This is part of an ongoing series about how to trim the budget of the average American. As this series focuses on such broad-based tips, some will work for you and some will not. You’re invited to mention in the comments the tips that you found to be the most useful for inclusion in a comprehensive budget trimming guide at the conclusion of this series.
Education – $945
Education is another expense that varies widely from family to family. Many families have no education-related expenses at all. Other families have multiple children in college or on the way and are in a much different situation.
Obviously, education spending is an area where I think it’s a strong investment to spend if you need it. Education can have an enormous positive effect on your lifetime earnings beyond the personal growth that education can trigger.
The question here is how you can maximize your education dollars. Here are several suggestions for doing just that.
Keep in mind that college success isn’t a matter of getting into the best school. The Wall Street Journal found that, although attending college is important, what’s more important is drive and ambition: “When comparing students who graduated from elite colleges, as measured by students’ average SAT scores, with those who graduated from less-selective schools, the researchers found no significant income differences between the two sets of students. In fact, being rejected by an elite school where students had higher SAT scores was a better predictor of higher earnings than the competitiveness of the college the student actually attended. The findings suggest a student’s innate ambition, as reflected by his or her willingness to stretch in applying to exclusive schools, is a factor in career success.” In other words, if you want your child to succeed, don’t throw money at test preps or admissions for the right college or pressure to choose the right major.
Help your child find their passions. Hand in hand with the above idea is the idea that students who are driven are the ones who succeed. How can you help your student tap into some sort of internal drive? Help them figure out where their passions lie and then give them the support and room they need to chase those passions. This is a big part of parenting – in my opinion – as your child begins to grow up, through adolescence and puberty. If you can help your child find that passion, that passion can carry them to great heights – and help greatly with the value of the education they’ll get.
Stay on course. The most expensive thing you can do in college is switch majors – it almost always tacks on more semesters …