Three Unique, Clever, Yet Straightforward Ways to Pay For College

Yes, college costs a ton of money; and you may be one of the unlucky students to not have a household back home that can provide that money for you and your future. But don’t fear — although it’s a whole lot of money for you to even step foot inside your dorm room, there are plenty of great ways to get your college education paid off. First of….

Various Federal Reserve Notes, c.1995. Only th...

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Apply For Scholarships and Loans

It’s pretty self-explanatory. By January 1st, you can apply for some grants, a FAFSA loan, and as many scholarships as you can find. And the best part? Your loans almost always get approved. Scholarships are a lot harder to manage, but most students can probably get by with a loan or two from the government. Maybe even pay for their textbooks!

Secondly….

Save in the Parents’ Names

This is a tricky one, but a beneficial one. Know that if you save money in an account registered in your name (if you’re the student), that’ll actually impact the amount of financial aid you’ll receive. If you’re in a crunch for money to pay off your tuition, that can put you in a bind. Make sure that you have an account that’s in your parents’ names! It’s simple, but clever.

And lastly….

Grandparents Can Help, Too!

Grandpa and Grandma can also help the grandson or granddaughter out by gifting a bit of money to help with the educational costs! There’s no gift tax for any 529 plan under $13,000 for individuals. Married couples can even gift money up to $26,000 without shouldering an extra tax on their records.

 

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Protect Yourself From Yourself: the Hidden Art of Saving Money

Your worst enemy exists in your own head. What a fundamental truth that is! In anything in life, you can fight and fight and see all the obstacles in your way, but truly the one difficult obstacle you may half the time fail against is nothing more than yourself…. Why?

Your mind controls you. It would only stand to reason that the very thing that controls you may be your worst enemy!

This is especially true when you’re trying to save money. Saving money is hard. Why? Because we, as human beings, love stuff. And in order to get that stuff, we need to buy it. In order to buy it, we need to — that’s right — have money!

So basically you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place — and this rock is especially big, and the hard place is made of steel. What are you to do?

Brace yourself for this outrageous tip…. Fool yourself.

That’s right; you have to fool yourself. Fool yourself into thinking you can’t have any of the money you earn. Set aside a certain dollar amount out of every check, stash it way up at the top of your closet, and simply forget about it!

You’ll still know where it is, but it would take a great deal of effort to get it down from there.

The result to regularly stashing a certain amount of money is profound: you actually save a ton! Every paycheck means savings — every week, or every two weeks, or however you get paid. So you’re looking at a lot of savings!

Remember that: you’re protecting yourself…. From yourself!

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