You Don’t Need a Billionaire Bailout to Pay Your Student Loans. You Need a Plan.

Written by adminMay 30, 2019
Student Loan Consolidation

Last week, we saw the incredible story of Robert F. Smith, a billionaire technology investor who owns Vista Equity Partners. After being asked to make the commencement speech at Morehouse College in Atlanta, he gave them the best graduation gift anyone could ask for. He agreed to pay the entire class’s student loans.

“God has smiled on me,” said one Morehouse Student. He had over $100,000 in student loans just vanish into thin air. The student most likely would’ve spent the next 10-20 years paying that debt off if it wasn’t for Smith’s generous gift. But billionaires aren’t the only one stepping in to help.

Yesterday, we wrote a story about Burger King offering to help by creating their own giveaway program using the BK App. Not to mention, truTV’s game show “Paid Off”, hosted by Michael Torpey, has made its return for another season. “Paid Off” allows people with student debt to compete against other grads with trivia. The winner gets enough money to pay off their debt.

We can easily consider how generous and special it is to be able to pay off someone’s debt. Yet, while it’s special when billionaires or TV shows or companies do it, many just expect it. There’s a whole movement sparking where students demand we raise the taxes on billionaires just to make college free for everyone. While it’s a nice dream, it probably won’t happen.

Generosity and Student Loans

While any comprehensive student loan bill will probably never be enacted into law, we have to think of ways to help graduates who are drowning. When you leave school, you don’t have a job. You’re a low man or woman on the totem pole. Yet, your first student loan bill is due within a few months, whether you’re ready for it or not.

Having a lot of student debt is burdensome. It prevents students from making major life decisions once they graduate. In many ways, they become a slave to it for the next 10-20 years. One way companies are starting to help is by offering generous repayment options. Rather than a 401(k) for retirement, companies offer benefits where they’ll match contributions dollar-for-dollar.

One company that does is Carhartt. They’re based in Dearborn, Michigan and work to help their employees pay their student loans. Gifts from billionaires and company CEOs are a major investment in their lives and helps them out more than anything else. Even a small gift will bring down the principal payment and cut the amount of interest paid over time.

“Instead of devoting thousands of dollars a month to student loan payments or being in an income-driven repayment plan for decades, they will now be able to invest in themselves,” said Mark Kantrowitz, publisher and vice president of research for Savingforcollege.com

“My first thought when I heard the news is what an amazing graduation gift!” said Lynita Taylor, diversity and inclusion program manager at the Mike Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State University. “College can certainly be seen as a worthy investment, but the staggering amount of debt you can accrue while pursuing that investment is heartbreaking.”

We Need More than Gifts

If gifts are the only way to end this problem, we aren’t going to see the end of the crisis anytime soon. The total amount of student loan debt out there currently sits at $1.53 trillion. That’s even before this most recent year has been tabulated yet. Those numbers are set to be released this fall. It’s going to be nearly impossible to raise a trillion dollars by gift alone.

It may help several individuals, but is Smith going to do the same next year if he’s invited back? And the year after? You can’t count on a gift or the government stepping in to help. They may provide some assistance, but they won’t just forgive over a trillion dollars’ worth of debt. You took out the loan, so you have to take responsibility for that.

If you’re a recent graduate, there are three ways you can make the situation easier on yourself.

1) Don’t wait out the grace period. You have about six months until you’re expected to start making your first payment. But during that six months, interest will accumulate. If you start paying off a $25,000 loan right away, you’ll save yourself $795.

2) Get a handle on what you owe. It can be frustrating once you leave college and see that bill for the first time. Don’t wait. Take the bull by the horns. Create an account on the Federal Student Aid website at studentloans.gov. Once you do that, be proactive. Track your payments. See how long it will take to pay it off.

3) Don’t make minimum payments. Kevin O’Leary of Shark Tank says the best thing to do is to devote nearly every dollar you have into your loans. When you graduate isn’t the right time to start buying fancy stuff, getting a car loan, or wasting money. Live frugally. Move back home for a year. Put all that extra money towards your loan to pay it off much quicker and get it out of your life.

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5 Ways to Eat Healthy on a Tight Budget

Written by adminFebruary 12, 2018
Saving

If you’ve spent any time in college, then you know how to eat on a budget. Most of us can think back to Ramen-fueled study sessions and cold leftover pizza breakfasts. Even if you’ve never been to college, living on a tight budget makes it more difficult to get the proper nutrition we need to stay healthy.

As we get older, eating healthy becomes more important. The problem is, according to a Harvard study, eating green and clean costs about $1.50 more per day than buying garbage food. The food manufacturers love it! They can mass produce low-quality food at a cheap price, and when you’re on a tight budget, you might think that’s all you can afford.

There are ways to overcome this problem and still eat healthy, no matter your budget! With some planning and extra work, you can do it! Let’s dive right in.

1) Understand the Psychology of Food

This is a HUGE problem not many people know about. Food is big business, and like every other big business, they know how to get you to keep buying their product. They produce cheap products that offer little nutritional value. Have you ever sat down and mindlessly eaten a whole bag of chips while watching your favorite show?

These foods are cheap for a reason. Because they offer little nutritious value, they burn up quickly, send your energy levels plummeting, and leave you hungry. So, while it might not cost as much to eat this way, you’ll find yourself buying twice as much of it.

 

When you eat the right type of foods that nourish your body properly, you won’t be as hungry. You can eat less, spend less, and overall be healthier for it.

2) Follow the Seasons

Farmer’s markets in our local communities are becoming increasingly popular, and for a very good reason. You can get great produce at a cheaper price than you can find in the store. Why is it cheaper? It’s because the foods they sell are locally produced and are in-season. That cuts down on shipping costs and follows the law of supply and demand.

If there’s a certain food in-season right now, that means there’s an abundance of it and you can get it at a great price. On the flip side, it’s going to cost a store more money to ship in fresh strawberries from South America, so the price is going to be higher. Look up the seasonal foods in your area at any given time and enjoy the savings.

3) Have a Plan and a List

One thing stores LOVE to make money on are impulse buyers. These are the people who run in with a few things on their mind, but end up leaving with much more than they intended on buying. It goes back to point #1 about the psychology of food.

The layout of grocery stores is not random. They’re carefully designed following the law of Power of Perimeter. If you haven’t noticed, most of the stuff we need on a regular basis is found along the outside wall of the whole store. If you need a gallon of milk, you’re going to the very back to find it. Meats, breads, etc, are also on the outer perimeter.

With the most common products at the back of the store, it forces you to walk through the Little Debbie aisle and the frozen food section. They count on you seeing that one thing you know you shouldn’t buy and tossing it into your cart. Then, when it’s time to roll up to an aisle, there are plenty of other impulse items there as well.

Don’t fall for it! Don’t go to the store hungry. Take your time and actively plan out your grocery list. Clip coupons. Find great deals. It will take extra time, but you’ll save money in the end.

4) Do Your Own Prep

One of the more expensive aspects of grocery shopping includes buying products that have been already cleaned, cut, and prepared for you. This includes meats, fruits, and veggies. A tiny container of pre-cut fruit, while convenient, is much more expensive than just buying the whole fruit and cutting it yourself.

Instead of hitting the meat section of your store, go to a local butcher. Not only will your food be cleaner and not sprayed with chemicals to help preserve it, you can get more of it at a cheaper price. As part of your grocery regimen (planning/shopping/couponing), take the time after you shop to chop, cut, and prepare the foods yourself. You’ll save a lot of money.

5) Grow Your Own

If you have the space for it, there’s nothing better than growing your own garden. Yes, it takes work, but can be extremely therapeutic. Even if you live in an apartment, you can find a way to grow your own fruits and vegetables. There are a thousand ways you can research online to grow in various types of light, space, and circumstances.

Also, learning how to can is a huge asset. It may seem like a practice from a bygone area, but it has been roaring back to life in the past few years. People actually desire to grow clean, healthy food and to can it themselves and spare the extra preservatives and chemicals food companies add in.

Grocery shopping is one of our biggest expenses, and food isn’t going to get cheaper anytime soon. By learning how to shop properly and by taking these steps, you can improve the quality of the food you eat on any budget.

 

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