Reply to Sad that I can’t afford a top school for DD.

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "Sad that I can’t afford a top school for DD. "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Throughout your life as a parent, you made choices about your spending that didn't include planning to have the money for the level of higher education you want your child to have.  I'm sure you could have found a less expensive house, taken less expensive vacations, bought food at cheaper grocery stores, spent less on activities and the like.  But you didn't.

And now that you are faced with the decision as to how to spend the money you have, which does include enough to pay for the level of education you want to give your child, you do not want to give that level of education to your child.

The only person you should be disappointed in is yourself.  You could have but chose not to.  [/quote]

YES!!! The problem is the OP has eaten too much avocado toast. It can't possibly be that the system is broken, tuition has increased nearly 180% since her child was born, the federal and state governments have cut funding, and schools have complex shady systems that claims most people don't pay the sticker price, except maybe you-- sucker!

[/quote]

Fact remains that while prices have escalated at ridiculous levels, it is not that difficult to predict what prices would be.  We did it 10+ years out fairly accurately (and before then knew they were going up at 3-6%+ per year)  So we planned for it.  And yes, we sacrificed at times, choosing not to do certain things.  Heck my husband was a CEO and I still packed his lunch for him most of the time---it's healthier, wastes less time (company doesn't have a cafeteria), and most importantly saves a ton of useless money.  If I can feed him healthier for $2-3 for lunch versus spending $20 each day, that does add up.  Now add in taking coffee from home for the car ride, versus stopping somewhere to "pick one up".  That's a $5 savings daily.  So lunch and coffee alone are saving $23/day. that's over $400 per month.  Start investing that when your baby is born, and that $4800/year will be over $150K when they turn 18.

That is just for ONE member of the family for a daily coffee and lunch out during the work week.  Now apply it to eating out/getting takeout 1 day less per week, or for everyone in the family getting "Starbucks" 1-2 times less per week.  And same goes for taking snacks to work that you buy at Costco or in bulk for a good price.  Versus the vending machine or running to a nearby store and paying more than double.  
 
So yes, "eating less avocado toast" or spending less on unneeded extras and directing it to investing/savings can help.  Same goes for retirement savings.

Most in the donut Hole range do have some extras they can choose to cut.

Yes college costs are rising, but it's not a shock.  And just like anything else, you don't complain "I'm entitled to something I cannot afford" and expect to be given it.  There are literally tons of universities that you can afford, so search for merit and find the best choice for your kid and family.

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics