Archive for the ‘College Life and Education’ Category

How To Graduate From College Debt Free…Or Close To It.

By: Kristina | Date posted: October 31, 2011 (7:30 am)

Good Morning Everyone and Happy Halloween.  Today we are starting a new series called “Me, My College Education, and My Money” This new series will discuss everything about our College Education from the cost of tuition and books to the job possibilities within our program after graduation.  Our resource for most of this information is thanks to The Globe and Mail.

 

Graduate from College Debt Free (Or Close To It)

I am proud to say that I graduated from College with a 4 year Bachelor’s Degree; unfortunately I did not graduate from college debt free.  I moved away from home to attend college in a city 7.5 hours away from my family; from my own personal experience I feel that it is almost impossible to graduate from college debt free if we don’t live at home while studying.

If we start saving early in our teenage years we could graduate from college debt free.  If we starting working part time while we are in high school we could start saving money for college which will help with the cost of tuition, books, and living away from home while attending college.  Unfortunately, many young students prefer to live in the moment and spend their money, rather than save it.

Graduating from College Debt Free is a great goal, but it may not be a reality for everyone.  But don’t worry because Green Panda is here to help!  Students can take little steps throughout our college years to help us graduate from college debt free, or at least close to it.

 

How To Save Money in College

Here are 10 Great Tips to Help Us Save Money in College:

1. Start Saving Early.  Saving money doesn’t only mean that we have to put money aside from our part time jobs.  It also means that we have to cut down on our monthly bills and expenses.  If we spend less money, then we can save more money.

2. Consider Alternatives.  A 4 year College Degree may not always be a financial option for everyone.  We may consider less expensive education options such as Community College or Trade School.  If you are planning to go away to College consider spending your first year or two at a school closer to home and then transfer after you have money saved up.

3. Plan Your Education.  It will be helpful to research the cost of living in the city where you want to attend college.  If you know how much it costs for rent, your monthly bus/subway pass, as well as the cost of your tuition and books then you can better plan your budget and know how much you need to save.

4. Maximize Awards.  Check your College Student Center for local bursaries and scholarships that are available to first year, second year, third and fourth year students.  Some bursaries and scholarships are also available for students in specific programs.

5. Create a Reasonable Budget.  This is where Planning Our Education comes in handy.  If we know the costs of our expenses then we can plan our budget.  If we live on a fixed income then we should also live on a fixed budget.  The key to a good budget is to make a little room for everything, if we sacrifice too much then we will never stick to it.

6. Save on Text Books.  Try to buy Text Books used.  Sometimes 3rd and 4th year students will sell their books to 1st and 2nd year students at a discounted price.

7. Work Part Time.  I liked working part time in College.  It was a nice break from school and it gave me some extra money.  I made some great friends at my part time jobs.

8. Quit Your Car.  Cars are a huge expense.  It is definitely cheaper to take public transportation. Most College Students live near campus anyways; your car is just a luxury and unnecessary expense.

9. Learn About Cash Flow. If you spend less than you earn you will always have money and keep out of debt.

10. Be a Stingy Gourmet.  My biggest regret before moving away to College was not learning how to cook. Eating out is expensive. Trust Me…You Want to Learn to Cook.

 

Photo by SpindilerHades

How Young People Get Into Debt…And How To Get Out Of It.

By: Kristina | Date posted: October 25, 2011 (7:30 am)

Good Morning Everyone.  Today we are discussing our Student debts.  Today we are talking about everything related to our Credit Cards, our Lines of Credit, and our Student Loans. This post will be sort of a “what not to do” guide to staying debt free and learning how to use our credit products responsibly.  We are going to discuss how young people get into debt, what types of debts are ok for students to have, how to break bad financial habits, and what steps to take in order to get out of debt.

 

How We Accumulate Student Debt

Many of us can not afford to go to College and therefore we apply for credit in the form of Student Loans or a Student Line of Credit.  Many of us are not able to work while we study and therefore we apply for a student credit card to help us pay for our monthly expenses.  They key to applying for credit while we are still a student is to apply for efficient credit products.  We have to keep in mind that Student Loans are for Student expenses, not personal shopping.

 

Types of Student Debt

A Student Line of Credit can be a very efficient credit product.  Usually Student Lines of Credit are a great type of debt for students to have because they are flexible and they have beneficial interest rates.  Lines of Credit grant Students a fixed amount of credit; sometimes this amount is based on our income and sometimes it is based on our program of study.

We are only charged interest on the portion of the Line of Credit that we use.  While we are still studying we usually don’t have to make payments on our Line of Credit, and for a certain period of time after graduation we are required to make interest only payments.  The interest rate on Student Lines of Credit is usually lower than regular Lines of Credit.

A Student Line of Credit is usually given to Students from Banks.  It is a revolving credit product which means that we can spend up to our approved limit and as we repay our debt it becomes available to us for use again…like a revolving door.

Student Loans are very similar to Student Lines of Credit except that Student Loans are usually given to Students from our State or Federal Governments.  Some colleges offer Student Loans directly to their Students.  A Student Loan is a fixed credit product which means that we are granted an initial amount of credit and we will have to pay back that amount in full after graduation.  A Student Loan is not revolving and once the loan is repaid it is closed; therefore we no longer have access to the money.

A Student Credit Card may be the easiest type of credit for Students to obtain, but it can also be the most harmful to our good credit score if we misuse our Student Credit Card. There are no regulations on how we choose to use the available money on our Student Credit Card.  Unlike Student Lines of Credit and Student Loans the monthly payments on our Student Credit Card do not have to be automatically repaid.

Student Credit Cards require us to make only a minimum payment each month; the full balance does not have to be repaid.  This can be very dangerous for Students because we can carry a balance and we are charged interest on the full unpaid balance, this can be very costly.  It’s easy to accumulate debt but it can be very hard to pay it off.

 

Keep these tips in mind when trying to pay off your Student Debts

1. Don’t Ignore Your Debt.  It will always be a burden until it is paid off.

2. Don’t Make Only Minimum Payments.  Interest can be very costly.

3. Don’t Get More Credit Cards.  Having a lot of debt doesn’t make us financially responsible.

4. Don’t Charge It If You Don’t Have the Money.  Need I say more?!

 

Photo by Hagge

»crosslinked«

Do You Spend More Time on Your Smartphone than You do in Class?

By: Kristina | Date posted: October 24, 2011 (7:30 am)

Good Morning Green Panda Readers! I hope that you all hand a great weekend.  Today is the last post in our “How Smart is Your Smartphone” series.  Now that this series has come to an end I have to say that it has been an interesting series for me to write about.  I never thought that I would see the day where I could access the internet and take pictures with my cell phone, but here we are in 2011.  I also never thought that a cell phone would be technologically intelligent, but here we are with our Smartphone’s.

Over the last few weeks of our “How Smart is Your Smartphone” series we have mourned the loss of Steve Jobs who is the CEO of Apple Corporation.  There was an interesting article on CNN  this week that names the Apple iPhone 4s as the best Smartphone in existence.  I can’t speak from experience because as you may remember from previous posts, I have the LG Shine Plus with Google which is an Android Smartphone.  However I have no doubt that the Apple iPhone 4s is amazing.

Today we are discussing the Pros and Cons of Using our Smartphone in College.  Throughout this series we have learned that having a Smartphone is convenient and easy to use for daily activities such as scheduling events and searching the internet.  We can also use our Smartphone as both a Personal Computer and a Personal Digital Assistant.  However, convenience comes with a cost.

 

The Pros of Using our Smartphone in College

Using our Smartphone in College is great because it allows us to keep in contact with our friends and family throughout the day.  We can read and send emails, update Social Media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as send Text Messages all with the touch of a button from our Smartphone.  This is especially tempting if we are stuck in a really boring class with an even more boring professor.

However, having access to the World Wide Web during class can also be a distraction in College.  It is great to be able to stay connected with family and friends, but if we spend more time surfing the Web than we do listening to our college Professor we may find our self failing our college courses.

The key to using a Smartphone in College is to use it for school work when we are on campus, and use it for personal use when we are at home.  If we are disciplined with our Smartphone usage we will stay focused in school and not go over our data usage.

 

The Cons of Using our Smartphone in College

If we continuously use our Smartphone during College Classes it is very likely that we will go over the allowed usage in our monthly data plan, this can be very expensive.  If you need help with your personal spending budget to make sure that you can afford your Smartphone and your monthly data plan check out these online resources.

Another con of using our Smartphone in College is the durability of the battery life.  If we are always using our Smartphone in College for sending Text Messages and to surf the net our battery could lose power very fast; then our Smartphone will be dead when we really need it.

 

I hope that you have enjoyed our “How Smart is Your Smartphone” series.  Be sure to check out all the other posts in this series:

Check out the other posts in our “How Smart is Your Smartphone” series:

Which Smartphone is the Best for You

To Buy or Not To Buy a Smartphone

Should You Buy a Smartphone? Do You Need It?

Your Smartphone Can Help You Make Money

Do You Connect With Your Parents from Your Smartphone

 

Photo by Tony Buser

Are You Ready for Life After College?

By: Kristina | Date posted: October 03, 2011 (7:30 am)

Are You Ready for Life After College?

Hello Everyone.  Today is our first post for the month of October and the last post in our Ultimate Success Tips for College Students series. I hope that you have enjoyed reading about life in college as much as I have enjoyed writing about it.  Reminiscing about my life in college almost makes me want to go back to school; I said almost just in case my Parents are reading because they really want me to go back to school and get my MBA.

Life After College

I really enjoy my life after College.  During my 4 years in College I had a very busy schedule because I worked full time while also studying full time; after Graduation I found myself with a lot of free time on my hands, which has been really nice because it allowed me to try new things and live new experiences.  I now enjoy travelling once a year which I never had the freedom to do while I was studying in College.  Any free time that I had while studying in College was used to pick up more hours at work to make some extra cash.

Believe it or not I found a love for recreational reading in my Life After College.  I love reading about New York, Organized Crime, and Police Dramas/Murder Mysteries.  I try to read about one book a month, but since it is a leisure activity instead of an imposition by a Professor I take my time.  I never thought I would find a love for reading, but the truth is that I really really enjoy it.  I love reading before I go to bed because it is calming, and I love reading on a Sunday afternoon in the Sunshine on my balcony because it is a good excuse to get some fresh air and a tan.

The one regret that I have about my Life After College is not taking a year off.  I did take a year off after my first semester in College but that was because I needed to work full time.  I wish that I would have had the luxury to take a year off after Graduation to travel the world and find my place.  Unfortunately I couldn’t do that because my life was already planned out for me.

College Graduate Plans

After Graduating from College my Plans were clear…Work Full Time, Get Married, and Find Stability.  My structured adult life started right after College Graduation because it was a continuation of my life during college.  I was already working full time for a great employer while I was studying in college.  My only plans as a college graduate were to get a promotion and move up along the corporate ladder with my current employer.  That is what my parents did and that is what they wanted me to do.  My College Graduate Plans never focused on me, they always focused on my career and my money, because in my family that is what we do.  Everything is planned, and the one thing that my parents never understand is that we can’t plan for everything.

If I could give one piece of advice for College Students who are making plans for after Graduation it would be Don’t Believe Everything that you hear about Graduating from College.  Nothing ever works out perfectly as we plan because otherwise we wouldn’t have a Plan B, such as travelling or going back to school to get a Graduate Degree.  We should have a plan for our life after college so that we don’t end up wandering around like a lost puppy, but there is no rule that says we have to get married, start a family, and have a successful career right after college.  Who wants to start the rest of their life at 23 years old? I surely didn’t!  I also didn’t know it at that time; but I know it now!

In case you missed them, check out all the posts in our Ultimate Success Tips for College Students series:

Work+College=Find a Balance.

Should You Work Full Time or Part Time in College?

Be Productive In College, Not a Procrastinator!

Online Courses Helped My GPA!!!

Should Money Always Be a Factor for a Higher Education?

Use This Study Guide to Pass Your Exams with Flying Colors!

Are You Going To Graduate and Go Back To School?

Are You Going To Graduate and Go Back To School?

By: Kristina | Date posted: September 27, 2011 (7:30 am)

Use This Study Guide to Pass Your Exams with Flying Colors!

Good Morning Green Panda Friends. Today is the next post in our Ultimate Success Tips for College Students series.  Today we are discussing the decision to go back to school after Graduating from College.  Many of us go to college in order to get a higher education and then get a good job.  Some of us only go to college because we were forced to by our parents, and some others go to college because we had no job prospects after high school.  A lot of our Parents went straight into the workforce after they graduated from high school because that was the reality of their time.  Nowadays it (usually) takes at least a Bachelors Degree to get a job, and even that doesn’t guarantee us anything anymore.

Get Your MBA

Some professional careers now require an MBA in order to even be considered for a job.  I think that this is totally ridiculous because many people can barely afford to get their Undergraduate Degree, let alone pay for the price of an MBA.  A Masters of Business Administration also doesn’t guarantee that we will get a job, but it could be an alternative solution if we don’t have any job prospects after we graduate with our Bachelors Degree.

After I graduated from College with my Undergraduate Degree I went back to school…twice.  The first time I went back to school to study for and become a Certified Financial Planner.  I am proud to say that I received my designation as a Certified Financial Planner in 2007.  I also went back to school and completed a Diploma in Business Law.  I really enjoy studying, but as I get older (I will be 31 in October) my ambition to go back to school is dying out.

As a Certified Financial Planner I had to complete 10 different courses before I could apply for and be accepted to (Yes they can decline you) write the final exam.  Once we pass the final exam we  officially become a Certified Financial Planner.  Some schools offer credits of my Financial Planning courses towards the courses for an MBA.  This means that if I choose to pursue my MBA I would already have almost one year of credits completed before I even walked in the door.  Both my Parents and my Employer have suggested that I do pursue my MBA, I would be the second person in my family to achieve it.  However, it doesn’t interest me.  I enjoy studying as long as it is my choice to study and as long as I choose the course topics.  I hate being forced into anything.  In my option getting my Masters of Business Administration would only add the letters MBA on by business cards beside the letters F. Pl.

Attending Graduate School

An MBA is not the only option for Students who wish to continue their studies after Graduation.  Students can Attend Graduate School and achieve a Masters Degree in a variety of subjects, it is not just for Business Students.  However in my world of Business and Finance attending Graduate School means getting your MBA.  If I did decide to pursue my MBA, which I am not, I would do it for the social aspect of attending school.  I like studying and I like learning, but I really love meeting new people and making new firends.

Students who attend Grad School are older.  In Graduate School our classmates could eventually become our friends and then possibly our co-workers. The advantage of attending Graudate School is that the Students are already educated and some may even have work experience.  In Grad School we can learn from the experience of others.

Don’t Forget To Check Out the Other Posts in our Ultimate Success Tips for College Students series!

Work+College=Find a Balance.

Should You Work Full Time or Part Time in College?

Be Productive In College, Not a Procrastinator!

Online Courses Helped My GPA!!!

Should Money Always Be a Factor for a Higher Education?

Use This Study Guide to Pass Your Exams with Flying Colors!

Use This Study Guide to Pass Your Exams with Flying Colors!

By: Kristina | Date posted: September 26, 2011 (7:30 am)

Use This Study Guide to Pass Your Exams with Flying Colors!

Hello Green Panda Readers and Good Monday Morning to You All.  I hope you all had a nice weekend.  Today is the next post in our Ultimate Success Tips for College Students series. Today also marks the last Monday in September and this means that the first month of school is already almost over.  Soon October will start and Professors and Students will start getting ready for Mid Term Exams.  During my College career some of my classes only counted my grade on the Mid Term Exam for 20% worth  of my final grade.  The rest of my final grade was made up of attendance, participation, small projects and a Final Exam.  However, some of my classes allotted the Mid Term Exam as 50% of the final grade for the course.  I seriously hate this!

Mid Term  and Final Exams already come with a lot of pressure to do well and succeed, but the added pressure of the Mid Term or Final Exam counting for half of our entire grade is unbearable.  I would personally prefer to hand in small projects and participate in class discussions rather than have the pressure of my Exams counting for 50% of my final grade.  If our Mid Term and Final Exams are worth 50% each it is unsettling to know that we only have 2 chances to pass our course.  In my opinion when our entire course grade is made up of only the scores from our Mid Term and Final Exams it is pure laziness on behalf of the Professor.

 

Doing Well in College

The college experience is about so much more than Exams; but the pressure to do well in College can be unbearing for some Students.  However, “Doing Well” in College can be relevant to each Students (or Parents)  interpretation.  For some Students “Doing Well” means that we have good grades and receive our College Diploma with Honours.  However, for other Students networking throughout our 4 years of College and making the right connections to guarantee a job after Graduation would be considered “Doing Well.”  After all, the main goal of going to College is to get a job after Graduation.

Some people may consider “Doing Well” in College as the ability to gain financial responsibility and grow into an independent person.  In my opinion if we went into College as a naive teenager and we Graduated as a well rounded young adult we have definitely done well in College.  Going to College is about growing as an individual and learning about life on our own. If you have achieved that during your 4 years of College then you have done well and accomplished a mission.

 

Here are 5 Success Tips to Help You Study For College Finals:

- Make a Plan.  At the beginning of the College Semester plan your next 3 months.  This will help us organize our time to make sure that we can successfully get everything done.  If we need 3 days to study for a Mid Term or Final Exam then we have to free up 3 days on our Calendars.

- Set a Goal.  Give yourself a Grade that you want to have.  Working towards a Goal always helps me achieve success.  If we go into the exam with the Goal to just Pass the Exam our motivation could be lacking.

- Get Some Sleep.  There is nothing worse than staying up all night studying and going to the Exam the next day completely tired.  Even if we did learn something the night before our brain is shut down during the Exam and we can’t remember anything.  It is hard to gather my thoughts when all I can think about is going to sleep.

- Don’t Procrastonate.  Procrastination can lead to defeat.  If we wait for the last minute we can crack under the pressure and not get anything done. I can’t work under pressure because I can’t clearly formulate my thoughts, I definitely get scatter brain.

- Avoid Temptation. Stay in! Turn off your Cell Phone and Log Out of Your Face Book! Time is valuable and we can get a lot more done when we don’t have distractions.

Don’t Forget To Check Out the Other Posts in our Ultimate Success Tips for College Students series!

Work+College=Find a Balance.

Should You Work Full Time or Part Time in College?

Be Productive In College, Not a Procrastinator!

Online Courses Helped My GPA!!!

Should Money Always Be a Factor for a Higher Education?

Should Money Always Be a Factor for a Higher Education?

By: Kristina | Date posted: September 20, 2011 (7:30 am)

Good Morning Green Panda Friends.  Fall is definitely upon us; it’s time to get out the warm pyjamas and it’s time to exchange our summer flip flops for boots and ballerina flats. Today the discussion in our Ultimate Success Tips for College Students series is finding a balance between education and money.  I personally feel that a post secondary education should be available to anyone who is willing to attend college, and anyone who is accepted by a post secondary institution.  I think that it is awful that someone who is accepted to college has to decline their offer just because they can’t afford the price of tuition.  I definitely think that our Governments (both local and federal) should make college accessable for anyone who wishes to pursue a higher education, but that is a whole other topic.

 

Dropping Out of College

Many times students move away and go to college with no financial plan or source of income.  Many times students just “hope that it all works itself out.”  Although this is a great positive attitude, unfortunately it is not reality.  Attending college is a very big decision and money is a major part of that decision.  Sometimes students can’t attend college because they know they can’t afford it, and sometimes students attend college and end up dropping out becuase it is too difficult to work and study at the same time.

If you can’t afford all of the expenses that come along with going to college you may be forced to drop out.  This was my personal experience during my first year of college.  After only 3 weeks of attending classes I decided that college was not for me.  I was overwhelmed with my new life in a state away from my hometown.  I didn’t realize how big of a change it would be to move away from my family, and I didn’t realize how hard it would be to manage working, studying, and paying bills while living life on my own.  I decided to take a year off from college, but I didn’t consider myself a college drop out because I always had the intention of going back.

 

College Decisions

I decided to drop out of college (because that is what it really is) for two reasons, the first reason was that I didn’t like any of my classes and I really had no idea what I wanted to study.  The second reason why I chose to drop out of college is because there was a tiered tuition structure in my state.  If I lived in my new state for 12 consecutive months without studying in college my tuition costs would drop by almost half the price.  In my opinion it was a win-win situation; I still got to experience life on my own away from home, and I didn’t have to (immediately) worry about the cost of going to college.

I always knew that I would have to work while studying in college, not working was not an option for me.  So many nights when I was tired from attending classes, studying, and working I always thought about quitting my job…but I never did.  My quality of life couldn’t afford the cut in my pay check.  My co-workers were some of the first friends I made when I moved to my new college city, if I quit my job I would probably loose some of my friends. If you have to work during college and you are thinking of quitting your job, think about the consequences before you do.  Make a pro and con list becuase you definitely don’t want to make a quick decision and then regret it later.  Before you quit your job think hard if you can honestly and truly afford not to work during college.

Don’t Forget To Check Out the Other Posts in our Ultimate Success Tips for College Students series!

 Work+College=Find a Balance.

Should You Work Full Time or Part Time in College?

Be Productive In College, Not a Procrastinator!

Online Courses Helped My GPA!!!


Online Courses Helped My GPA!!!

By: Kristina | Date posted: September 19, 2011 (7:30 am)

Good Morning Everyone.  I hope that you all had a great weekend.  This weekend I wanted to go and see the new movie Contagion but I didn’t get a chance to; maybe next weekend.  Today we are discussing one of my favourite college subjects, today in our Ultimate Success Tips for College Students series we are discussing the pros and cons of taking Online Courses in College.  I am not going to lie, I was really excited when I saw that Online College Courses was our topic today because I am (still) thankful that I had the opportunity to enroll in Online Courses in College.

I really appreciated the option to enroll in Online Courses in College for two reasons; the first reason is that I live in the snowy Northeast and I really hate the cold winters, so any chance that I have to stay inside I am definitely going to take it.  The  second reason why I really love Online Courses is that I can work at my own pace and there are no brown nosing students asking questions and trying to suck up to the Professor.  I don’t know about you, but I work a lot more efficiently when I am not under time pressure.  I also really hate those college students who think they know more than the Professor and who ask so many questions that it makes the class go over the scheduled time.

 

Online College Course Tips

When I was in College I tried to enroll in at least one Online Course per semester.  Unfortunately this was only an option in my last two years of college because the Online Course offering back in the days was pretty scarce.  I enjoyed taking a lot of elective courses online such as Introduction to Political Science and the United Nations as well as The Methodology of Organized Crime.  I really enjoyed  learning at a distance  and I particularly loved the format of the Political Science United Nations Course.  Every student had to choose a country that was represented in the United Nations.   Each week the Professor would post a Topic for discussion and we had to interact with each other on a forum to discuss our countries point of view.  The final exam for this course was an In Class Exam which kind of sucked, but nevertheless I really liked taking the course.

I also enrolled in compulsory Online College Courses such as Introduction to Personal Finance and an Introduction to Computer Applications Course.  These were more technical courses that required the use of software and applications, this is (probably) why they were offered Online.  When I found out that both of  these courses also offered their Final Exam Online I remember thinking “That’s Great!”  However, when the time came for the Final Exam we had 1.5 hours to write the exam and there was a clock in the top left hand corner of the screen that counted down the time for us.  Needless to say this was very stressful.

 

Distance Education Success

The course material in Online College Courses is not easier, it’s just easier to learn at our own pace.  Online Courses come with a syllabus and therefore it is easy to set a weekly plan to make sure that we don’t slack off and fall behind.  I always advise college students to enroll in Online Courses in College because it’s easy to get the work done and it really helps increase our GPA; it is definitely easier to learn in a relaxed environment. Enrolling in Online Courses allows us to spent more time studying when we don’t have to waste time commuting to and from our College campus.

Enrolling in an Online Course allows us to receive our education at a distance and therefore allows us more flexibility in our daily schedules.  When I was taking Online Courses in College I was able to pick up more hours at Work and still get my school work done.  This really helped my time management and my budget!

Don’t Forget to Check Out The Previous Posts in our Ultimate Success Tips for College Students series!

 Work+College=Find a Balance.

Should You Work Full Time or Part Time in College?

Be Productive In College, Not a Procrastinator!

This blog uses the cross-linker plugin developed by Jan Hvizdak, owner of Aqua-Fish.Net