From Red to Black

Be Debt-Free by Graduation

I came across a great article on savings and savings strategies and wanted to pass it along. This is from the gather.com Money Correspondent - Ms.Meacham Money Maven. Now, she is saving for a vacation property, but here strategies and plans can be very easily applied to those of you planning and saving for college. Read on!

I’m saving for at least a down payment on a vacation/investment property like this one I spied in Yacatan, Mexico.

I’m going about this in a number of ways that force personal savings, and provide decent returns:

1) I started depositing 10 to 20 percent of every check I receive into a money-market savings account (one that pays 2.3 percent interest monthly at PayPal).

A few less trips for eat-out food and drink each month: Free. Losing weight and saving without much pain in the process? Priceless…

The Rest of the Article…


Click here to find the right student loan for you

If you are a student heading back to school in the fall (end of August), chances are you have a date looming over your head. For most of us the date is August 1. August 1 is the deadline that most colleges and universities set for paying your school bill for the upcoming year.

Some of you will be able to pay in cash or write a check for your school expenses. If you can do that, GREAT!

However, most of us will not have that option. Some of us will be able to put our school bill on a 0% interest credit card and hope to pay it off in the 0% interest time frame. Others will take out loans from banks or borrow money from family members. If you still have not decided how you are going to finance school because you have no idea where to get started, allow me to suggest that you visit Simple Tuition. Simple Tuition lays out a variety of options in a simple format for you to choose from. With Simple Tuition you will vow that paying for college has never been easier!

Visit Simple Tuition today!


Take the time to plan for your child's future.

uPromise helps you save for college by doing things that you already do.  Eating out, shopping, buying groceries, vacations, and fueling your car can help you save for college.  Join uPromise to take advantage of all the ways you can save for college!  If you join now, you will be eligible to enter to win $100,000 to pay your college bills!

“Consider This:” is a series about different situations that we as college students run into. “Consider This:” will look at the pros and cons of these situations and will hopefully give you enough insight to make a good decision.

For those of us who are still college students, summer has moved just past the halfway point. In just less than a month and a half we will be crowding back into dorms and classrooms ready to give another nine months to education.

Some of you will spend these 9 months just studying and reading, others will split time between studying and fun, and still others will try to balance studies, fun, and work (because we know no of us ever spend our time just goofing around). Balancing studies, fun, and work is a difficult thing. It takes a very disciplined individual to be able to keep grades up, keep a job, and still find time to have a social life. Consider the following # things as you plan for this next year.

1) Do I need a job?

Many students work as a way to help pay for school and related expenses. Some others work just to have a little bit of fun money. It all boils down to what you want to do. If you are able to keep up with school payments without getting a job, and you don’t want to get one – then don’t! If you need to get a job because school is just so darned expensive – keep reading.

2) Should I work On Campus or Off Campus?

A Director of Student life at a smaller college near Philadelphia said it best this way. “When you work on campus your employer (the school/college catering service) understands that you are a student. When you work off campus your employer just sees as an employee.” Basically, on campus jobs allow for scheduling flexibility and convenience, whereas off campus jobs might pay better, but you may end up sacrificing other parts of your schedule.

3) What job options are available?

If you are looking for an on campus job, the best place to start is the Financial Aid office. The Financial Aid office usually takes care of posting student job opportunities, so contacting them is a great place to start. If you know what you want to do on campus, for example lawn care, the you can probably contact the department directly which in this case would be the maintenance department. If you are looking to work off campus Craigslist or Yahoo! HotJobs are great places to start. Just choose your city or locale, and explore your options.

We hope this helps steer you in the right directions as you seek employment to conquer this high cost of college. As always, if you like what you read, be sure to pass it on to your friends!

-mycollegedebt team

Don’t forget about the $25 Gift Card Contest!

It is time for the first ever MyCollegeDebt Shopping Spree Contest. The winner of this contest will receive a $25 gift card to Macy’s!

So, how can you win? It goes like this. Become a member of RME using the button at the end of this post, send me your confirmation of membership e-mail at rethansmith@gmail.com, and you will be entered to win the gift card! You might say - “DangIt, I already joined RME!” Thats OK! Just send me proof that you are a member or comment here that you are a member and you will be entered too!

You all know that a good contest doesn’t allow you just one entry…So, if you want to maximize your chances of winning, you will also join uPromise using the banner provided below. uPromise offers college savings for the things that you already do like shop and dine out. Once again send me a confirmation of membership and you are in, and the same goes for those that are already members. Just comment or e-mail me and you are in on the contest.
Upromise.comRefer A Friend using Revolution Money Exchange

Include in you comments and e-mails your name and e-mail address. This will help me get in touch with the winner when I announce one. This contest will end on August 10. 2008. Good luck!

I interrupt regular posting to bring you this message

THE FIRST EVER MyCollegeDebt CONTEST WILL START SOON!

The details of the contest and the prize is pretty Hush-Hush right now, but I promise you will have details next week!  Until then, tell your friends about us.

-ethan

So, you get out of work on Friday from your average summer job with an average sized paycheck. You have some cash now. You also have a decision to make. You could spend this week’s paycheck on entertainment, food, clothing, or any other one of these things that make having money so much fun. Unfortunately, buying soda, DVD’s, bubble tea, and sunglasses will not help you pay for college at all. Each week when you get your paycheck you need to have a plan (which is more commonly known as a budget to the older generations). I have outline a simple on below. Feel free to tinker with it as necessary - because we all have different lives.

1. Pay yourself first! I don’t mean go out and spend a bunch, I mean take between 5 and 15% out of each paycheck and put it in a savings account. You will be thankful to have this money should you ever happen upon a rainy day. By the way - The easiest way to become a millionaire is to pay yourself first and save your money. (If you belong to a religion or faith, and you feel you should tithe or give money to your place of worship or organization, this is usually done first as well).

2. Cover the essentials. Make sure you have enough food, gas, heat, and electricity to make it through. If you live with your parents, this should be less of an issue, but if you are out on your own you will need to cover the essentials before anything else.

3. Pay the bills. This is where you get to make some payments on those loans and credit cards (the easiest way not to have to make payments on credit cards is to steer clear!!!). If you can, try to pay more than just the minimum on your loans and bills. The faster you get rid of them the better!

4. If by this point you have anything left, revisit the other categories and see if you can contribute more. Debt is not pleasant. Treat it like the plague. Get rid of it as soon as possible.

5. By this point you should have about $2.89 left. Just enough for a large coffee at Starbucks!

If you like what you read - share it!

-ethan

From time to time, I will take a post and devote it to some great websites that are overlooked, but will no doubt one day become quite popular. Today’s feature is TuneFlow.

Every month, TuneFlow challenges artists around the world to write and record new, original songs based on one of four new titles we’ve chosen. Artists have one month to write, record and submit their entries.

You review and rate the entries. The songs with the best average ratings at the end of the month win. It’s “battle of the bands” Internet style!

Here is the best part. When you sign-up with TuneFlow you will find a Big Green “Rate Music” button. For every three songs you rate and review, you can earn one FREE download of any TuneFlow song of your choice!

So, whether you are looking to discover some new artists, or just find Free MP3’s for your player, TuneFlow is the place to go!

-ethan

Refer A Friend using Revolution Money Exchange

When PayPal began back around the year 2000 they weren’t immediately popular. They had this little way of getting people to join. It was called an incentive. An incentive is a little free gift that companies hand out to people to try out and use their service. (You can go tell your mom and dad that you learned a new word today). PayPal gave out $10 to each person that opened an account back in 2000. They are now to the point where they are a household name for buying and selling online.

A new company popped up recently called RevolutionMoneyExchange. The basic concept is that they will provide the same service that PayPal does but for FREE. Best of all, they expect to remain free forever! So how does this get you an easy $525? RME is giving an incentive of $25 to new members of the program. But it does not stop there. For every friend you invite that joins they will give you $10 up to $500. Bam. An easy $525. So, stop reading, click over to RME, join, invite your friends and get paid (you can request payment directly to your bank account or by check).

$525.

-ethan

Summertime is the Primetime to make some extra cash to pay off your loans or put toward books in the fall.  Now I know most of you probably already have one or maybe even two regular jobs that you work.  But, chances are you have at least two free days or maybe a few free hours in your week somewhere.

Last summer I was unable to get a regular job.  Nobody wanted to hire me for three months before I left for school.  So, I turned to CraigslistCraigslist is the first place I click over to when I am looking for some extra cash.  On each city and town page there is a section entitle “gigs”.  There are some crazy things people will pay you to do.  Last year I found a gig on Craigslist - I got paid $110 for pulling out three bushes!  These gigs can also help you hone and practice your skills.  Sometimes people want web designers, models, promoters, photographers, etc.  The possibilities are endless.

Go to Craigslist, find a city near you, make some extra cash!  When you do, tell me about your experience at rethansmith@gmail.com.  I will post your story here for all to read!

-ethan