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With the rising cost of education I thought this would be a good topic to kick around. I seen a post on consolidating student loans. With all the options available with grants and loans, should one start saving when a child is pre teen for college? I know it is always good to be prepared, but is it necessary? Especially if you are on a tight budget. I started doing the Upromise campaign about three years ago, it is pretty cool, you shop, you save, it has been accumulating on my groceries mainly. You can also put friends on it, so when they shop you save for your kid for college too.
Laura,
I am sure that your are doing a great job with your sister, you always write such good posts that explain what you are doing with her. August and you have some things in common when it comes to the kids, you both sound like excellent role models, and I am sure that the kids influenced by you two are having a great start to a wonderful future and two really great adults that they can come back to if they trip up.
Laura and August..Sounds like the two of you are doing right by your sister and children. Too many times parents get wrapped up in their own daily lives and struggles and the child is overlooked. I was once told that a child is like a tree...when they are young you can bend and shape them to grow in the right direction but once they mature they are difficult to retrain to "grow" the right way. Good luck even though it doesn't sound like either of you need it.
My kid will get grants because she was once a ward of the state, she was in foster care before we adopted her, so they will kick in quite a bit if she chooses to go to college as long as it is a state university.
That is really good for her jbarto. I wish they would amke more programing funds possible for these children. It is great to see that just because they got off to a bad start things don't have to stay that way. My sister is doing foster care herself and I have met some pretty good kids through her. It always leaves such a sadness in my heart though. I can not figure people out theses days. I thought about it but I think it takes a stronger person than I am. I think it would kill me to send a child back to a home that wasn't any good for them. My sister in law is also in foster care and she has adopted a sibling group of 4. Since adopting them their mother has had one she left drown in a toilet and another on the way. I asked my sister in law why the sstate couldn't step in and make her get fixed and she said she asked that question herself and it is against the mothers rights to do that. Well didn't she lose those rights when she chose drugs over her first four children. Gosh this is such a sore point with me. Anyway thank you for taking a child in and calling her your daughter. I am sure you mean this in every sense of the way. You should be VERY proud of yourself.
You must be a lucky parent and she must be too lucky as well. Hope we see her shine as she grows up. good luck.
She is starting kindergarten here this year, I have worked with her since we got her at 8 months, she will be the youngest in her class but she tested right up there with the older kids.
I do a lot with her, take every opportunity to learn things, like with baking, we count the eggs, measure the water, the oil, anything can be turned into a math project.
That is what we all have to do these days good natured. they have raised the bar really high for our kids in the education system. My girl is in 6 grade and she is doing stuff I didn't do till years later. Sometimes I feel it is to much because although most students can handle it it leaves the ones who are struggling by no fault of their own to be pushed off the education railroad.
Well, I see people everyday who are recent graduates that can not read or write to save their lives, I think this is a failure of the education system. They are pushed through and not ready for the world of work at all, it is just sad.
Guess it really goes two different ways.
Yes, I agree with you goodnatured. The guys of today are so negligent about savings and spend so much if they have a credit card that they fall in debt. Sometimes they are unable to pay such huge debt, which gets reflected in their credit report and adversely affects their later years after student life. So I think credit education should be given right from the school level so that these students does not fall in evil days in the later years of their lives.
exactly I think some how it should be part of the math curriculum or the home economics. I don't think kids leave high school having a clue about credit.
Very true and I think these days this really needs to be stressed to them. I would agree to having it put into any cirriculum as long as they get the message before entering into the adult world.
Most of them leave high school with the assumption that money grows on trees. I think they get that impression because we spoil them at home, it is partly our fault as parents, we don't make them work the way we had to work for things growing up. I am guilty of it, I think kids are toooooo involved outside the home. We did not have too much time away from home as these kids do today. I know some that have an activity every night of the week, it is ridiculous. I refused to run my life away like that once mine gets into school full time. I think they need to spend some time at home with out outside interruption.
I too agree with the fact that credit educations should be a part of the school curriculum. This is because these students do not think back while spending on their credit cards and end up in debt. This in turn affects their years after school life as these unpaid debts get enlisted in your credit report lowering their credit score.
Wonder if anyone in the education system even started to consider an idea like this? GN I agree with you about teens getting too wrapped up in the outside world. Here at my house I let my daughter choose 1 activity a year besides chorus. It got to the point she would end one activity nd want to go into anotgher. My vehicle was never leaving the road and I was streessed out always being pressed for time, especially with working. When gas prices did their skyrocketing I began the one activity rule and found that I wished I had did this years ago. I can actujally sit and enjoy a couple evenings a week.
When they get so wrapped up in all these activities they lose track of family, you have to keep that connection with your kids as they grow, there is so much peer pressure to get into bad things, it is very important to stay connected to your kids during their teenage years.
That is really true. I think if you make tim e to ask questions and be a part of what they are doing really helps. I limit time at my house on the phone, net and video games. To me its ok to spend some time there but not an eternity. When I was growing uo you could not dare to say "I'm bored" cause you sure wouldn't be for long.
LOL, boredom would put you to work right?
OH YEAH! If you said it too many times you would find yourself in the yard trimming grass around everything with a pair of scissors. What made it even worse is when mom or dad would pass by you and say "Bet your not bored now are ya?". I wasn't allowed to swear but I had a few responses in my head. I really today am glad for these lessons. I love to be outside and I doing something. Sometimes I look back at the end of a day and think of all I accompished and it really feels good. I was getting down on myself pretty good after having my armed injured for good. I would compare what I got done to what I use to be able to do. I have since re thought alot of it. Sometimes before I think I was stressing myself out trying to do too much. So there really is a happy medium in there somewhere.
Sometimes you have to look at your accomplishments and focus on what your success's are rather than beating yourself up all the time.
I am learning this. Sometimes I have to laugh cause I feel like a kid all over again. The other day I cleaned up a few piles of rock and dirt from the yard. It took hauling them in a wheel barrow and only filling it half full AND stopping a few times along the way to the dump point but I did it. What makes me feel like the little child is when my hubby comes home and says "good job, hon". Its like OH geez, shucks!.
The new gi bill is awesome, you can let your dependants use it now, you have to be in a certain amount of time. If you know anyone in the military they should be checking out these changes.
I can see letting the dependants use it. I am glad they are updating these things. I have a lot of respect for the military people of our country.
Well alot of the soldiers that have children are older and have no intention on using the money for themselves, if they don't use it, they lose it. With this change it gives them something that they can pass down to their children, now what parent would not want to secure an education for their children.
I know I would especially with the cost of educating our youth these days.
Right now, about $64,000 for a four year degree and rising.
That is absurd. If they have no help they would be paying forever, I am though glad your daughter can get it.
actually there is a lot of financial aid out there for people, you just have to know where to look. You can have college about paid for through grants and scholarships. The student has to start looking for all this financial aid in about 9th grade.
You should dedicate a tablet to these efforts, it is a lot of work, but you can get a lot of it paid for, you just have to be dedicated to looking for the money.
I can not imagine a ninth grader these days even looking that far into their futures. It seems reality these days doesn't hit until about oh..lets see...25.
I guess they are more fun and more influential when they are younger, my five year old wants to be a doctor, she says that when I come to her that she will put a bandaid on me and give me a sticker, I have to laugh, she is an ambitious little thing, hopefully she will stay that motivated about life.
I love them at that age. If only they could continiue to have such an attitude when they get older. You see so many young americans not working and it makes you wonder what the world will be like later on, especially with them not working and helping to contribute.
She started kindergarten on her 5th birthday, she is so excited about school. I am hoping too that she stays motivated with school. I have a niece that just left for job corp and a newphew that is graduating from boot camp here on 11/20. so there is hope out there.
This is great to hear about motivated children. I was beginning to wonder if all we had were stragglers who didn't want to work. It is scary that all the baby boomers who have a good hold on todays world are up their in age. I wonder whom will replace these gifted people in the years to come. I sure didn't have any Henry Paulsons or Donald Trumps.
Importance of Savings
I wants to search the essay for importance of savings.
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Saving upromise 2.. Reposted it :)
Re:college savings for your kids
At the age of 3 years. In Play center ....Play schools ask for good donation . so you can think in future what will be the cost of study!!!!
It's more about becoming responsible right from one's childhood. I guess it's time that we should teach our teens to be cautious with step. They should work and contribute their share towards family expenses in whatever little way they can. I see a teen who does a summer job, pays for his own insurance and pays back his credit card doing much better in life. In comparison, his friends who have indebted parents helping them to enjoy I-pads and including them in parental health policies will do worse in the coming years.
Re:college savings for your kids
And you know when child start to go school at that time..Parents tell him that you have to be Doctor/Engineer....So if you planned it than only your child could be Engineer/Doctor.