Saving money for college can be one of the most daunting tasks in the lives of future college students and their parents. College fees are on the rise, and scholarships and grants aren’t available to everybody. So getting a head start and saving money for college is vital if you want to get into the college of your choice.
Nobody wants to have their dreams of college hindered by the size of their bank accounts and similarly nobody wants to be thousands of dollars in debt. But the average student graduates college, almost $30,000 in debt. Saving money for college is therefore extremely important and the earlier you start the better.
This article will lay out 6 college money saving tips.
1. Set a target: You should start saving money for college by first deciding how much you will need to save. Estimating the price of tuition for when you or your child goes to college and then counting the interest you receive on your savings, calculate how much you might need to put aside every month. Setting this goal is essential to knowing how much to save.
2. Start Early: The sooner you start, the less you have to put aside consistently. Small amounts of money can add up to a lot over time. That, and the interest component should help you gather the amount you need. Remember that procrastinating and not starting saving money for college now will mean a smaller college fund and harder saving later.
3. Spending evaluated: You don’t have to live in a tent or eat one meal a day, but by cutting down on some of the luxuries or extravagant things that you don’t need you might be able to save more than you initially thought possible. You would be surprised how much money is spent on things that we actually don’t NEED.
4. Paid off loans and salary increments: Any time you pay off a loan or get a raise, put aside the extra income or a portion of it towards the college fund. This will accelerate your savings and grow your rate of saving too. After all, you did without that spending money for quite a while, why start spending it now, when you can save it instead.
5. Automated deposits: With deposits automatically taken out of your account and put into your college savings account, you will not have to worry about overspending that month and so not being able to meet your monthly savings target.
6. Earning some extra money: This might not be possible if you’re already working a 9 to 5 and another night job to make ends meat. But if you have a couple of extra hours, you should consider some alternative earning method. There are plenty of make money at home methods that can really bring in some decent cash. After all saving money for college is easier if you have more money to save.
Saving money for college doesn’t have to be the most difficult thing in the world. If you follow a few simple steps and are a disciplined spender you should easily manage to put aside a good-sized college fund. Good luck saving money for college. Start now!