Search results for college
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Posted
Dec 04 2007, 09:36 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Joseph S. Enoch at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. After numerous complaints about Video Professor's sales tactics, ConsumerAffairs.com decided to try the lessons ourselves. For 20 years, John Scherer, otherwise known as the Video Professor, has advertised on cable TV the wonders of his educational software. "I am so confident that I'm going to give you one free disc," he says in his "limited-time- offer" advertisements. In actuality, it appears impossible to get just one free disc. Instead, it is a packaged bundle of three discs that costs $6.95 for shipping and handling. If the customer doesn't return one of the discs, at the customer's expense, within 10 days, that person will be enrolled in an automatic-renewal service that sends new three-disc bundles every month for $79.95.
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Posted
Dec 10 2007, 09:35 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
A real frugalist just hates to pay retail. I need five books for next quarter's university classes. They’d have cost $91.23 at the university bookstore. I paid $27.20 because I went shopping on the Internet. (That price included shipping.)
All you college students: Start looking now for next quarter’s books. Don’t wait until January, and don’t buy them at the university bookstore if you can possibly avoid it.
Yes, I know you’re slogging toward or through finals week. But you stand to save a bundle if you go online. According to the College Board, which tracks higher-education costs, the average amount spent on course materials at four-year colleges is $935 per year.
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Posted
Dec 31 2007, 08:36 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This devil's advocate post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. What do Suze Orman, Robert Kiyosaki, David Bach and every other so-called personal-finance expert have in common? They don't know you, but they know exactly what's wrong with you and how to fix it. Orman thinks you're a moron, that you need tough love, and that those 0% financing offers from Ford are awesome. Kiyosaki says you're like his poor dad, you should aspire to be like his rich dad (who apparently isn't real), and that you should buy one of his books. Bach thinks, without the indignation that comes with Orman, that you should get out of your own way and make things automatic. I think you should ignore personal-finance experts -- all of them. You might think this is a self-serving devil's advocate post -- and it is, because personal- finance bloggers aren't experts. Then again, bloggers don't treat you badly and tell you how you need a wake-up call. Bloggers just write about themselves and invite you to check out how normal and bad at personal finance we are. Experts are a totally different animal, and here's why you should ignore them.
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Posted
Jan 18 2008, 09:04 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The other day I treated myself to a ham and cheese sandwich at Jimmy John's in the University District. As I ate, I wondered why I like this place so much.
Maybe it's the bread, I thought; it’s chewy, not crumby. Maybe it's the day-old baguettes that are sold for 50 cents and that turn leftover soup into a very nice supper. Maybe it's the price: $3.65 for a "plain slim" (no lettuce, tomatoes or onions).
Probably it's the staff, I decided. Quick with a smile. Always willing to cut those 16-inch baguettes in half so they'll fit in my book bag. And they really do provide the "freaky fast" service the store advertises.
Then I realized what really tied it for me: There isn't a tip jar by the cash register.
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Posted
Feb 01 2008, 08:52 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
I used to feel a small, secret scorn for people who couldn't control their debit-card spending.
Explanations like "It just doesn't seem like real money" or "It's hard to keep track of how much you've spent" made me wonder why in the world it wouldn't seem real or why it would be hard to monitor. After all, it comes out of an account into which you've put real money, and out of which you'd pay bank fees if you overspent.
Then I got my Husky card.
The Husky card is the University of Washington's student ID, but it carries more than just an unflattering photo. It's your transit pass. It gives you library privileges. In huge classes, it's what you show at midterms and finals to prove it's really you taking the tests. And it can hold a dollar value, just like a debit card.
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Posted
Feb 13 2008, 03:53 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
On the plus side, college sophomore Bill Box earns $200 a month delivering pizza, and his grandmother gives him $100 a semester if he's not flunking out. On the minus side, he owes $1,200 on credit cards, mostly for cigarettes and alcohol, and $12,000 so far in student loans. He lives in a dorm, has a meal plan and buys books at the college bookstore. Bill doesn't know it, but he's already on the highway to debt hell. Fortunately, he's about to get some tough love from fellow student Patrick at SchoolisHard.com. "College students are notorious for living outside of their means," writes Patrick in a post called "Make a debt-free college budget." "I know you are broke, but go cry to that shiny new Nintendo instead of me."
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Posted
Mar 11 2008, 06:08 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. If your employer offers tuition reimbursement and you're not taking advantage of it, you're leaving a tremendous amount of value on the table each year. In the two jobs I've had since graduating college in 2003, I've been lucky enough to be offered the opportunity to pursue higher education in return for sacrificing some of my time. At my first job, every education dollar I spent was fully reimbursed (you were allowed to take two classes a semester, or six a year) with no requirements afterward. In my second job, I was afforded $5,000 a year with some continuation-of-work requirements. Through both programs a majority of my MBA was paid for. In both cases, I took advantage of reimbursement to the fullest extent possible. If you have this opportunity, you should too.
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Posted
Apr 04 2008, 02:24 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Joseph S. Enoch at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. The National Collegiate Athletics Association has implemented a ticketing practice that requires consumers to pay money just for the opportunity enter a lottery for the much-coveted men's and women's basketball tournament tickets. The NCAA charges consumers a nonrefundable "service charge" that goes as high as $9 per ticket just to enter a competitive lottery, according to application forms for the 2009 men's and women's tournaments. Ticket applications for the early rounds for next year's men's basketball tournaments were due March 1 and required the consumer to pay about $200 plus a $9 service charge for each ticket. Consumers can apply for as many as eight tickets. The NCAA will sit on all that money before finally drawing applications in June. If a consumer's application is drawn, he or she will receive the tickets they paid for back in March. If not, they will receive a refund for the tickets while the NCAA keeps the service charge -- as much as $72 total -- and presumably all the interest earned in the meantime.
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Posted
May 07 2008, 10:58 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The husband of reader "Deezy92" graduated in 2000 with an Ivy League law degree and a whopping $140,000 in student loan debt. It's now 2008, folks, and those student loans have been paid off for a couple of years. How did they do it? Deezy92 writes:
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Posted
May 26 2008, 06:45 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly. I recently gave my first-ever presentation about personal finance. I spoke to a group of about 70 graduating seniors from a nearby university. I was the fourth and final speaker of the evening. Before I talked about personal finance, the audience listened to three outstanding descriptions of life after college. Brian Reick The first speaker was Brian Reick, who described his experience of moving from job to job. He began knocking on doors right out of school and eventually found work. But the job wasn't perfect, and neither was he. He was fired after only two years. This experience taught him a couple things:
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