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As many of you know I have an older daughter who started college last year. It seemed like just yesterday that she started kindergarten. Where did my little one go? I remember packing the trunk of our minivan with all her dorm room supplies and we got on our way. This is her second year and boy were we shocked when we started her first year and saw how much money we would be spending. Luckily for us we had prepared but not soon enough as I would have liked to. I still have three other children who will be starting college soon themselves and while I have a bit of knowledge of how this all works, I wish I had known it sooner. If you have a child on their way to college yourself here are just a few tips that we would love to share with you.
Start a College Fund:
With the rise of college tuition you never know how much it will cost in future. Maybe by the time your grandchildren starts college it might be free, but until then it’s best to start a college fund. The sooner the better. Every little bit counts. If you save $50/week or even a month, at the end of 10 years you may have enough for a year of college.
Don’t Forget Financial Aid & Scholarships:
While you may think that you may not qualify, it doesn’t hurt to apply. As we mentioned when saving for your college fund, every little bit helps. Let your child apply for scholarships. There are scholarships it seems for everything under the sun and you never know what you qualify for.
Rent College Books:
When my daughter first started we looked into the prices of her text books. Boy were we shocked when we noticed that text books is almost as much as tuition. Some books bought new could run a couple of hundred dollars. Some book stores have a rental policy and you can even do a quick google search to see who might be cheaper. If you decide that you want to own you may even consider buying used. Buying used can sometimes save you more that 50% of the new book cost saving you a ton of money in the long run. And by all means, skip the college book store unless absolutely necessary.
The cost of college can be astronomical but you need to be prepared. This year when searching on ways how we can save more money I came across this great article on Protective on How Can Parents Save for College When Budgets Won’t Budge. It really opened my eyes on more ways to save and I’m sure it can help you to. Protective has lots of helpful information and tools to help you protect what you love the most. From financial planning to life insurance information there’s help for you. So check out Protective today.
Let’s discuss: How are you preparing your own little one’s for college? I’d love to know.
