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.

Great Deals for College Students

If you are a college student, then you know how important it is to find great deals at the most ridiculously inexpensive prices ever. You know what I’m talking about… the ones where you go around bragging to your friends about the steal you just got.

Besides the tuition, the bills, and other living costs, it’s hard to find cool items at the right price, but one website has got your back. CollegeBudget is a site founded especially for college students. Every day it’s got a new steal of deal! You can find items ranging from jewelry to athletic apparel, and iPods to dresses. What’s great is that most items are at least half off their original prices! If that’s not a good deal, then I want to know where you’re shopping.

All you have to do us sign up with CollegeBudget and click on whichever deal fancies you. You will then get a coupon that is worth whatever the deal was for. You may be asking how this is possible. Can it really be true? Can such wonderful student discounts exist? It is true because companies are ok with giving out a few discounts for the publicity that CollegeBudget provides, and the new customers who are referred. It’s a win, win, win situation. What are you waiting for? Go ahead and check it out at the main CollegeBudget site or their Facebook page.

Should I Apply for Scholarships?

A lot of students are probably wondering if they should even bother going through the application process. I admit that it is a lot of work, but it does pay off. Scholarships can range anywhere from $200 to $20,000. If you think about it even the smaller awards are worth the trouble. When I applied for scholarships, I liked to think of the process like a job. I show up for work, put in the hours and then I get paid. Even if you spend 5 hours (which is a lot of time) on a $200 scholarship and win, this means that you were getting paid at $40 per hour! I don’t know about you, but I’ve never heard of a summer job that pays that well. Your chances of winning these small awards are pretty good too. Most people aim for the big bucks and tend to ignore the smaller ones. This leaves all the money for you!

You should definitely apply for the large scholarships too. I’m just saying that you should mix it up a little bit. Apply for all different amounts and you will probably get several of them. If you are going to go after the big fish, you should make sure that you match the requirements exactly and that your essay is great. Invest a little more time on the scholarships that are worth more and the ones you think you’ve got a good chance of winning. These are the awards that are really worth it.

If you are worried about the grades… don’t worry too much. There are lots of awards out there that are so specific that you may be the only one that fits the requirements. Focus on your ethnicity, your interests, your skills, and you will be able to find something. It is definitely helpful to know your heritage and where you come from because there is tons of money set aside for those who have a diverse background. If you are a young white male, then you will have to either get creative with your skills or really focus on the academics because there are no awards specifically for you. I know this because I searched… long and hard! There is always a scholarship that will fit you. All you’ve got to do is spend the time finding them.

Inexpensive College Textbooks

As most college students and even some teachers will tell you, textbooks are extremely overpriced. The most expensive books seem to be the hard sciences (physics, biology, chemistry) and math books. Publishing companies need to create new material so as to maintain their profit margins. Now you know why there are twenty editions of your math book. If your campus bookstore is anything like mine, they will sell the most current edition of the book you’re going to need. Some teachers are considerate, and let you purchase an older edition, but this is somewhat rare. You can also buy a used textbook from your college, but they don't always have these available, and they aren't as cheap as they could be. This may be a nice little discount, but you might get lost when readings are assigned, because when editions change the page numbers do as well. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get the current edition AND still save a wad of cash?

What you can do instead of visiting the bookstore, is find out what books are required ahead of time. They may be listed on your class homepage, or you may have to email your professor. Either way, just figure out what books you will need. Then log on to the World Wide Web (which you obviously already know how to do) and find your books! Here are the places I like to look.

1.  Craigslist - Craigslist is a little hit or miss. Sometimes you find amazing deals, but often your search will turn up empty. This is because you are only searching locally and shipping is not involved. I always check here first because the books are usually the cheapest if they are there at all.
2.  Amazon - Amazon is where I have purchased almost all of my books. They have always got the book you’re looking for and it’s usually cheaper than Ebay or Overstock. It’s easy to find books because people are selling them all across the country.
3. Ebay - I have purchased several books from Ebay, simply because they were cheaper than Amazon. It’s always good to compare prices.
4. Overstock - I have actually never purchased a book from Overstock, because they are consistently more expensive. However, I like to check it out every once in a while, because I could be wrong.

The beauty of this strategy is that at the end of the term you can take these books back to your bookstore and sell them there! On rare occasions I have even turned a profit! I sold a book back for more than what I bought it for on Amazon! One thing you need to watch out for if you want to sell your books back is that you need to buy the exact same edition that the store was selling at the beginning of the term. It is really tempting to buy the international edition of a book from some other country, but you need to know that your school will not buy it back from you. If you are scared of buying the wrong book, all you have to do is search for the book’s ISBN (International Standard Book Number). Type the number in your search bar and you’ll be golden!

You might be thinking, “Tomorrow is my first day of class! I don’t have time to wait for shipping!” I’ve been in this situation before, and what you can do is buy the books at your bookstore and then return them when the ones from Amazon, Ebay, or wherever arrive. Make sure you check the return policy. I was always given two weeks to return the books.

Purchasing my books online has saved me hundreds of dollars and usually gets me the books at half price. It is something that everyone can do, and is super easy.

Don't Take My Word For It

Dave Ramsey has got some great words of advice for incoming college students and even graduating students. He has been offering advice on personal finance for over twenty years, and has got some good insight into the world of money. His life has been filled with financial ups and downs, so he’s learned a lot over the years. 


Something that I particularly like about what he said is that we simply don’t have to go into debt to finish college. It is a strange mindset to have, but many people automatically assume that they need to take out a loan in order to graduate from college. It’s not true as long as you work through your education. Americans needs to get out of this debtor mentality and live within their means. You should probably wait for that paycheck before getting that sweet ride. However, I have heard that in recent years (probably due to the recession) Americans have actually begun to save at a positive rate. Before just a couple years ago the US had a negative savings rate! This really upset me, but I can't say that I was very surprised when I heard the news. But anyway, it seems like people have been learning from their mistakes... maybe after they listened to Dave Ramsey.

Private vs Public

There is a huge price range when it comes to considering college! You’ve got your basic two year community colleges all the way up to Harvard, Stanford, and Oxford (here’s a little tip… if anything ends in –ord then you know its pricey). Any private school is going to be extremely expensive because they are not funded by taxes. I paid well under $10,000 per year while attending community college and state school. On the other hand private schools can cost upwards of $50,000 per year. Now that may seem reasonable if you expect to graduate with a law degree or become a surgeon, but most people don’t end up with careers that pay in the hundreds of thousands. If you are a driven, ambitious individual who know exactly what you want, then maybe you should consider going to a top private school. In my experience I’ve noticed that most people don’t know exactly what they want to do and end up changing majors at least once.


Going to a private college does look good on a resume, but finding a job that will pay off all the debt is the hard part. You’ve got to hope that when you emerge from the classroom that the economy is good and your field is in demand. One of the worst things that could happen is for the interest to start piling up and you sink deeper and deeper in debt. This can most certainly happen to anyone and usually ends in bankruptcy, which is good for no one at all.

A state school is much more manageable and affordable. It is reasonable to work a part time job in order to fund your time at college with the help of grants/scholarships. This does not put on the pressure of completing a degree that you find does not fit you. It allows for a little flexibility, just in case you want to change majors and take another year for school. You won’t be fifty grand further in debt. 

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Orientation Day

This blog has been created to give college students or future college students a leg up on their financial situation as they plan for the next four years of their life. It’s here to tell you that there is a way to get through it without debt! So I bet you’re thinking, “Yeah right! A college education is expensive”… and I’ve got news for you. That is absolutely true. But, there are ways that you can fund your bills, cut your costs, and get good grades in the process. Stay with me and I’ll share my experiences in college and how I got through free of debt. I’ll go over everything from how to get scholarships, housing situations, part time work, government grants, grades, and even having fun on a budget.


I’m not going to give advice about something that I don’t know anything about, so obviously I’ll talk about what I’ve learned through my own college experiences. I’m here more to tell you how to avoid resorting to student loans, than to guide you through the payment of those loans. This is because I never had to take out a loan to graduate.

In all fairness, I have not graduated yet, as I’m still working toward my bachelor’s. That being said, all I have left is twelve credits and then its graduation baby! So unless some catastrophic disaster occurs within the next three months, I will emerge debt free with a bachelor’s degree. So I’ll share what has worked for me and what has been difficult with regard to my finances.