their full education.

Why would you ask someone this?

The person with the degree doesn't possess the power to time travel and change things. It's already too late. They have the degree proudly hanging on the wall. There's no need to be a ruthless jerk who puts down their friends. The person on the other end will get highly defensive and the argument won't be pretty.

Why would you ask such an ignorant question?

Sadly, European relatives ask this all of the time. So do friends on Facebook. Most people will ask about why you studied what you did. It's fairly standard small talk. [Read more…]

6 Ways I Saved Money On College Costs

April 8, 2015 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 33 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

How much does college cost? This is a question many wonder. There's rarely a week that goes by where I don't receive an email from a student or parents of a student who are looking for ways to cut college costs. That's why today I want to talk about college costs and how you can create a college budget that works.

College is very expensive – there is no doubt about that.

However, I want you to know that it IS possible to get a valuable college degree on a budget!

The average public university is over $20,000 per year and the average private university totals over $45,000 once you account for tuition, room and board, fees, textbooks, living expenses and more.

Even with how expensive college can possibly be, there are many ways to cut college expenses and create a college budget so that you can control rising college costs.

Continue reading below to read about the many different ways I cut college costs. While I was not perfect and still racked up student loan debt, I did earn three college degrees on a reasonable budget.

Related articles:

[Read more…]

3 Key Factors To Consider When Comparing College Costs

March 27, 2015 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 23 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Hello! Please enjoy this post from a blog friend.

College is often the first financial decision many young adults make.

Unfortunately, for many, it is often the most expensive decision after factoring in repayment terms and cost of interest.

While many may have a first choice of school they’d like to attend, students should objectively compare college costs in order to determine what will be the best fit in the long run.

Here are three key factors to consider when comparing college costs.

Scholarship Considerations

Depending on the size of school, competition for admission, and where the school is located a student may be granted more aid at one institution than another.

It is up for the student to weigh scholarship costs with coming out of pocket or taking out student loans to make up the difference at another school that may not offer as much aid! [Read more…]

How I Paid Off $38,000 In Student Loan Debt In 7 Months

January 26, 2015 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 77 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Lately, I have received many questions asking how I was able to pay off my student loans so quickly. I haven't talked much about my student loans since I paid them off in July of 2013, but I know many struggle with their student loan repayment plan each and every day.

Due to this, it is a topic I am always happy to cover. Paying off your student loans is a wonderful feeling and I want to help everyone else experience the same.

Background on my student loans.

To start off, I am going to provide a quick background on my student loans.

I worked full-time all throughout college. I worked as a retail manager from when I was a teenager until I graduated with my two undergraduate degrees (I was a double major). Then, I was lucky and found a financial analyst position right when I graduated. I took around six months off from college, then I went back to get my Finance MBA, all while still working full-time and building my business.

Even though I worked full-time, I didn't really put any money towards my student loan debt while I was in college. [Read more…]

What I Would Change About My College Experience

December 3, 2014 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 82 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Recently, I published the post How I Graduated From College In 2.5 Years With 2 Degrees and Saved $37,500. While I did graduate quickly and there are benefits related to that, there are things I missed out on by rushing my college experience.

Now I wouldn't say I had the worst college experience, but I also wouldn't say it was the best college experience in the world.

I understand that you can't go back and change the past, but sometimes you can help others learn from your mistakes.

Below are some of the things I would change about my college experience:

I would have started paying off my student loans while I was in college.

While I did pay off my student loans quickly, I didn't really put much towards them while I was actually in college.

Instead, I worked full-time and put most of my money towards things I shouldn't have been spending on, such as for clothing and restaurants. It was a huge waste of money, and I can't help but bang my head on a wall when I think about how much money I wasted.

Truth is, no one remembers your outfits and spending all your money on fast food is just stupid. [Read more…]

Scholarship Considerations

Background on my student loans.

I would have started paying off my student loans while I was in college.

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