Have you ever been planning for college and wondered how you’re going to be able to pay for it? Looking at the tuition fees, housing expenses, textbooks, and all these other expenses can certainly be discouraging as you think of the number of student loans you would have to start paying back. What if I could tell you there are simple ways for you to plan and prepare before and during college that would give you a chance to graduate on time, with either no or less student debt? Would you be interested? If you are, stick with me and I’ll show you some of the tricks I’ve used and are currently used to avoid student loans and other debts.
1. Earning College Credits While in High School
If you’re a high school student who is at this very moment trying to find ways to avoid debt then congratulations you’re already ahead of the game! When I was deciding on where to go for high school I heard about a school that offered a dual enrollment opportunity with the local community college. This meant that the school would have me take high school classes as well as pay for me to take college classes at the same time. Now I acknowledge that I was fortunate to have that opportunity near me and because of it I was able to earn my associates right out of high school however that doesn’t mean you don’t have a chance. More and more high schools are offering chances for students to earn college credit if you have that opportunity in your own high school then seize it!
2. Choose College’s That Are Affordable
Now I know what many of you are already saying. “I’ve always been told I should go to a college that works with my degree” and I would tell you that you are absolutely right. However I would disagree with the idea that just because a college cost more money doesn’t necessarily mean it is the better school. I lived in Arizona but I found that quite a few of the colleges out of state where more affordable than the colleges in Arizona so I decided to go to college out of state. Now living on your own can be stressful or frightening at times and I’ll be one of the first to admit that I missed my family those first two semesters living on my own but you have to ask yourself some simple questions. “Do I want to spend tens of thousands of extra dollars?” or “Would I be okay with paying off student loans for the next ten to fifteen years when I’m out of college?” if the answer is yes then do what makes you comfortable but if the desire to get out of college debt free is more appealing to you try and find a school that’s price tag isn’t so outrageous that your tearing your hair out in four years.
3. Apply for Scholarships
Now you can’t have an article about avoiding student loans without mentioning scholarships at least once as a chance for you to avoid debt as a student. Even if you know you have no shot of earning a scholarship try to apply for it. It is free money people and who knows you may actually earn it! Enter into those scholarships, as many as you can because the more scholarships that you apply for the greater your chances of actually earning one. I’ll admit I haven’t earn one yet but I have applied and whenever I find one that I can apply for I apply for it instantly just on the slim chance that I may be able to get a little money out of it.
4. Find Cheap Housing
Fresh out of Mom and Dad’s house I was excited and a little nervous about living on my own. There where countless places I could have had the opportunity of living but after looking at my options and my finances I knew that I was going to need to live somewhere cheap. After looking around I found the cheapest apartment complex near my university and that is where I have lived during my time at college. However because of Covid I haven’t been there in a year. Now though during my last year at college I have wondered why I shouldn’t simply upgrade to a better apartment and the answer is always the same. I want to have some money in my bank when I graduate. If I had chosen one of the nicer apartment complexes near my college over the past few years I would have had to spend a couple extra thousand dollars but instead since I decided to stay at a cheaper housing option, all that extra money is in my savings right now.
5. Budgeting
There is a saying that you hear in T.V. shows and movies and it’s always follow the money. I have another saying for you “always have your money on a leash and keep track of it wherever you go”. Whether its groceries, textbooks, housing or going on a date with the cure girl you met in Biology always keep track of how much money you’re spending. I actually had a problem with that during my second year at college and had to get bailed out by my parents. However it wasn’t free and I had to pay them back. My biggest issue was I loved to go out to ear and I would use apps to have my food delivered to me for about two months. Now when my dad showed me my finances I blew through over $1,500 dollars during that time. So what I learned during that is to always watch how much you’re spending and a trick you should do is while you’re keeping track of your spending you should also try and spend less money than the amount you spent the previous month. You can learn how to create a simple budget here.
6. Save, Save, Save
This is the one that I personally struggle the most in. However saving does add up if you start to pay attention to your bank account. If you have the option to go out to eat or have some left overs at home choose the leftovers. It may suck in the moment and it might not be as good as having a pizza delivered to you it does add up over time. For example let’s say you decided to have a pizza delivered once a week for about four weeks. The pizza cost with tax let’s say twenty four dollars. Then we add on the delivery fee which we’ll just say is four dollars and since you’re a decent person you give a fifteen percent tip so that would be four dollars and five cents. That brings your grand total to thirty one dollars and five cents now times that by four and that’s one hundred and twenty four dollars and twenty cents. That means you just spent enough money to pay for groceries for a month if you’re smart with your money.
While this is a lesson I am still struggling with because I have been actively trying to follow it I know have enough money to purchase a used car without having to get a loan from a bank or dealership. I won’t lie and say that doing this is easy. I’ll admit that I have had some days where I just need to splurge a bit and get something for me and so long as you control the amount you spend that is totally fine. The point though that I hope you will get is that always look for ways to save money. Even if its small things like not purchasing a soda at the vending machine or a big thing like going out to eat once a week so long as you focus on saving your money when you can and where you can you’ll help build up your savings and better stabilize your future.
7. Work while in school
Some people have college paid for by their parents but for the average student their paying for their education out of their own pocket. One of the ways to lessen the stress of student loans is to work while you’re taking classes in college. Each person has different limits to how much they can handle while taking classes. Mine is usually between twenty five hours when I’m going full time in my classes. Some though can handle quite a bit more. I know of some people who are able to work full time minimum wage jobs while still being a full time students. While it is great to be able to earn some cash while in college make sure that you only work what you can handle. If you end up failing your classes because you decided to focus more on your temporary part time job then you’ve essentially wasted that semester’s tuition. Always prioritize school before your job, there will always be other jobs and the ones that truly pay well are the ones that require a college education.
Getting out of college with no debt is one of the most remarkable feats that a student can accomplish. Everyone has their own strategies to lessen their financial strain and decrease or eliminate debt. While the road to debt avoidance is not an easy one it will eventually lead to an easier road than the one where you’re paying of student loans for more than a decade.