Posts Tagged College
Corporate Barbarian Links: Chainsaw Massacre Edition
Photo by lancefisher
No, that’s not me in the picture. But I did take the chainsaw out this week, and cleaned up the look of the website a bit. I got rid of the big, ugly ad in the sidebar, and reduced the amount of categories. Hopefully this will make navigating the site easier (let me know in the comments if it makes a difference). I’ve also added a Tweetmeme button, so if you find a post that’s interesting, you can Tweet it by just clicking the button. Here are some good posts for your reading pleasure:
Jim at Bargaineering wants to know how often you check on your finances. For me, it’s a weekly endeavor, as I like to keep up on how my money’s doing.
Blunt Money celebrates the third anniversary of the blog. Happy Birthday!
Steve at Brip Blap discusses the myth of stable employment. I work in the defense industry, where layoffs are too common.
Flexo at Consumerism Commentary offers ways to save money at baseball games. I like going to the local minor league stadium, where parking is free.
The Weakonomist at Weakonomics ask the question: What kind of saver are you? The post discusses the different kinds of savers. I’m a sweeper.
Patrick at Cash Money Life argues that college students should get a credit card. There was a lively discussion for both sides of the issue.
Scott H. Young talks about loneliness and the unconventional life. He’s noticed that his deviation from the norm has made him feel like an outsider.
Matt at Debt Free Adventure is using what he calls the debt steamroller to reach his goals. He’s made great progress so far. Drop on over to cheer him on!
Craig at Bible Money Matters tells us to beware of the term”free”. Someone ultimately has to pay the cost.
Beks at Blogging Away Debt has payed off her credit cards. Nice going!
Mark at Productivity 501 lists the top 5 worst productivity ideas. He says we should do things that are important before trying to optimize our work.
Clever Dude tried to cancel his gym membership. The gym enticed him with an offer to stay.
Trent at The Simple Dollar talks about cultural divides, and how it affects his blog readership. I’ve found lots of useful advice on his site, even though we’re in different parts of the country.
David at My Two Dollars recycled dryer lint to make frugal fire starters. I prefer Vaseline-soaked cotton balls myself.
Captain eHow shows how to avoid having your article deleted from eHow. He lists 4 common mistakes that writers make.
Have a great Labor Day weekend!
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How To Save Money on College Textbooks
Photo by timetrax23
My son starts college next week. Obviously, he needs textbooks. In an effort to show me just how far he’s come with taking on responsibility, he told me he’d handle his book purchases. He’d use the money that he earned over the summer.
Holy Geez!
He visited the online bookstore, and was overcome with sticker shock. Textbooks are very expensive at the college bookstore, even if they’re used. As a child of the Online Generation, he started poking around the web for a bargain. He tried Amazon, Powell’s, and Alibris. He finally found what he needed at Half.com.
A solution
Here’s a chart that shows the savings between the bookstore’s prices and the Half.com prices:
Note: One English book and one Art book were new editions, so there wasn’t a used book available. For the other three books, the used editions were out of stock at the school bookstore. The Half.com price also includes shipping, while the bookstore’s prices do not.
A windfall
So, he saved over one hundred thirty dollars off the bookstore’s price for new books. That’s over 33 percent savings! Not bad comparison shopping for an eighteen-year-old kid. That will buy him several tanks of gas for his car. Or a few pizzas while he’s burning the midnight oil. I’m glad he didn’t wait until the first day of classes to get busy with his book-buying.
A take-away
My son did so well using Half.com, that I’m tempted to use it for any major purchase that may arise in the future. So, thanks kid, you’ve taught the old man something for a change. 
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Repeat After Me: Retirement First, College Second
Posted by enrique s in College, Excel, Retirement on May 24th, 2009
A recent U.S. News & World Report article recommended the obvious - fund your retirement accounts before you fund your child’s college education. I agree. While there are many vehicles to pay for education expenses, you are probably the only source of your retirement savings.
I say probably, because unless you’re a civil servant, or your company is still offering a good old-fashioned pension, your 401(k), IRA, or Roth IRA may be your primary retirement savings. It’s a pipe dream to think that you can live on your Social Security benefits. If you put off contributing to your 401(k), you’ll also be missing out on your company’s matching contributions. This is free money that you do not want to pass up.
Let’s look at an example of a 22 year-old with a $30,000/year salary, contributing 10% to his 401(k), with a company match of 50% of his contribution, or 5%. We’ll assume he gets a 3% raise each year, and a growth rate of 8% on principal. We’ll assume he has an epiphany at age 30, and decides to invest in his child’s education for 4 years rather than his own retirement: click here for the Excel file
As you can see in the attached file, the contributions that he didn’t make, plus the company match that he missed out on during the 4 years, total under $25K. However, when you take compounding into account, he’ll have $238K less in his account at age 62.
That’s almost a quarter of a million bucks that he’s passing up by not funding his 401(k) for just 4 years. Quite an opportunity cost! I hope Junior can land a decent job when he graduates.Maybe he’ll become a lawyer.
But, there are other ways to pay for school, without sacrificing your retirement savings:
- First, tell kids what college costs. The college they have in mind may be WAY out of your price range. Plot out a strategy before they have dreams of a 4 year vacation to Sunshine U.
- See what financial aid you can get from the school. Another plus: retirement savings is not part of the calculation when determining financial aid needs, so sock it away in your 401(k). Even with the financial aid, remember to add 10-20% on to college costs if your student is planning to live at the school.
- There are student loans, scholarships, and grants available for education. Apply early so that you get first crack at them.
Finally, look in your own backyard. Students can also live at home and go to state schools to keep costs down. And don’t dismiss community colleges; if you’re willing to learn, you can learn anywhere.
Follow me on Twitter: CorpBarbarian
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Going to a State College vs. a Private School
Woo-hoo! My son was accepted to a state college, and I couldn’t be happier. He was pretty excited, too. It was his first choice, and has a great program for his major. What makes it sweeter is the fact that this particular school had a record number of applicants for the next Fall semester, so the competition was fierce. The kid worked his butt off in high school, and didn’t slack off during his senior year, so he definitely earned it.
Some of his friends weren’t so lucky. The college had a record number of applicants due to the bad economy. Many students who would have gone away to a private school elected either to go away to a state school, or live at home and go to a state school. This caused a surplus of empty spots at the private schools, while state schools filled up fast. An article at news-record.com details the phenomenon of private colleges experiencing declining enrollment:
Their biggest fear is that come spring, prospective students frightened by the economic situation will take their money to cheaper public universities and community colleges or stay away from college altogether. And students who do choose private colleges are likely to need more financial aid.
While his friends didn’t get accepted to the state school, many private schools were more than willing to accept them (I hope they’re not part of the dummies and slackers that Tough Money Love wrote about!). As an added benefit, his friends were offered more financial aid. But even with the more-generous-than-usual financial aid packages offered at the private schools, the cost was still much higher than my son’s tuition at the state school. This will translate into more student loans for his friends, while my son’s college tuition shouldn’t leave him with a pile of debt when he graduates.
Hopefully, in four years, when I report back on my son’s progress, he’ll have graduated without incurring a huge student loan debt. I’ll be able to attribute this to his attending a state college instead of a more expensive private school. Then, he’ll just need to find a job.
How about you? Did you attend a state college, and save a bunch on tuition?
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Barbaric Links: Sweet Sixteen Edition
No, not the birthday - the NCAA Tournament! I’m still in good shape, with 13 of the 16 teams, and all of my Final Four picks advancing to the next round. I’m picking Louisville to win the whole thing. Here are some worthwhile links from around the web:
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Happy reading!
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