School Archives - Making Sense Of Cents

Ways To Save Money On College Costs

August 10, 2017 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 4 Comments

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

Making Sense of Cents and College Ave Student Loans have partnered on a series of blog posts on what to expect when it comes to planning for college…especially when it comes to time to pay. Through the series, we hope families gain a little more insight on how to tackle the next four or more years ahead with a stronger financial footing. All opinions are 100% my own. To learn more, please visit: https://www.collegeavestudentloans.com.

College costs are one of the largest “purchases” a person will ever make. The other big purchase would most likely be a house that a person buys. However, sometimes a house may cost LESS than a college degree!

The cost of college can vary significantly, as you can see. Tuition for an in-state public college averages around $28,000 and a more expensive private college tuition is double that amount at an average of $59,000. For a four year elite university, the cost jumps to $68,000. Lastly, if your child (or you) is enrolled in higher education for something like medicine or law, college costs may reach hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years. [Read more…]

Should you get an MBA if you want to start your own business?

July 24, 2017 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 33 Comments

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

The path to owning my own business started around 10 years ago. I graduated from high school and went on to college for business. I graduated, got a job as a financial analyst, and then around five years ago, completed my MBA with an emphasis in Finance.

Should you get an MBA if you want to start your own business? Is it a need? Or, can a person start a business without a college degree? It seemed like a logical path – graduate from high school, go to college, get a job in that field, and then get my MBA to further my career opportunities.

It was the path I fell into, and I never really gave it a second thought. For my MBA, I figured I needed it in order to be successful in the corporate finance world.

However, I'm now a full-time blogger.

One of the questions I'm often asked is if I regret going to school for so many college degrees (3). After all, it took a lot of time and led to a significant amount of debt.

I definitely did not learn a thing about blogging back in college, and an MBA isn’t 100% focused on the topic of starting your own specific business, especially a niche one. Plus, I did not get my MBA thinking that I would be starting my own business. I went for it to better my career opportunities. [Read more…]

Consolidating And Refinancing Student Loans – What You Should Know

December 18, 2015 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 30 Comments

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

Are you looking to start refinancing student loans? The average 2015 college graduate has slightly over $35,000 in student loan debt.

And, if you have a law or medical degree, you may find yourself with an average of around $150,000 or $200,000 in student loan debt, respectively.

That’s a lot of money!

One thing I haven’t talked about much here on Making Sense of Cents is that there are many options for paying off your debt, such as by consolidating or refinancing your student loans.

Many don’t realize that they may be able to refinance or consolidate their student loans. I personally know this because I never once thought about either back when I had student loan debt.

Before you make the leap of consolidating or refinancing student loans, though, there are many things to think about. Continue reading below to determine if either consolidating or refinancing student loans is the right decision for you.

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.

Learning How To Survive On A College Budget 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 I Paid Off $38,000 In Student Loan Debt In 7 Months

January 26, 2015 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 76 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.

What I Would Change About My College Experience Journal Picture

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 -

This post may contain affiliate links. 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…]

Background on my student loans.

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

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