September 26th 2007
As a student with a fixed income, I’ve been tempted with credit cards. I even have three, although the limits are rather small and aren’t maxed out. But one of the biggest problems I’ve seen is that people don’t know what they’re getting themselves into, which nowadays, I think is ridiculous. There’s so much information out there so you can be educated on credit and not get yourself in too deep.
It may not be fair that credit is an important part of society now, most people can’t buy a television without it, let alone a car or a house. Credit scores are even looked at during the employment process. Nonetheless, you should still be smart about borrowing money or you’ll end up paying way more than you should.
Credit Me is a large website that has an incredible amount of information about credit cards. They have a list of resources, FAQ’s and my favorite, the Ultimate Guide to Perfect Credit. Also, they have a list of student (and other) credit cards comparing the rates and terms of each one and listing what kind of credit you need to be approved (good, bad, none.)
Tips to build your credit without hurting it first
- Don’t apply for too much credit at once - this will hurt your score
- If you take advantage of 0% APR grace periods, which is okay to do, be careful of the fees you’ll incur afterward. Sometimes they’re awful.
- Don’t take out cash advances. If you really need cash for something, use the money you’d otherwise spend on food, CDs, etc. that’s in your bank account and put those purchases on your card. Regular interest is better than cash advance interest no matter how you look at it.
- Don’t simply apply for a card just because they’re giving away free t-shirts. You might miss a $50 yearly fee because you’re distracted with presents.
- If you can’t get credit anywhere else, try a in-store credit card at a store you frequent, but only after carefully looking over the terms. Put a small amount on the card, pay it off at the end of the month to avoid interest. Do it again each month for the next six months and apply for a better card somewhere else.
- Remember, that if your score is low, there’s nowhere else to go but up. If you play the game right, you can have great credit without paying too much to the companies.
Posted in Money with no comments
September 20th 2007
One thing a lot of college students get into is debt. And one easy way to cut some of that out is to not get slammed with overdraft fees. They occur when you spend more money than you have in your account and they’re designed to benefit the bank.
Let’s say you have $200 in your checking account. You go get gas and spend $40, then you go to the grocery store, spend $67, and on the way to the mall, you stop and get ice cream, then spend $190 shopping. Most banks post the most expensive item first, even though it didn’t come first, so instead of getting one overdraft fee, you’ll get three. They do this for “your protection to make sure mortgage payments get posted before luxuries like movie rentals.
Unfortunately, it’s not designed to help the consumer so some tips I have for you are to always know what’s in your bank account.
Keep track, whether it’s in a check register, in a spreadsheet or writing it on a piece of paper.
Setup overdraft protection. Most banks allow this, although some only let you link to other accounts with them, which isn’t always helpful. Some banks will even give you a small line of credit that has a reasonable interest rate.
Keep a little extra padding in your checking account (if possible, I know living on a budget doesn’t always allow for this) that way if anything comes up, you’ll be semi-prepared.
Make purchases on a credit card and pay the bill off at the end of the month when it comes. If your limit is low and you’re likely to go over, this isn’t the best option, although my student credit card only charges me a higher interest rate if I go over my balance. It’s good to know the policies.
Also, some banks, especially if you have a student checking account, will be forgiving if it’s a first or even second offense. Simply go to a local branch and ask politely. Bankers will usually forgive at least one of the fees. If your parents have large sums of money in the accounts, that can also be used as leverage if necessary (don’t always recommend it though, mostly on a bank error.)
If you get a lot of financial aid money, sticking it into a high-yield savings account when you don’t need it can help build up some extra money. A large sum like student loan refunds can earn enough in a semester to pay for an entire set of books at 5%, but I only suggest this if you’re better with money and don’t go over budget very often. Also, getting an account with easy, fast and free online transfers is a good idea if you’re going this route.
Posted in Money with 4 comments
September 12th 2007
Living on a tight budget means cutting back on a lot of things and food is high up on the list. It’s hard to be creative when trying to eat on a few dollars per meal. Ramen noodles get tiring. I’m by no means a great cook, but I do all right. For me and my boyfriend, we have a budget of $300 for food each month, which averages out to about $5 a day for each of us. And because we eat really cheap food (Ramen noodles, that cup of soup stuff, etc.) for lunch, it helps average out when we want nicer meals. Our local H-E-B Plus grocery store is very helpful with coupons. It seems as if there’s a coupon on half the items you see, including what they call meal deals, where if you buy the main thing, usually the meat, you get all the extras free (ketchup, buns, pickles, etc. if it was for hot dogs) and those are great.
One of my suggestions is to always use coupons. Also, make a list before you go to the store of necessary items for the week and stick to it. This is our biggest problem. I have a list, but we definitely don’t stick to it. I’m also starting to make a list of meals for the week. We really only plan a meal for dinner because lunch is usually Ramen or a PB&J.
Cheap Dinner Ideas
- hot dogs/chili dogs
- spaghetti
- baked fish (we live by the coast so seafood is way cheap)
- frozen pizza
- store brand TV dinners
- frozen stir-fry
- nachos
- hamburgers
- jambalaya or dirty rice (ground meat is cheap, we get sausage on sale)
- tacos (ground beef or chicken are cheaper than steak)
- grilled cheese
- quesadillas
- if you find porkchops on sale, add mushroom soup
- macaroni and hot dog wieners
- frito pie
- Spaghetti-o’s or other Chef Boy-R-D canned foods
- homemade stroganoff (I will post my recipe at some point, but you can find them online)
I’m trying to come up with more ideas, but being creative on a budget is tough. I’ve been searching for other websites that have helpful tips, but I haven’t come across very many good ones. I’m currently working on some inexpensive recipes to better food than frito pie and hot dogs.
Before getting life insurance, it is best to read the insurance quotes. An insurance quote helps one in understanding his predisposition as well as beware him of any kinds of loan deals, let alone becoming mortgage leads. Likewise before submitting a credit card application it is best to review the entire manual.
Posted in Money with 12 comments
September 2nd 2007
One thing I hate to do is budget. Creating it, sticking to it, just having it, all things I don’t like. It’s really hard to think about how all the money I make is going right back out of my bank account before it gets settled in.
Bank of America redid their layout for online banking. It makes it easier for you to do simple budgeting and reconciling on their website. It lets you rename transactions so you can easily tell what it was. But this isn’t always enough. You can always just use your checkbook to reconcile expenses if you don’t really have to figure out a budget (lucky you.) But if you’re anything like me, you need to figure out where your money is going to go and how you’re going to come up with the extra money you need.
I use NeoOffice’s version of Excel to do everything. I made a list of monthly expenses and added everything up. Showed when and how much money I get from financial aid and then figure everything out. Another good budgeting program I’ve used is Buddi (Mac and Windows compatible.) It’s really easy to have multiple accounts with different transactions. Very easy to use and has plenty of features necessary for simple budgeting.
One thing that really hurts college students is getting more debt. Here’s an article that touches on the credit card debt lesson. I’m sure many of you have heard this before and it’s getting redundant by now, but it’s true. I know it’s hard, I have the same problem. But at least if you have a nagging voice in the back of your mind, it helps reduce the debt. If no one had told me anything, I might have several thousands of dollars in debt, but instead I’ve only got a couple hundred, which is significantly lower than the average.
Budgeting 101 courtesy of About.com
Two online budgeting tools: Budget Pulse and Walletproof
Posted in Money with 5 comments
August 29th 2007
Because I have $50 in my bank account and my parents aren’t helping with paying for college, I naturally had to take out some student loans. After I got my refund check (two weeks after my school got my money from the bank) and then after another week of my bank holding the check, I will finally get my refund of a little under $5000 tomorrow. I’ve already budgeted myself out for this semester and this is just one part of my financial aid for the fall. I’ll be getting another $1750 at the end of September. After I take my cut for this month, I’m putting the rest into an online savings account with a high interest rate.
I’ve narrowed it down to WaMu and CapitalOne. Their interest rates are really good (WaMu 4.89%, CapitalOne 4.88%) and APY for both is 5%. Minimum to open an account is $1. No minimum balance, but for WaMu, you get charged monthly fee of $4 if balance goes below $300. Also, if I go through WaMu, in order to get those rates, I have to sign up for their free checking account, which I was considering doing anyway because Bank of America sucks. Downside to this is there aren’t any branches near me. The closest is two hours away. I am, however, allowed to transfer money online, which is what I’d do anyway. I also get free checks and a debit card so that’s what’s necessary anyway.
Posted in Financial Aid, Money with 8 comments
August 24th 2007
This is only my first semester, but I already had to buy seven books. I found a great way to save some money and still end up with all the books needed.
Which edition?
First step is to ask your professor, when they’re going over the syllabus is the best time, if the newest edition is necessary. Most professors, my mom included, don’t necessarily need or want you to have the newest, most expensive edition unless whatever changed is exactly what is needed for the class. Usually the new edition has a few grammatical fixes and a fancy new cover and that’s all.
Bookstore prices
Go to the official campus bookstore and go to the unofficial bookstore(s). My school is smaller, but still has both of these. My mom teaches at a larger university with 30,000 students and they have three off-campus bookstores. Go to each and check the prices on the books you need, make a nice comparison chart that will save your life.
Online prices
Now, go home and check Amazon, Ebay, Half.com, and do a Google search. Add these prices to your chart. Make sure you have the correct edition! I can’t stress that enough. Also, find out what shipping costs and when you will get the books. Find out if the company/person doesn’t ship for up to one week or whatever else their policy is. Find out the return policy, just in case.
Compare
Now that you have your nice chart comparing prices/shipping charges, do a little math see which deal is best. Do you actually need these books tomorrow or can you wait until Monday? If you need them now, see about applying for a free trial with Amazon Prime (I got one) or see if your aunt has an account. If it’s cheaper or necessary to get them in the bookstore, go for it. If it’s a better deal to get them online, do that.
This way you get the best deal you can no matter what. All it takes is a little work. It took me an hour total to track down seven books and start the process. Not so bad to save nearly $200. Five books were much cheaper online, one was about $20 less in the bookstore. One book I had to get at the store because it’s one of those ridiculous “customized textbooks” just for my school. What a scam.
Posted in Academic, Money with 11 comments
