I will face many serious financial challenges upon entering college, especially considering I have not planned for it at all. In fact, until a few months ago, I had no plans about college at all. Most likely, this will saddle me with even more problems to solve. While I am currently enrolled in a Consumer Math class, I fear this may not be enough. The problems I am most concerned about however, are how to budget, how to deal with debt, and, embarrassingly enough, how to do my taxes.
First, I require more education in budgeting. You see, I have never had to worry about how to budget. Even when I had a job, I lived under my parent’s roof, so I had to worry about very little. My main concerns were food, cellphone bills, and clothing costs. I never used a budget, as things seemed to just conveniently cost enough for me to be able to survive and put a little away in my bank account. I have lost this job, however, and do hope to find a new one soon. I will need budgeting within a few years, whether I go to college or simply go straight into the workforce. I will need it because I will have to balance several new expenses, including rent, water bills, and electricity. This is my biggest concern, as it seems to have the potential to ruin my everyday life if not handled.
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This will be especially important if I do decide to go to college, as that will most likely cause massive debt, considering I come from a lower middle-class family on a good day. I know that it is important to handle debt early on because of the potential consequences, but that is all I know. I don’t know the proper channels to go through, the proper way to pay it off, or even how debt works exactly. The class I’m enrolled in covered it, but I don’t feel it was detailed enough to really help me all that much. As it stands, I know less about debt than I feel at all comfortable with, and the sooner I can remedy that, the
Debt is heavy. It sits on your shoulders and weighs you down. Debt is also addictive. It 's easy to throw something on credit when you don 't actually have the money to buy it. It gives you instant gratification, and that can feel good - in the moment. But, for many people, there comes a point where they can 't use their credit anymore and debt is all they are left with. The stress of having to pay it all off can take its toll on your happiness and health, so you must come up with a way to get out of debt and start living a debt free life. Following are two things that will help you get out of debt once and for all.
Start the debt snowball by paying minimums on all of your debts except the smallest one. Place any extra money to that smallest debt. This will make that debt paid off much quicker.
This is important for any student beginning to save for college because they need to understand the various ways they can pay for college besides taking out loans and borrowing from family members. This is currently playing a big role in my life, as I am trying to plan out my future and the money I will need to spend for my education. My goal is to get my undergraduate degree in biology, and after that attend KU Medical School. I will spend around 8 years or more in college, and the amount of money that will accumulate will be far too much for me to pay for all by
Doyle states in his article, “As of this writing, the total amount of outstanding student loan debt has been estimated at $960 billion (Kantrowitz, 2011).” Right now, there is only 7.4 billion people on earth, but not all of those people are in debt. So, massive debt with not near enough people to even cover the debt on the whole planet put this issue into perspective. Many people talk about applying for scholarships but scholarships can only cover so much of the price, and even then, the scholarships aren’t guaranteed. Now what about paying off the loans? How will that take? “First, incomes vary tremendously across different choices of majors and professions. Second, the incomes of individuals starting out in the labor market vary according to the state of the labor market at that time.” There are many different factors that go into this process. As stated in the previous paragraph, those who do both work and school are more apt to pay their debt off at a quicker pace. But, how much they make and how often they paid is another contributing factor. If the average college student is making minimum wage (part time) and is going to an in
It is a norm and expectation in society today for students to pursue higher education after graduating from high school. College tuition is on the rise, and a lot of students have difficulty paying for their tuitions. To pay for their tuitions, most students have to take out loans and at the end of four years, those students end up in debt. Student loan debts are at an all time high with so many people graduating from college, and having difficulties finding jobs in their career fields, so they have difficulties paying off their student loans and, they also don’t have a full understanding of the term of the loans and their options if they are unable to repay.
• Not budgeting is one of the most overlooked financial mistakes. You need to know exactly how much money comes in and out at least on the weekly basis. To explain, you must find out exactly how much money you bring home, separate the money in categories to cover those expenses and finally stick with the plan.
In today 's society, many young adults pay thousands of dollars to go to college to be able to get a good job in the future. However, as society continues to move forward many young adults are leaving their campuses with expensive degrees, while also still struggling to get a job. One of the things contributing to the growing risk of going to college is how increasingly expensive it is to go to school. Things like student loan debt are a major contributor to that expense. Casey Bond stated how “The growth of student loan debt is being compared to the recent housing crisis because of the significant growth of subsidized lending,” The primary goal of college used to about gaining new knowledge and becoming a better member of society. However,
The first solution to limit debt for a student is working and saving while attending school. Another solution includes attending a community college instead of,or before, a university. As a final solution, applying for scholarships can limit or diminish the amount of money needed to borrow, therefore, decreasing future debt. To start, one considerable solution to help with student debt is working and saving.
Over the last few decades, college tuitions and fees have increased by over one thousand percent, surpassing every category associated with the cost of living including food and medical. This unprecedented rise in cost has resulted in an avalanche of issues for young and middle-age adults. As, a result of steep student loan amounts, graduates are being forced to move back with their parents, fewer young people are becoming homeowners, they are delaying retirement saving, and are dropping out of college at an alarming rate of nearly fifty percent. With all the controversy surrounding the topic of increasing college cost, the revised income-driven repayment program has been created to help borrowers pay back student loans according to their income.
“Debt Burden: Repaying Student Debt.” American Council on Education. One Dupont Circle NW. Sep. 2004. Web. 12 Nov. 2011.
For at least a century, tuition at selective private colleges and universities has risen annually by two to three percent more than the rate of inflation (Ehrenberg 1). Tuition increases at public colleges have slowed slightly, but the cost is still out of reach for low-income students. Financial aid has dwindled. A select group of colleges and universities are cutting their tuition; (Carapezza, 2013) however, student debts can stick with a person, even after graduation. Due to a university’s cost, a handful of tuition is passed down to the students. With college follows the higher cost of living. Incomes are limited due to low paying jobs. During my first week in college, everything about college was an adventure. From what to expect in college, to the adaptation of the college environment, the college experience seemed nerve wracking at first. However, the lessons from college proved to be beneficial towards my life. At that moment, not only have I learned about the college experience, I’ve also learn about the burdens of college tuition, how it can impact a person’s life, and as well as being a successful college student. Also, college tuition has escalated my worries toward the future. To help pay for higher education, the federal government offers tuition tax credit programs (College Board, n.d). Anyone who can afford to pay for thousands of dollars can usually ignore it. As for everyone else, when every penny counts, questions will be raised about where every penny is going. If tax dollars were to be invested to either the national health care or the military, for one, transferring taxes to health care will ensure the public's health; however, since taxes was invested in health care, there will be fewer doctors towards a m...
Telling you what I will do to deal with excess student debt is boring. The other essays probably say enough of that. Obviously, I'm going to apply for scholarships, like this one and like ones my college of choice offer. Internships or other work will offer practical experience in addition to any wage. Naturally, I'll save money by renting textbooks, living with my parents, biking or walking to school, attend a cost-efficient college, and hey, maybe use LendEDU. You can guess that much.
With six hours of school, several hours of extra-curricular activities, community and church activities, and family time, it 's practically impossible for a high school student to hold a full-time job. Many college students graduate with a degree, but debt that will burden them for years. While scholarships provide the opportunity to help ease the burden, there is still the question of how can students pay for college without accumulating a large amount of debt. Even if a student has a job that pays above minimum wage, it is difficult to earn enough money to pay for tuition out of pocket. Especially when there are other expenses to be paid during high school such as, a car, repairs for your car, a phone and its monthly plan payments, a laptop, holiday and birthday expenses, gas money, and more. Personally, the financial challenges I will have to address, is how am I going to pay for college without going into debt? As well as paying for supplies and living expenses, and possibly
With these three scenarios, I have learned several things about making a personal budget. I learned how to research the economic situation and best predict the prices for certain things. I also learned how best to manage bills under a tight and a very free budget. I learned how to manage money, not just for myself, but for others that I may one day be responsible for.
As time goes on, you will find that your original budget has some slaws. Some areas of budget planning might be overestimated, and some areas might be underestimated. Some of the flaws in budget making, for instance, are unemployment because if a person gets unemployed he has to have a strict budget to follow. For example making home food and not going out because that will result him in debt. Some of the other flaws are increase in rent, increase in car insurance because of accidents occurring, credit card payments, groceries, and eating out with friends. All of these flaws can cause a person to be more in debt and cau...