Personal Finance Specialist - Dara Duguay

Here's a little video I found with some good tips on loans, credit card debt, and budgeting

I think that she's got some good common sense ideas about personal finance. What she said about learning finance from the school of hard knocks hits our problems right on the head. Most Americans don't learn how to manage their money in the proper arenas. I believe that we should be teaching kids about money at an early age, especially at home. Parents have every opportunity to discuss finances and budgeting with their kids, but often times they don't.

Graduating With NO Debt

The day finally came when I could walk out of my last final! All I could think about was, “is this real?” It was such a relief to know that I was done. That was two days ago and I’ve been thinking about how blessed I am to be graduating with zero debt and with money in the bank. I know that I’m blessed because when I look at the statistics they say that this does not usually happen.

I know that the odds are stacked against students. A 2008 study said that between 72% and 96% of students from private universities graduated with student loans! Only 62% graduated with debt from public universities. I’m not writing all this to toot my own horn, but to encourage you in the knowledge that it can be done! You can be that in that minority of students that graduates debt free, but you’ve got to concentrate and stay on track.

Hopefully the knowledge that it can be done will make you stronger and more determined to beat the system. Hope you enjoyed this little pep talk. Good luck in your studies!