Spend Your Student Loan Wisely
When you borrow a dollar and you go to pay it back in the future it’s not just the dollar that you’re paying back you’re paying back that interest that they’re charging you and that compounds. It can be almost a dollar twenty five or almost a dollar fifty by the time you’ve paid it back. So you don’t want to spend it on anything that is not going to be cost effective for your education.
5 Things Students Should Not Spend Their Loan Money On
There are five things that students often spend their money on that they shouldn’t:
1. Choosing a school that’s too expensive. The students want to go to the schools that they’ve heard of, the ones that have the best names. And very often these are the schools that have the highest price tags. The question is whether or not the value you’re getting from that education is worth the cost. Don’t borrow for a school that you cannot afford. That’s the first thing.
2. Spending money on food and drink outside of the cafeteria or the schools’ mess halls. Students get used to going to Starbucks. They get used to going to cafes. They get used to living the life fandango when they’re at college. Why? Because their parents aren’t there. And because it’s just tres chic to do.
3. Taking too long to finish your degree. Make sure that you graduate on time because every extra year that you take costs more money and more time for you to pay it back.
4. Taking too long to pay back your loans. The longer you wait to pay it back the more you’re going to pay. If you can, start doing it earlier. Even if you can start to pay some of that back while you’re in college it won’t have a huge impact on you after college.
5. Don’t spend your money on a school that’s not right for you. The goal of college is to get the job that you want. There are between three and four thousand colleges in the United States. Only a handful are household names. Choose a school that’s right for you. One that you fit academically with, one that is strong in this major that you’re looking for, and one that has good connections for when you leave in getting you a job. If you choose your college correctly you’ll end up paying less. You’ll get a better value and the college is going to help you get the job of your dreams.
5 Things Students Should Spend Their Loan Money On
There are five things that you should spend your loan money on:
1. Tuition.
2. Room and Board. Where are you going to live? Where do you go and eat and how are you going to sustain yourself?
3. Books and materials. College books can be extremely expensive.
4. Transportation. If you’re living off campus getting to classes or if you’re going home for a break or coming back. All of these cost money.
5. Investing in social activities that will help build your network and allow you to go forth from the university with contacts.
Student Loans Are Not Free!
It is extremely important that you spend your student loan dollars wisely. When people borrow money it feels like it’s free. It feels like somebody has just given you a check. This is not a gift. There is nothing about this that is free. It is hugely important that you take the effort and the discipline required to make sure that your student loan debt does not go out of control and that you manage it while you’re in school so you can be most efficient with the dollars that you were borrowing. Every dollar that you borrow is an investment in your future. So invest wisely.
