Posts filed under 'Budgeting'
Hold up! Just because classes are starting and reading lists are hitting you left and right, doesn’t mean you should head to the bookstore right now to buy every single book your professor mentioned. As upperclassmen already know, it’s not unusual for a prof or instructor to change the booklist midway through a course, leaving you stuck with an obscure publication on Austrian philosophy in the process. Your best bet is to ask your professor what books you absolutely need the first month and pick up the rest as you need them.
Don’t settle for your high-price campus bookstore or stoop to downloading materials with P2P (peer-to-peer) file sharing networks either. There are plenty of alternative ways to get the books you need for the prices you can afford, the only trouble is deciding amongst them. Enter DealOz (www.dealoz.com). Formerly known as CampusI, DealOz is an easy-to-use service for comparing the price and shipping options for tons of booksellers online. Enter the title, ISBN, keyword, or author name, and DealOz will return a list of sites that offer the book as well as the rates that they charge for shipping and the book price itself. DealOz will even give estimates on shipping times and alert you if any coupons are available — both must-haves if you’re short on time and/or money.
The perks don’t stop there either, with DealOz offering to send you e-mail alerts when a bookseller offers your ideal preset price and the ability to compare bookbuying options via text message. I test drove the service, searching for a not-exactly well-known book on Korean cinema that I had purchased for full-price when I was in college, and sure enough DealOz gave me the info and coupon code I’d need to get the same edition for six dollars less on Half.com. With no need to sign-up (the site directly links you to the bookseller when you want to order) and no additional fees, DealOz seems like a great deal for your college book needs.
– Genevieve M. Blaber
September 10th, 2008
I always think to myself that by the time I get married, have kids, and send them off to college, the price of tuition will really be astronomical. As the cost of higher education continually rises (and the average private, four-year university tuition sans room and board is already $23,712 according to the CollegeBoard), what will tuition costs be like in a few years or even next year for that matter? The cost from last year has already risen 6.3 percent so where are we headed?!?!
TuitionBids.com aims to control this problem by helping students with affordable loans. Loans are important because they help you pay for school, but you must be aware that these need to be repaid over a period of time. So picking the right loan is crucial to your post-college debt management.
TuitionBids.com was founded in 2007 to “reform the higher educational lending industry,” according to their site. The site’s co-founder and CEO, Keith Alliotts, used to work with credit reports and always saw student loans on their credit. “What bothered me was that it became common practice for me to see this debt on people’s credit well into their 30s and 40s,” he says. “This is when I decided to do something about it.”
The site provides students with loan options by having lenders “bid” on the best loan for the student. TuitionBids.com will take the student through a step-by-step process to help them understand what loans will be best for them. From there students can start the process by clicking on the “Let the Bidding Begin” button. It is at this point where the student will fill out a detailed application.
“When the application is complete, TuitionBids.com does the rest,” says Alliotts. “The borrower then has the choice of up to six lenders and can decide which they would like to speak to.”
In essence, TuitionBids.com tries to narrow down the loan choices that will get you started (and continued) on your college career. And it’s easy to find any old loan, but TuitionBids.com aims to secure the right loan especially for you. “It is extremely important for all students to make sure they get the right loan because the average student holds onto their loan for approximately 19 years,” says Alliotts. “This debt becomes tremendously burdensome for the student and in a lot of cases delays their ability to purchase a home, car, etc.”
Once the right loan becomes available, a load is certainly lifted off a student (and parent’s) shoulders. It is then that the student can go on with the educational process and apply themselves. Alliotts offers up his advice: “Students need to get educated on this process so that they can make a more informed decision when it comes to borrowing money for school.”
With the escalating costs of education, we could use help somewhere. So check out TuitionBids.com and let them alleviate some of your stress. And if you haven’t quite chosen your school yet, let us help you conduct your search now!
-Amanda Fornecker
May 22nd, 2008
Yesterday was Earth Day but that doesn’t mean that you can’t keep on keeping green today and tomorrow. Living green will not only help the Earth, it can also help tighten your budget — a concern shared by plenty of college bound students. With that in mind here are a few tips for staying green during college:
1. Use Canvas Bags: Chances are you won’t be buying as much as you did when you lived at home, so why waste a few plastic bags when you can be prepared with your own canvas ones? Doing so will help keep plastic bags from hitting the landfills. If you find that you must use plastic bags, make an effort to later reuse them as trash bags, lunch bags, and even laundry bags.
2. Skip the Laundromat: While most people would rather go the automated route, handwashing can be gentler on delicate fabrics and clothing while also conserving electricity and water in the process. Not sure you want to get your hands wet? Then opt for a device like the Wonderwash Washing Machine which can clean small loads of laundry with the turn of a handle and zero electricity.
3. Create a Homemade Lamp: Sure, you can find dozens of happening styles at places like Ikea and other stores, but nothing compares to making your own one-of-a-kind lamp. How-to instructions and kits are available both on the Internet and at your local crafts store. Recycle vases and glass jars to create the base of your unique lighting fixture. (Interested in more tips for decorating dorms on the cheap? Click here.)
4. Don’t Write-Off Refillable Pens: By this stage in your education you’re probably used to purchasing bulk bags and boxes of pens at the beginning of each school year. But what happens to all of that plastic once you’ve run out of ink? They write their way into the trash. Though it may not seem like much, all those pens do add up — so consider buying a refillable pen instead. When the ink’s done you’ll only have a small tube to throw away, rather than an entire pen.
5. Think Outside the Margins: Your elementary school teacher taught you to always write inside the margins of the paper, but when all you’re doing is taking class notes there’s no point in wasting paper. Ignore that red line and start writing — or doodling — near the edge of the paper. You’ll be surprised by how much extra material you can fit on every page.
– Genevieve M. Blaber
April 23rd, 2008
