Welcome to college! Your grand total comes to an arm, a leg, and a kidney.
The cost of going to college just keeps getting higher and higher. Why should you care? Whether you are saving for your 2 year olds college education, paying for your child to go to college, paying for your college expenses, or know someone who is dealing with the struggles of paying for their college education, chances are the financial strain of going to college will affect you or someone you know. In the following weeks I will outline some key money saving tips to help college students and parents of college students cut costs while getting an education. Retweet, facebook, or email this to everyone you know who is in college or who will be forced to deal with the expenses of going to college.
With new fee hikes approved by UC regents, UC students will face fee increases of 32% over the next couple years. Currently, tuition fees for California residents attending UC schools are close to $10,000.00 per year. Start throwing in the costs of rent, food, books, school supplies, and automotive costs, and by the time it’s all set and done you are looking at potentially over $30,000.00 per year in expenses while at college. That’s outrageous!
Thankfully, I have parents who are willing to support me until I graduate. If I had to do this on my own, I would have one heck of a time doing it! Being in debt at 22 doesn’t sound like a fun time and I’m sure no parent wants their child to have to deal with the pressures of digging themselves out of debt after graduation.
I started thinking about ways to cut expenses, things that my parents probably should have made me do but maybe hadn’t thought about, things I might make my kids do one day when I put them through college. In my quest to figure out ways in which I could cut expenses, I started researching every conceivable way in which I could minimize my expenses and save thousands each year.
While some solutions will inevitably cause teenage temper tantrums, if I look at it from the perspective of a parent I instantly understand the logic behind implementing money saving strategies. When the day comes for me to send my kids to college, provided I have been financially successful enough to send them to school, I will sit down with them and discuss how to cut costs and save money. While I am sure they won’t like the idea of implementing some of these strategies, working with them to figure out solutions as to how to survive some of the money saving tips I’ve come up with should ease the blow of having to make cutbacks to minimize costs.
Over the next few weeks I will discuss some money saving tips to help alleviate the strain of paying for college. Topics will range from ditching the car to how to save on textbooks. My goal is to provide a solid foundation of knowledge as to how to save money while paying for a college education so that it doesn’t end up costing you an arm, leg, and kidney.
