Paying for College

[jeepinmatt]

Those of you with kids, did you or do you plan to pay for your kids college? If so, how are you planning for it financially? If not, why not?

 

[Lizooki]

I used a side hustle for D1 to get an associates degree.
I went to street and music festivals and sold the Cigar box Guitars I build.
God provided. I would have a good weekend and the wife would pop up and say I need x amount of dollhairs for books.
Pull out the weekends proceeds and hand it to her.
D2 she had grants and stuff and financed the rest, which we are paying off.

 

[CasterTroy]

Yes for all 3

My kids are 26, 24 & 22 so for 4 years in the middle I had 2 kids in college at the same time. When the boy was born we started a NC 529. We both paid out of pocket for our OWN college. I personally worked 3 jobs to put myself thru school. I decided while in school that if I could afford the opportunity to my kids to not have to work or go in debt, that's the one thing I'd strive to do with any success I had in life. I've been very blessed to have accomplished that goal.

NC 529 plus out of pocket. For all 3 We paid for the 1st yr living on campus and then paid for them to share an apartment thereafter. We had a meal plan all 4 years and also sent them money for food and other things every month.

The boy went to western Carolina. He did NOT work the first 2 years but got a job in his jr year for spending money

Oldest girl went to UNCW. She also got a job her Jr year.

Youngest went to Appalachian. Her "job" was always career related and mostly intern and unpaid. She is currently in grad school at UNC. We still send her money but mostly her school is paid for by left over 529 funds


[Side note]


My girls were headstrong and knew their career way back in HS. The boy didn't realize his joy/career until long after college (chef)

With boys I would 100% encourage a community college then transfer. Actually with boys I'd hype a trade and remove that stigma because right now.... REAL tradesmen can write their own check. I mean.. money isn't everything, but shoulda/could a/woulda is real and times are different

 

[orange150]

We do the 529, but our “plan” is to do as much as we can comfortably at the time.
If we can afford to do what @CasterTroy did, we absolutely will, if not, we’re going to help as much as we can.

 

[Ron]

Why? - Troy just wrote my why - word for word.

What? A We pay for 100% of undergrad for degrees that matter. I cover housing and books and send some spending money.

I’ve told my daughter I’d help with grad school. How much is tbd.

How? We started young having kids and tried to save but sometime around oldest 7th grade year I realized I wasn’t going to have enough. So I pivoted and used the college fund to pay off all debt and bet on myself that my income and Gods providence would provide when the time came. We’ve been able to cash flow it as we go. It’s painful. I have two in college same time . To cover the semester ahead the budget line is $5,200/month for the pair. That over shoots and leaves some extra for sure but makes sure everything is covered.

There will be a season of your life where you can’t buy new equipment on a whim. Despite as great income you will feel strapped for a time. That’s ok - ‘This too shall pass’

 

[justjeepin86]

Other....
My wife had to pay 50% of her college and my folks covered mine.
For us, it's a huge idk. We have enough to not be financially strapped, but not near enough to pay for our kids college outright. We never started a 529 and now have 15 and 12 yr old.

If it was possible, i would love my kids to come out of college debt free, but I'm not going to the poor house for it. I'm 100% for the trade route.

 

[awheelterd]

Same as most of the above. I started a 529 when my oldest was born and make a weekly contribution. Whatever extra is needed I plan to pay out of pocket. I worked all through college during the summer and some during school to pay for my fun money. My boys can do the same.

 

[skyhighZJ]

What sort of happened: I saved for 20yrs!! Lol

What actually happened: I transferred my GI Bill. He can do with it as he pleases. I still have alternate opportunities through the VA for vocational school type opportunities should I so choose to use them.

 

[DSM Turbos]

I’ll help as much as I can. It’s hard to say how much since there is no telling what it will cost (but we only have 4 more years). I got a late start on saving since I only came into the picture when she was 9.

 

[orange150]

It’s hard to say how much since there is no telling what it will cost

That’s pretty much why my answer is vague on how much we can help. And who knows what state things will be in by the time my kids are college aged…..

 

[UTfball68]

I like what my in-laws did with my wife…any Freshman/Sophomore bills were the kids…they took over Junior/Senior year…and then paid off Freshman/Sophomore upon graduation. Basically making the statement, hey, if you think it’s all about partying, flunk out and rack up $60k doing it, you have learn that lesson…but if you go there to do the right things, we’ll reward you. And then I plan on supporting masters/doctorate. However, I will add the caveat I won’t support a bull shit degree, but if I did my job to that point, they shouldn’t want a bull shit degree.

 

[Noel]

I like what my in-laws did with my wife…any Freshman/Sophomore bills were the kids…they took over Junior/Senior year…and then paid off Freshman/Sophomore upon graduation. Basically making the statement, hey, if you think it’s all about partying, flunk out and rack up $60k doing it, you have learn that lesson…but if you go there to do the right things, we’ll reward you. And then I plan on supporting masters/doctorate. However, I will add the caveat I won’t support a bull shit degree, but if I did my job to that point, they shouldn’t want a bull shit degree.

Had a friend tell both his kids they were on their own. Daughter went through and came out successfully. Son flunked out first year but took on a job and is very successful now without a degree. Upon the daughter’s graduation he paid her debt off. Then awarded his son with a new car to match the bill. Kinda smart so that she was very frugal and cost concerned. And the son also knew to bail before he was in too deep. I also find myself wondering what I will do, and when the time comes it’s definitely gonna be based on their plans. If it’s a bullshit plan or degree they will most likely be on their own. Come to me with a good plan and career path and we will talk.

 

[UTfball68]

There will be a season of your life where you can’t buy new equipment on a whim. Despite as great income you will feel strapped for a time. That’s ok - ‘This too shall pass’

Also wanted to note I feel this in my core…I wake up panic ridden multiple times a week for this purpose. I’m a helluvalot more cash poor than I’d like right now…but I also like contingencies to my contingencies. Gameplan is to start liquidating businesses in 3-5 years and not have to worry about a damn thing, but that’s my kids college, future vehicles, weddings and my retirement. But I also know shit happens, recessions happen, political winds shift…so we’re trying to make it happen on current base income as well. But for now, every dollar spent over the next 5 years, I reckon will cause me immense anxiety. I semi-cope when my wife decides she wants bags of ice from Chicfila…rifle builds I justify as life long investments, but any time I get ready to spend money to get my rigs off jack stands or cut a check for a scout crawler, I go in to full awn panic attack mode. Hell, my Samsung fridge officially bit the dust last weekend, and we’ve been operating out of a cooler for the last week. I literally, can’t bring myself to buying a fridge (yet) because ‘that could be tuition money’ if everything else falls apart. I can feel the anxiety coming on even typing this out. I probably need therapy, but again, costs something…so bourbon and a campfire is my solitude. I know what being broke felt like, I know what 3 semesters of out of state tuition did to me financially, those are things I never want my kids to have to experience.

 

[skyhighZJ]

I don’t know why any of this is an issue, I thought our president was paying for everyone’s college like the Oprah Winfrey show? Free college for you and you and you and everybody!

 

[Scott86MJ]

I have two in college right now. One is in community college and the other is at a university. We are paying 100% of the tuition and housing. Both of them have part time jobs for spending money. We had enough in a college savings plans to pay 100% of the community college tuition and one year of the university tuition and housing. We are paying by the month for the last 3 years of tuition and housing. (about 1700 per month) FYI We should have saved more.

 

[Scott86MJ]

I don’t know why any of this is an issue, I thought our president was paying for everyone’s college like the Oprah Winfrey show? Free college for you and you and you and everybody! View attachment 402839

My wife's coworker just had her student loan paid for a couple of weeks ago. She posted the email she received on Facebook and you would have thought Joe Biden paid for it with his own money. She makes six figures a year and had been paying on her student loans for over twenty years.

 

[jyaks]

Apparently I need to start one of these 529's I've never heard of....

We will have 4 in college at the same time. So my thought has always been close to the 50% not necessarily a dollar for dollar match. I went to a university first then to a community college so I had a small student loan then paid per semester working for CC. My wife waited and went to a CC and straight into her field making good money with 1/10 of the debt that others have.

 

[skyhighZJ]

Also, 4 yrs in the service and GI Bill is nothing to balk at. Gives them time to mature and think about what they want from life. You can part time college while in using TA (tuition assistance) that doesn’t draw off your GI Bill, which covers basically everything class related for online courses or out in town at the CC (think getting all your pre-req’s out of the way and then some) then have the full GI Bill left to pay for whatever else. It ain’t a great life all the time but “free money” earned with some sweat is better than “free money” given. I personally think it would be a more respectable way to go about it than having something just given. YMMV.

 

[DSM Turbos]

I like what my in-laws did with my wife…any Freshman/Sophomore bills were the kids…they took over Junior/Senior year…and then paid off Freshman/Sophomore upon graduation. Basically making the statement, hey, if you think it’s all about partying, flunk out and rack up $60k doing it, you have learn that lesson…but if you go there to do the right things, we’ll reward you. And then I plan on supporting masters/doctorate. However, I will add the caveat I won’t support a bull shit degree, but if I did my job to that point, they shouldn’t want a bull shit degree.

Most degrees are bullshit. What % of people actually use their degree?

 

[Noel]

Most degrees are bullshit. What % of people actually use their degree?

How many people have degrees and have never worked? I know several stay at home moms with degrees that have never worked a day….

 

[DSM Turbos]

How many people have degrees and have never worked? I know several stay at home moms with degrees that have never worked a day….

Exactly. So is a “worthless” degree any more worthless than any other? I’d argue the degree doesn’t matter it’s the person. I know teachers that now do sales, artist that work marketing and media for corps, etc. Saying you will only pay if you go for a “worthwhile” degree to me is worthless in itself, doesn’t mean they will do anything with it.

 

[UTfball68]

Most degrees are bullshit. What % of people actually use their degree?

I agree…degrees are nothing but a sheet of paper to tell an employer that you can complete a long term task successfully. I’ve never once referred to one of my text books…google to the rescue. And last I checked, something like 80% of people with degrees are in fields other than what their degree was for.

 

[DSM Turbos]

I agree…degrees are nothing but a sheet of paper to tell an employer that you can complete a long term task successfully. I’ve never once referred to one of my text books…google to the rescue. And last I checked, something like 80% of people with degrees are in fields other than what their degree was for.

So which degrees won’t you pay for?

 

[ManglerYJ]

I'm actually surprised that mine was the first (and so far only) No. My dad made too much money for me to qualify for financial aid. I was too stupid to get good grades to qualify for scholarships, so the only options I had were student loans or busting my ass and working my way through college on my own. My brother (who got all the smarts in the family) had to take student loans to pay for his engineering school. I saw how quickly they added up to a butt-ton of money and he recently finally paid them all off in his 50's. Instead, I did the following to get my degree from Michigan State:

-Move pianos at a local music store ($5 an hour back in 1991 was good money, even for back breaking labor)
-Hawk pizzas for Dominoes at football games ($1 for each pizza sold - would come home from a football game with $100+ and a bunch of leftover pizza to fill fridge
-Sold spring break trips for a travel company. Earned commissions plus every 25 South Padre Island trips equaled a free one, every 20 Cancun trips sold gets a free one. We were top sellers in the country 3 years in a row. Sold the free ones at a reduced rate for cash.
-started my own advertising company selling ad space on calendars and discount cards. Worked with local print houses to print then distribute.
- Resident manager of our apartment complex for free rent. Rented out apartments and earned extra cash cleaning/painting them when turned over.

Never took one student loan, and after the first semester only bought books once I was sure I needed it. I now am in the same situation as my dad, making too much for my kids to qualify for financial aid.

That brings me to my first daughter, who just graduated from the dual enrollment program. She got her associates degree and her high school diploma at the same time - all paid for by tax dollars. She has been saving since she was 12 for college by doing chores around the house. We pay half in cash and require half to be saved. Sort of like the .gov. She paid her first semester at Liberty using that money and continues to work at the local pool and the YMCA as a life guard. She busts her butt the same way I did, just with a different end-game in mind. She is pursuing Paralegal Studies.

Daughter 2 has been saving the same way and is now lifeguarding as well. She begins Sophomore year at high school tomorrow.

My son has aspirations of military service for his future, but I'd like to push him towards the apprenticeship program at work. Skilled trades with an associates degree all paid for with good paying jobs thereafter.

 

[Wes]

Most degrees are bullshit. What % of people actually use their degree?

Absolutely. I childhood friend went to Clemson for like 6-8 years majoring in psychology. He was valedictorian in high school and in college. Masters, phd, etc. He’s been managing a sherwin Williams paint store since he graduated. Ben there for over 20 years now.