How to Make College Less Expensive

Disclaimer

I am not a financial adviser, nor do I have children in college. I am just a woman with A LOT of student loan debt. Hind sight is 20/20. So with the knowledge I now have this is the way I would have saved money on college.

Feel free to pass some of these tips on to anyone you know who is college bound.

Things You Can Do in High School

1. Take A.P. classes
A.P. classes are a great way to get some of your general education classes out of the way (for free). The fewer classes you have to take, the more money you save.

2. Get Good Grades (I did this)
I graduated high school with a B average, with that I was able to get a small grant for my freshman year. Money saved. If I had it to do again I would have really tried for an A average.

3. Go to Summer School (I did this too)
Back in my day (Class of 97) it was very hard to graduate high school early. I think the school got more money if they had a certain amount of students. But if you live some where that they will let you skip a grade and/or graduate early do it. This looks good for colleges and you may get a scholarship. If not (this is if you want to go to an out of state public school), you can move to the state that you want to go to school. After you live in a state for a year you become a resident (unless the rules have changed). Residents get in-state tuition, this can be the difference between $100 a credit and $400 a credit.

Things To Do In College

1. Go to Community College
At most schools the first two years is dedicated to taking general education classes. For a fraction of the cost you can go to community college, take the same classes, and save a lot of money.

2. Go to a Public School
Now days most public universities are just as good as private universities. Unless going to Harvard or Princeton are family traditions (in which your parents can probably can afford to pay for your school anyway) find a good public school and save some money

3. Go to an In-State School
Most states have at least one stand out school (I'm lucky Florida has 5 that I can think of off the top of my head). Find one with the major you are interested in and go to it. If there isn't one in your state, consider moving there for a year and become a resident.

4. Try Not to Take Private Student Loans and/or Take Only What You Need.
This was my down fall. The first time I went to college I had federal loans and I took every cent I could get. Not to bad considering it was a public school. The second time I went to college I went to a private school and had to take out a private student loan. I still took every cent I could get. BIG Mistake.

So, those are my thoughts. Please add any that you may have.

Changing My Ways

I've been giving a lot of thought on how I can stretch the few dollars I have left after I pay my bills. I have decided that I have to change my shopping habits and except the fact that my funds are limited. Everyone in my family is a little on the snooty side when it comes to certain things, we only buy new hoses (but live in them forever) we only by new cars (but we keep them until they fall apart), we only shop at the "nicer" stores (Target vs Walmart, Costco vs Sam's, Macy's vs J.C. Penney, etc.). This is a hard habit to break but that is not my financial life anymore (as if it ever was)

So I have decided to do the following in order to get the most for my money.

1. Shop for my groceries and other house hold goods at Walmart and/or the Dollar Store
I have been to Walmart a few times and I admit their prices are pretty good. I just always
hated the store. It always seemed so dirty, and the people that shopped there
seemed "low class". But they were the smart ones, they were saving an average of $1 per
item. As far as the dollar store, soap is soap no matter where you get it.

2. Buy clothes from off-price retailers (T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, Ross, Burlington Coat Factory)
These stores did a great job during the holidays showing people that the clothes they sell are from department stores and designers. Why pay full price when I don't have to?

3. Buy in bulk
My mother has a Costco card and I plan to take full advantage. There is a lot of money to
be saved in those warehouses.

There are some things that I will never do no matter how much money you can save. I will never shop at Good Will of a Flea Market, I will never buy an used used car (the most I am willing to do is buy a last years model that never left the lot, or 1 year old only one owner).

Does anyone else have any money saving ideas?