School Archives - Page 3 of 7 - Making Sense Of Cents

What I Would Change About My College Experience

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

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. 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…]

How To Save Money On Textbooks + Campus Book Rentals Review

December 1, 2014 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner -

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

If you are looking for tips on how to save money as a college student, then one of the top things you need to learn is how to save money on textbooks such as through cheap textbook rentals. In this post, I will be including a Campus Book Rentals review because I used this textbook rental company throughout college and was able to save a great amount of money with cheap textbook rentals.

P.S. I also have a Campus Book Rentals coupon code at the end of the post, so do not miss out on this valuable Campus Book Rentals coupon for the best textbook rental company out there!

When I was in college, I always made sure to save as much money as I could. College is expensive, and everyone knows that. The costs can quickly add up. Between the tuition, lab fees, parking fees, textbook costs, and more, college costs can quickly get out of hand.

I know and understand this. I graduated with around $38,000 worth of student loan debt, and that was even with me carefully managing my costs. Thankfully I paid off my student loans (read about how I paid off my student loans within 7 months), but I do like to help others in as many ways as I can.

According to the National Association of College Stores, the average college student spends around $700 per year on the cost of textbooks. [Read more…]

Should I Ruin My Retirement By Helping My Child Through College?

September 29, 2014 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 115 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Today's topic will probably be a touchy one and it's all about whether or not parents should start (or end) saving for children's college expenses. Ever since I paid off my $38,000 worth of student loans last year, I have received many e-mails from parents who are interested in seeking help for their children.

These e-mails are all related to whether or not parents should risk or sometimes even ruin their retirement by helping their child pay for college.

There is usually one common theme in these e-mails – the parents are usually not on track for retirement, they have debt, or they cannot afford to help their child in college.

Here are some of the stories I have heard in these emails:

The parents have over $100,000 in student loans that they took out in THEIR name so their child could go to school. These parents are not on track for retirement and they have a lot of other debt besides student loans.
Their child is in medical school and the parents are paying for all of their college expenses plus food, car, rent, etc. These parents are not on track for retirement and they have debt.
Their child is in law school and the child said that if his/her parents don't continue paying for their expenses, that they would hate their parents. This child was even more mad when the parents printed out every single blog post of mine and gave it to them (I did not tell their parents to do that, it was entirely their idea). The child said I was ruining his/her life (yup, that actually happened). These parents are not on track for retirement and they are afraid of losing their child now as well.

I know I'm not a parent.

I'm not a parenting or child expert either. [Read more…]

How I Graduated From College In 2.5 Years With 2 Degrees AND Saved $37,500

August 12, 2014 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 168 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

One thing that has been on my mind this month is how I graduated with my Finance MBA two years ago.

It feels like a lifetime ago, but then again it also feels like it was just yesterday.

This has also reminded me about how I graduated with my undergraduate degrees over 4 years ago. For some reason, people don't believe that's true, and I was even recently asked to provide proof from a reader…

I know, I have a baby face! The fact that I look a decade younger than I actually am is a whole ‘nother story though.

If you're wondering the below, please continue reading!

How to graduate college in 3 years
How to finish college in 2 years
How to get a bachelor's degree in 2 years
Can you finish college in 2 years
How to graduate college in 2 years

The main reason why I got so heavily into school was because I wanted to keep busy. I was a freshman in college when my father passed away. [Read more…]

Is A College Degree a Waste If You’re Self-Employed?

May 7, 2014 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 38 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

A question that I am often asked now that I am self-employed is if I think my college degrees were a waste. I sort of wrote about this last year in Is a Business Degree a Waste?

As a reminder, I have three degrees – my undergraduate degrees are a B.S. in Business and a B.A. in Management. And then I also have a Finance MBA.

I understand why people are asking this. I mean, technically I do not need any college degree to do what I do since I am my own boss. I also spent a lot of time and money (I had $40,000 in student loan debt at one point!) towards my college degrees.

Here is why I don't think my college degrees were a waste of time or money:

[Read more…]

We have $200,000 in Student Loan Debt

December 19, 2013 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 76 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Hey everyone! The other day I received an e-mail from a reader who wants your help. I left out some identifying information because she wants to remain anonymous.

Just as a refresher to any new readers, I recently paid off around $40,000 worth of student loan debt.

It wasn't all fun and games though, and I am glad that we put everything we had at the time towards them so that I didn't have my student loans floating over my head.

I have 3 degrees (I was a double major in undergraduate school, and I also have my Finance MBA). Below are my posts on the subject.

How to Pay Off Student Loans Fast

My Student Loans are GONE

[Read more…]

Attending College as a Non-Traditional Student

October 25, 2013 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 34 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Femme Frugality writes about money as it pertains to young adults, brides, parents, Pittsburghers, and, of course, college students. You can read her blog here.

Recently Michelle shared that W was returning to school, and asked for some tips for non-traditional students. I recently graduated, and now my fiance is going to college for the first time.

We're about as non-traditional as it gets, both being far beyond “traditional” college age, and having children. So I've got a plethora of tips that have been helping us get through this stage in our lives. And Michelle was kind enough to let me share them in a post.

Work as Little As Possible

I know that sounds crazy. As a non-traditional student, you've got very grown-up bills to pay. But trust me. If you're serious about your degree, trimming down your work schedule will help not just your grades, but your overall mental health. I am not suggesting you go into debt in order to go back to school. (Both my fiance and I are doing this without any loans.)

What I am suggesting is that you sit down and look at your monthly budget. Look at your bills, how much you'll need to be contributing to your emergency fund, how much you'll need for other essentials such as gas and groceries, and a realistic entertainment category (though it might not be a bad idea to trim it down a little bit if you can).

Figure out the lowest number you're willing to commit to (be realistic about this) for your overall monthly budget.

[Read more…]

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

Work as Little As Possible

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