Food and financial advice for the college-bound
Posted
Aug 19 2008, 07:36 PM
by
Ryan MacClanathan
Rating:
Student loans, fast food, credit card debt, the "freshmen 15," all-night binge drinking/study sessions -- plenty of financial and dietary perils
await today's incoming college freshmen.
For many young adults the first years of college are a time
to make mistakes and, hopefully, learn from those mistakes. Unfortunately, some
of those errors in judgment can take years to fix. Plenty of adults in their
30s and 40s are struggling to beat down debt accrued in their wilder days. And, of course,
there's the old adage: A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips.
Fortunately, Kris at Cheap Healthy Good has sound,
nonjudgmental advice for young student on how to eat
healthy and live frugally, both of which go hand in hand.
Kris recounts how her parents promised to pay her tuition
for two years if she maintained a 3.0 grade-point average.
"No problem," she thought. That is until she ended
the semester with a 2.99 GPA. Her parents stuck to their word and handed her
the bill.
Kris learned three things from the experience:
- There
are no second chances with real-world money.
- There
are no second chances with real-world expectations.
- My
parents don't mess around, ever.
"Thanks to that inglorious 2.99, I pay bills on time. I
don't miss deadlines. I try to exceed what people ask of me," Kris writes.
Kudos to Kris, and kudos to her parents for teaching her
such a valuable (and expensive) lesson.
For more on how to deal with college debt while living on
little income, click
here. Want to cut your college costs? Click
here to read how you can slash your bill by 25%. Click
here for no-holds-barred advice on how to maintain your first budget.
Got a money story to tell from your college days? Do you
have any advice for this fall's college freshmen? Please share your thoughts.
