Earn Your Degree Without the Debt

Do you currently know of someone that will soon graduate high school and will head off to college? I think every single one of us could quickly name 10+ people that will be extending their education to the college level within the next few years.

What if you had the secret to getting through college debt free? Would you be willing to share it with them? I sure hope so. When you are in your twenties, you have a great opportunity to learn about money and follow some great advice. Get out your notepad and pencil, because here’s a plan that anyone can follow in order to get through college without any debt.

The SAT/ACT

If you’re currently in high school, the ACT and SAT are the single most important tests of your life. If you score well on these tests, you will not only get accepted into college, you’ll most likely get a free ride! This sounds exciting and all, but you’re probably thinking that only the gifted students can score well on this test. While it is true that intelligent students do well on these tests, for the most part, the questions are fairly standard from year to year, which means that if you spend the proper time studying, anyone could score well! This SAT prep blog can give you some insights about both tests, though I suggest that all students take a study course in order to get adequately prepared.

Community College

If you fall short of a free ride to your desired university, don’t sweat it. You can still graduate from there, but it might be wise for you to start at the local community college. First of all, classes are much cheaper at a community college, which will make it easier for you to pay for it. Second, if you get good grades in your classes, you’ll have another chance to qualify for scholarships at the university. Third, if you stick with community college for two years and get your associate’s degree, there may be programs that allow you to get credit for more classes than you actually took when transferring to the university. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true! All in all, community college is a wise choice!

Get a Job!

Some students wait until after they graduate before they get their first job. This is absolutely ridiculous. If you want to graduate without any debt, you’ve got to work both during school, and during the summer.

Live With Your Parents

I understand that it’s not super cool to live at home with your parents, but this move will likely save you $5,000 a year. If you choose to live outside of your parents’ house, you’ll just have to work all that much harder to avoid loads of debt at graduation.

Apply For Scholarships

If you decide to take your first two years of classes at the community college, keep an eye on the scholarships that are available to the university that you plan to attend. If you just navigate through their website, you should be able to find hundreds of scholarships – many of which you’ll be eligible for. If I were you, I wouldn’t spend as much time on the massive scholarship sites. There are way too many people that are eyeballing the same scholarships as you and your chances are slim. It’s best to devote your time to the local scholarships.

You should also fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form. Your university will provide the form and it is used to determine your need for financial aid as you attend university. You could receive federal student loans or grants just by filling out this form and, in some cases, you might find that you are eligible for a federal work-study. Meet with an academic advisor at your university to look at your financial aid options, as they will ensure that receive the maximum assistance for which you qualify.
You can earn your degree without debt. What are you doing to get through college without student loans?

A Giveaway and Link Love

I’m lucky enough to have some time off today when I’m writing this (Thursday), so I’m spending it getting caught up on all of the blogging things that I have to do. I’ve been answering email, reading posts that I missed during the week, responding to comments, writing posts, and getting things set up before I go on vacation.

I’m only gone for a couple of days, but it always seems like longer when you get on a plane, doesn’t it? I always feel like I’ll be gone for weeks and out of the loop when I get back, even if I’m only gone for a weekend.

I have about three cups of strong coffee in me right now so I’m being productive, which is a nice feeling.

Summer Team

Yakezie put together some summer teams, and I am lucky to be in a team with the bloggers behind:

I’m happy to be in a team with these awesome bloggers and that I have this opportunity to get to know them all better.

Link Love

Jeremy at Modest Money posts about the evolution of a blog design. Add Vodka’s design has changed and evolved a lot over the years.

CF at Outlier Model posts about tips for the next performance review, which is timely, since I have mine coming up next week!

Pauline from Reach Financial Independence writes a post about raising children and teaching them about money, in “A fantasy world where money doesn’t exist”.

My friend at Girl Meets Debt is getting past disappointment after she and Jeremy lost the condo that they were about to purchase because the seller couldn’t get her mortgage discharged.

Over at Freedom Thirty Five, LI is breaking all the rules 🙂

Holly at Club Thrifty tells us about her daughter’s case of the I-wants. I also want an above ground pool.

The Great Jolly Hoombah made me laugh (as they always do) with a post about a clogged drain and saving money.

Jessica is changing her name – but not her blog name!

The blogger behind We Only Do This Once discusses financial stress and how to get out of it.

Giveaway

One of the emails in my inbox was from the blogger behind the Debt Myth about a giveaway they are hosting! We’re giving away an iPad Mini, courtesy of the Debt Myth. Check out their new app that they just launched, thePay off Debt App! If you win, you’ll also get the app, so not only will you get a sweet iPad, you’ll also have your first (and probably most helpful) app on it.

Enter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Build Wealth with Real Estate

build wealth with real estate

Have you ever thought about creating wealth with real estate? No, I’m not talking about flipping houses. I believe that wealth is built best by renting your property to others.

Many people immediately write off this income suggestion because they think that it’s only available to the rich, or they see it as a risky investment when there’s a small amount of money down on the property. These statements hold some truth, but I believe that the real estate market it open to everyone, and it’s one of the best places to create a passive residual income that will eventually make you rich.

Get Rich by Buying Low, Selling High

While we won’t actually be selling our real estate investments (until much later in life anyway), it’s definitely important to find an inexpensive property to start your empire with. More than likely, you won’t have that much cash to put down on it, so the best deal you can find, the better. If you’re willing to wait, you may find a deal through a short sale, but just beware that these purchases can take longer than six months, and sometimes more than a year!

Another way to find discounted housing is by checking out the foreclosed properties. Typically, these properties just need a little cleaning and a lot of paint (for some reason, foreclosures always have ugly painted walls…). If you can overlook these small imperfections when you view the property, you could soon find yourself a deal that no one else is able to see.

Other properties may be discounted because the sellers are looking to get rid of the house fast. Perhaps they’re moving out of state, or maybe the house was an inheritance that is of little use to the current owners. Whatever the case may be, if you find out that the house needs to be sold quickly, you probably have a deal on your hands.

A Positive Cash Flow is Key to Building Wealth

When you find a discounted property and you’re thinking about making an offer, it’s important to first estimate how much you’d be able to charge for rent. This is your monthly income. Now, how much with your expenses be per month? Obviously you’ll include the mortgage payment here, the insurance, the property tax, and also any potential repairs averaged out on a per month basis. If your income is still higher than your expenses, then you might have a winner on your hands.

Build The Empire

If you continually collect a profit each month from your rental, you’ll soon have enough money to invest in another property. Without overleveraging yourself, continue to repeat this process over and over again. You’ll soon find that because of the increased sources of income, you’ll be able to reinvest in another property in far less time that you did from your first property.

For me, I’m more risk averse, so I like to invest without debt. With the first property, you could get a mortgage, but with the rental income and your own income, you could pay down the loan on the property quite rapidly. Once paid off, you could buy the next property, and then the next and the next… With cash only, the process moves more slowly, but it still could allow you to build an empire that produces over $10,000 a month, and a net worth of over $2 million!

Have you had any success in building wealth with real estate?

Suburban Finance

Author: Admin