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!

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.

Balancing School with Life

This is for all of you workaholics out there, because life is not all about work! We humans need a little thing called rest if we want to keep our sanity and stay productive. I know a few people, myself included, who for a few years of their academic life went off the deep end. All assignments had to be perfect! All readings had to be completed! It was a little ridiculous (not to mention stressful). Sooner or later perfection is going to take up all of our time. School is not meant to be the end goal, it is supposed to be the beginning; a means to an end.

I hope you don’t take this the wrong way and drop all your books and fly to Mexico. That is not what I’m saying at all! What I want you to do is spend a reasonable amount of time on your studies, a reasonable amount of time on your job, and take the rest of the time and rest! Here are a few things that I think are beneficial to recharging those brain cells.

•          Spend time with your family: They should be a great source of encouragement. Most people feel very comfortable around their family and are then able to relax. They don’t have to be anyone but themselves. Family members can also be great for bouncing ideas off of. If you’re stressed about school, then ask a family member, and they will more than likely have a good answer for you. This should be a no pressure situation.
•          Spend time with friends: Friends are great for goofing off with and just plain old having fun. Try to get a group of friends together and just hang out or play a game.
•          Be active: Staying active is actually extremely beneficial for your brain. Exercise doesn’t have to be boring either. You can always get your friends together for a game of basketball or soccer.
•          Take summers off: I always tried to take the summers off from school. These extended breaks allow you to travel and simply take your mind off things. I’ve found that these times allow for multiple perspectives on school. It’s super refreshing!
•          Sleep: This is the first thing that goes when we get too busy. But sleep is vital to our brain functions and a lack of it can mess up our day. Take it from a guy who has tried to start the day on less than three or four hours of sleep (on multiple occasions). It is not pretty.

Most of this stuff is pretty simple, and there are probably a million other things you can do to balance work with life. I think that spending quality time with people after a good night’s sleep is a good place to start.

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.

A Couple Tips on Perseverance

Guess what! College can be tough, whether you are working on the side or not. Stressful? Absolutely! Time consuming? You know it! So here is a little bit of a reminder to myself as much as you. In order to complete your classes successfully you need to be able to maintain a positive outlook and devote consistent time to the work.

I’ve got an intense case of senioritis right now and am plain old tired! But I’m going to keep going. Over the years I have learned to make my goal the completion of the quarter. Don’t focus on the entire four year program, since that is way too overwhelming. By focusing on one quarter at a time, you can celebrate the little victories along the way. Consider each successful quarter a mini graduation and celebrate with your friends. “It’s baby steps Bob… baby steps to the door… baby steps to the elevator.” I sure hope you’ve seen What About Bob, but if not I’m sure you get the point.

Perseverance requires that you put in the time and the effort. So I’ve got two tips for you. First, you should set aside specific times for homework throughout the week. Whether you set up a lot of small segments or a couple large chunks of time is up to you and your personal learning style. I would suggest that you find a place that is quite and free of distractions. I know a coffee shop sounds like a whole lot more fun, but most people (including myself) don’t get as much work done in there as they would in a quite environment. This doesn’t have to be somewhere as boring as the library; you can always find a nice quiet corner of the local park, as long as the weather is nice enough.

My second tip is prioritizing your work. This simply means taking the assignments that are worth the most points, due first, or will take the longest and focus on them first. Also, if you are running out of time, don’t kill yourself over the reading. If you’re stressed and hurried, you probably won’t absorb those chapters on Shakespeare anyway. You’ll get good at this prioritizing thing with practice. After a while you will notice what teachers are looking for and it will get a whole lot easier. I’ve got one teacher that covers everything so thoroughly in his lecture notes that I don’t even bother with the text book reading.

These tips should help you in the successful completion of each individual quarter. Now take it one step at a time, and don’t stress, because you can do it!