Posts Tagged ‘college planning strategies’
College planning strategies: Save, save, save!
College is expensive, so most students will have to make a concerted effort to save up for their college costs. If you are trying to save money for college, here are some tips to help you out.
- Start saving NOW. It’s never to early to start a college savings account. Even if you don’t plan on going for several years, start putting money aside so that you have some saved when you are ready to hit the books.
- Find little ways to save money. For instance, make your own coffee and put your daily Starbucks allowance into savings, or eat in more often. Every time you cut back where you would normally spend, put the savings into your college account!
- Automatically deposit some of every paycheck into savings. If you’re no good at cutting back on the spot, set up your direct deposit or your account to automatically move a certain amount into savings with every paycheck. That way if the money isn’t there, you just won’t spend it.
- Get a second job or do some side work, and put the extra money into savings. Babysitting, selling on eBay, or working a part-time job on the weekends are all ways that you can earn some additional money to put towards your college costs.
Saving can be difficult and frustrating, so don’t expect too much of yourself. Remember that your college savings should increase slowly over time, not overnight. Trying to save everything at once is like going on a crash diet: You’re likely to get withdrawals and binge!
Tags: college costs, college planning strategies, college savings, save money for college