Believe it or not, it’s almost time to go back to school already. In fact, I’d be going back to school if I hadn’t finally finished my thesis. Even though I won’t be going back to school this fall, I know plenty of people who will, and the College Money Network is here to help.
To celebrate the start of another school year, the College Money Network is throwing a huge giveaway! With over $200 worth of prizes up for grabs, keep on reading to find out how to enter for a chance to win a 4GB iPod nano, cash, and more.
Prizes
- 4GB iPod nano
- $50 cash
- $20 cash
- Copy of The 4-Hour Workweek
- One-year magazine subscriptions
- Young Money
- Kiplinger’s
- SmartMoney Magazine
- Money Magazine
- $10 eBay gift certificate
How to Enter
You can enter the the College Money Network’s Back To School giveaway multiple ways. Increase your chances of winning a prize by completing as many as you can! You can enter each way once.
If you are a current college student: Share your financial goal for the upcoming semester, quarter, or school year and how you will achieve it. Make the goal specific and explain the actions you will take to achieve it. This is to ensure that students are making a conscious effort to create a real financial goal, not writing something just to enter the giveaway. Here’s an example of a good entry:
My financial goal is to save $1,000 by the end of the school year. I will do this by getting a part-time job and putting $100/month in a high yield savings account.
- Leave a comment on this post with your response. (1 entry)
- Write a post on your own blog about your “Back To School Financial Goal” and email us to let us know. (3 entries)
OR
If you are not a college student: Share some tips and ideas for managing your finances as a student. If you’ve already been there and done that, what is the most important financial advice you would give to college students? If you’re still in high school, share some of your current money tips.
- Leave a comment on this post with your response. (1 entry)
- Write a post on your own blog with your “Financial Advice for College Students” or “High School Money Tips” and email us to let us know. (3 entries)
Everyone may also:
- Subscribe to my feed via RSS [?] or email. Then send me the secret phrase that appears at the end of each post in my feed. (2 entries)
- Subscribe to the College Money Network group feed. (2 entries)
- Mention the CMN network and include a link to this post on one of your favorite sites (e.g. comment on a blog, post in a forum, etc.). Email us with a link to where you mentioned it, so we can record the entry. (3 entries)
How To Win
All valid entries will be assigned a unique number. We will use a random number generator to select the winning numbers. Odds of winning depend on the number of entries received.
All entries must be received by August 31, 2008 at 11:59 PM PST.
Winners will be notified the following week. After all the prizes have been claimed, we will release an official announcement with all of the winners.
Visit the College Money Network site for the rest of the rules and regulations.
If you enjoyed this post, subscribe to my RSS feed or via email for free updates.
{ 3 trackbacks }
{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
My goal is to pay off $1250 of my car loan through selling things around the house, cutting costs, and using any gifts I receive.
I am pursuing a Masters degree while working full time, and this semester I’ve decided to try and give myself an ulcer by taking 3 classes. My goal is to save 25% of my take-home pay (about $4000), and to keep my finances stable enough so that if I need to take a leave of absense at the end of the semester, I can do that. I have to get a B or above for my company to reimburse me, so getting good grades is a must. They’ll reimburse me if I need to go on leave, but I need to be able to support myself for however long.
To do this, I’m going to need to minimize spending on unnecessary goodies, no matter how stressed I get. I’m also going to need to balance getting out of my apartment (too many distractions!) with not spending too much (Borders lattes will quickly drain my bank account!)., which probably means I’ll go to the library instead of the bookstore.
The best advise I can a new college student… AVOID CREDIT CARDS!!! That may seem like a no-brainer, but trust me. There are a TON of scams to get you a credit card. DO NOT FALL FOR IT!!! If you do not have the money, you don’t need it that bad.
And live in the dorm. Say what you will, but you get free utilities, internet, sometimes wifi, and you can walk to class. With gas as high as it is, it is worth it. You may not think so, but trust me, even trying to split an apartment is more trouble that it is worth and dorm life ain’t so bad.
I am a sophomore at a private university. My goal for this coming school year is to work hard to retain my grades as my $10,000 annual scholarship is contingent on my mainting a 3.o GPA! I am fortunate that my parents pay for all of my expenses so it will also be my goal to keep my expenses to a minimum to help them out!
My financial goal is to keep my loans down to a minimum (< 25k) before I graduate this next spring. One way I will help accomplish this is by cooking as often as possible instead of going out.
Being a college graduate , I would highly recommend to never ever take out the max. amount of money you can borrow for a student loan. I know plenty of people who are paying the reprocussions for doing that. You will eventuallu have to pay back that loan and with interest accumulating .
I’m not sure which category I fall into as I’ve just been accepted to the university that I wanted to attend (actually equivalent to med school in my country) but since it’s Back to School, I suppose I’ll join the college students category.
I’m very grateful because I don’t have any debts at all financially, so as my spending drastically increases this term because I’m moving out on my own, I plan to cut my spending drastically as well as trying to build up my emergency fund. I’d like to increase it with the equivalent of $500 in a year from now and to do that, I figured that I want to save $50 a month by trying to shop at cheap grocery stores, biking to school (I’m getting my bike transported here today, incidentally) instead of spending like $30 a month on bus+underground+commuter rail card like I’m doing now.
As an ex-high school student speaking, if there are any HS students reading this – try to look up informations about grants now. In the town that I’m living in right now they have special grants for students with good grades going to high school there (which I sadly did not). I know a person who applied to such a grant and got some money to buy textbooks for college, and I think that’s a great way to save money
“If you’ve already been there and done that, what is the most important financial advice you would give to college students?”
I would advise them to use your student loans only for school related expenses. I’m now 32 and I’m still paying back loans. While the interest rate is extremely low, it’s still debt and I must repay it. Some of the crazy things I bought with student loans (softball bat, fast food, car payments). Just stay away from stupid student loan purchases and you’ll be ok.
My goal to save money for college is collecting a lot of coupons and discounts on food products/merchandise
Every little bit counts
I have remaining student loan debt from my Bachelor’s while now pursuing my Masters. My plan is to continue with my part time job several nights a week and putting all money collected from that job directly to the $4000+ BA debt, approx $560 a month before taxes.
I also worked out a payment plan with my University to break down tuition payments into more manageable monthly payments without taking out a loan. The University was really easy to work with determining payment etc. I am extremely lucky to have found such a great institution!
My top tip would be getting yourself familar with good personal financial practices now.
Now.
Yes, now before you’re temped by lots of free credit cards and don’t know how to use them responsibly. Before you’re off at college and can’t ask Mom to help you balance your check book. Before you take on those college loans. Before you graduate and make a lot of money and then blow it on something material.
There will be a lot of chances for you to exhibit good financial sense in college, so learn the basics before you’ll actually need them.
My goal is to decrease credit card debt — I only have one card, but it’s maxed out. I will pay off 50% of the card by May by doubling my monthly payments.
My advice is to just photocopy ur text books since usually text books are expensive. If u are not able to photocopy those books, find used ones. There will be seniors who are more than willing to sell their books. Plan your budget wisely and guys, do not overspend!!
Here’s my first entry. I’ll write a blog post about it later.
My financial goal is to buy all my books for the fall semester without help from my parents or student loans. I will do this by saving up as much as possible during the summer, and then by buying cheaper older editions, or by not at all buying books that I’ll seldom use. I’ll have to ask around a lot. I’ll be taking 6 classes, most of them polisci and history, so I have my work cut out for me.
While you are still in college:
-Keep track of how much money you have to spend, how much was spent, and where you spent it. Just knowing you spent $35 in Starbucks in the last week may be enough for you to start choosing other beverage options. Use Excel, paper and pencil, mint.com, MS Money, whatever works for you.
-Utilize student discounts. Especially around campuses, look out for shops/delis/pizza places that offer % off if you show your student ID card. Go to movie theaters, plays, or museums that offer student discounts. Look out around campus for free events, concerts, movies, plays, etc.
-Get a part time job. And, if you don’t need a part time job financially, get one anyway, even if it’s a free internship, in the field you are considering making a career in. A strong resume will help you earn more when you get out of college, and since raises are usually based on a percentage of what you started with, a strong start can be a great financial benefit long term.
When I was a grad student I got an on-campus job helping a teacher–I learned a lot and made money while doing it. See what jobs are available to help with the college expenses and experience.
My biggest issue in college was over-spending. Somehow those credit cards seemed like a free pass. It tooks years to dig myself out of that debt. If I had it to do over again, I would be much more careful about the charges I put on credit.
Don’t fall for the extravegant “keeping up with the jones’s” that starts in college…i.e. going on 4 spring break trips, buying designer clothes, eating out constantly, etc. when you don’t have the funds. You’ll end up graduating with 5 figure debt to start off, which is real rough. Too many of my friends started off this way.
Don’t fall into the trap that is a credit card. Indeed there may be times where it feels justified to use them but make sure you do not go overboard! Pay off your card every month. If at all possible don’t use it at all. Still, I wouldn’t say avoid a credit altogether. Just having one in your college years can do a lot for your credit score later on in that length of credit history is one factor in your score. But again, do not abuse the card!!
my goal is to make it through this semester of grad school (my first) with being able to just pay the tuition as i go (broken down monthly)
i will do this by keeping my expenses to the bone in order to make the payments, hopefully gaining some breathing room in the next couple of months.
also if i get an award letter from my college that offers some discount or financing (still a possibility) it would definitely help this goal become attainable.
Avoid debt period other than a home if you are so inclined. It will change your life. Use money as a tool to buy your freedom that you can use to chase your dreams. Going into debt will only keep you trapped working in jobs you don’t like. Stuff = prison.
Read Debt Is Slavery and Total Money Makeover.
My financial goal is to reduce my credit card debt by a third by December 31. I will be able to do this by one, paying $267 a month towards my credit card bills, two, using my debit card or pay cash, and three, freeze all but one credit card in a block of ice in my freezer.
My financial goal this semester is to keep my non-budgeted expenses below my part-time job earnings. I’m a senior at a major state university, and while I still live on campus which helps with the meal bills, most of my friends live off campus, which leads to many opportunities for unanticipated expenses. I anticipate that this amount could be as high as $200, so I will need to work slightly over 20 hours over the semester to earn over $200. This may sound like a low number of hours, but I will need to fit this in to an extremely busy schedule of schoolwork and extracurricular activities.
Thanks so much for doing this.
I am in my senior yr at U of Hawaii and work almost full time. I’ve utilized the food bank at times and try to eat at home instead of fast fooding it. My goal is to save $1000 to go on a well needed vacation next summer. I intend to apply for as many scholarships as I can find to help with school expenses and find inexpensive ways of entertaining myself instead of pricey movies and concerts.
I plan to save money, about $50.00 a month. My goal is to save a $1,000 by the end of the year. I need a car and I am in debt. I pray for endowment and an increase in my finances. But overall, with the help form outsiders, I will accomplish my goal.