Here are several ways to save money for college.
College is a big investment and takes a lot of money, so you may be wondering how to save money for college. Luckily, there are several things you can do to accumulate cash to help pay for college tuition or make college cheaper to attend.
Get a Second Job
With the huge growth of the sharing economy, it’s much easier to make a few extra bucks with a part-time job. You can find work online to do from home from places like Amazon.com’s Mechanical Turk. Or you can take on tasks outside the home by driving a car or doing chores for others. You can find these jobs through places like Fiverr, TaskRabbit, Lyft and Uber.
Participate on Get-Paid-To Sites
There are several online sites, such as Perk, that will pay individuals to complete surveys, watch videos, print coupons or sign up for offers. There are gift cards available for various online and brick-and-mortar retailers, as well as restaurants.
With the right set up, you can also make this money for very little work, by simply setting up your computer, smartphone or tablet to run videos while you do something else. It will only provide a few dollars a day at most, but for not doing any work, it’s basically free money.
Set Up an Automatic Savings Deposit with Your Bank
After you pay your monthly bills, it can be very tempting to spend the leftover money. If you need to pay for college, you should save it. To save this money more easily, have your bank automatically send a set amount of from your checking account to your savings account at the same time each month.
Use Coupons
You don’t have to be an extreme couponer to save a significant amount of money using coupons. You can find several coupons online and many in your weekly circular that you’re getting in the mail. Then there are coupon packets often found in the Sunday paper. Just from these three sources, you can discover coupons for things you’d buy anyway. And don’t forget, many grocery stores will double manufacturer’s coupons.
Establish a College 529 Savings Plan
What makes a College 529 Savings Plan better than simply putting money in a savings account? The money put into the account is usually tax deductible, at least for state income tax purposes. Also, any capital gains obtained from investments chosen in the College 529 Savings Plan will grow tax-deferred. To make the savings even easier, most College 529 Savings Plans will allow you to set up automatic deposits from your bank account.
Ask for Application Fee Waivers
Many colleges recognize otherwise qualified applicants may not apply to their school because they cannot afford the application fee. If the applicant can show financial need, the admissions office is often more than happy to waive the fee. Alternatively, some schools have a special arrangement where if the applicant agrees to see the school during an official visit, the application fee is no longer required, even if there is no financial need.
Take Advanced Placement Courses in High School
A great way to lower college tuition is to reduce the time needed to get a college degree. You can do this by entering college with a few credits under your belt. One way to do this is to take Advanced Placement courses in high school. At the end of the class, the student can take the Advanced Placement exam. If they achieve a certain score, a large number of colleges will give the student college credit for that high school course. The exact exam score to achieve college credit will depend on the school giving the credit.
Another advantage of Advanced Placement courses is that they can enhance a student’s academic record, which can increase the chances of getting an academic scholarship, which leads to even more college savings.
Visit your nearest Title Tree store for more tips on spending less – or if you need a little help making ends meet right about now.