Money Advice for College Students
Giving a college student advice about money may be like talking to a brick wall but in the long run it will be well worth the effort if that financial advice is followed. The following advice and tips are useful for everyone, especially college students. Some of the following are common sense but others you may not have thought of.
Start saving money now. There is no other bigger cliche out there than this one. But what you may not know is there are some really interesting ways to save money for college besides just putting aside extra income. Upromise is one of those ways. With Upromise you can turn your everyday spending into college savings and by getting your friends and family to join into your account, you can save even more as they do their daily shopping. Learn more about Upromise here. Another great tool is Mint.com. Mint allows you to track and chart your spending along with recommending credit cards with low interest rates and bank accounts with high interest rates, which if used, will help you save even more.
Scholarships and grants are everywhere. Search for ones that you are eligible for and apply for every one you can. A place to find scholarships is Scholarships.com. With over 2.7 million scholarships and grants worth over $19 billion, they can match your academics, talents and interests to find the scholarships that are right for you. Another good scholarship and financial aid site is FastWeb.com. Remember, scholarships and grants are free money that you don’t have to pay back, so get as many as you can.
If your number of scholarships and grants are less than adequate for your tuition, you’ll have little choice but to get a loan to cover the balance. One option is to apply for federal aid by filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA. Another option would be to apply for a private loan. Although they carry higher interest rates than federal loans, they allow you to borrow up to the full cost of your education along with being able to put off, or defer, payment until after graduation. The unorthodox choice is borrowing from family. Although not the best choice, there can be certain advantages, such as no interest and a relaxed repayment schedule, although there are no guarantees.
Understanding your credit is important for those new college students who are on their own for the first time. This is what credit card companies count on. New students are at high risk for digging themselves into credit card debt. Growing credit card debt for a student may become unmanageable and can get a person into serious financial trouble before they even graduate. If you get a credit card, pay it off every month to avoid high interest rates. Not only will you learn how to better manage your money but it will also allow you to build credit which will be valuable in the future.
These are a few good tips to follow but if you’d like to read more financial advice, visit The Comsumerist and Online Education Database to get a comprehensive look at what you an do to prepare your bank account for college life.
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Amigo,
I completely hear you about credit. When I was in college I really let my credit slip, and I’ve paid for that for years now.