What makes you healthy, wealthy& wise?

by: Nicole posted in Personal, The Daily Shoestring

Apr 1

Does money really grow on trees? How do YOU handle money? Let’s all lay our cards out on the table. I’ll go first… ‘Tis the season for college acceptance letters. … more »

Does money really grow on trees?

How do YOU handle money? Let’s all lay our cards out on the table. I’ll go first…

‘Tis the season for college acceptance letters.

There’s been a lot of news about getting into college, paying for college, if a degree is even worth the cost. NPR’s The Takeaway morning show had a whole series on College Week.

And that got me thinking…

If money doesn’t grow on trees, and I’m fairly certain it doesn’t, how the heck am I going to pay for college for my 3 kids? How are you going to (well, I’m not expecting you to pay for college for my kids, but perhaps for your own)?

The price of a college education has outpaced inflation for decades by at least double. Double!

My oldest, Bailey, is going to 9 years old this month. She’s still “little,” I guess, but in another 9 years, she’s going to be 18 (how do you like my fancy math?) Most of the time, my mantra is, “You can finance college, you can’t finance retirement.” So I concentrate on striving for good credit, and a healthy retirement (note to self: concentrate more on a healthy, comfortable retirement).

My parents paid for college for me, & then I went directly into law school (don’t ask), and practiced law for over 12 years with relative success. But I didn’t enjoy it. Does that matter?

So now I’m about to finish grad school with a Master of Social Work (I’ll tell you about it, but only if you ask – I don’t want to assume that you care about my degree collection). I will make less money, but have greater job satisfaction (hopefully).

And then there’s the The Cookbook and this blog, both of which I genuinely enjoy. But I likely could have done both of them without an advanced degree {I mean, I was an English major in college, but I’m not sure if that’s here or there}. And believe me when I tell you that I’m not financing my retirement (or even the cup of coffee I’m drinking, at least not yet) with The Cookbook (and the blog costs money, rather than making money). But I love the cookbook and the blog. I really enjoy showing people who may feel like they aren’t “normal” just because they’re gluten-free that not only can the food they eat still be accessible and affordable, but even enviable. But what role did my education play in all of that? A lot, I usually assume. But is my assumption right?

I believe in the value of a solid liberal arts education. I believe in the power of knowledge. But are education & knowledge luxuries my children won’t be able to afford?

I even believe that, having the agency to cook and bake for myself and my family, I am teaching my children self-reliance. I am teaching them that if they don’t like their situation, they can change it.

So what makes me healthy, wealthy & wise? And what will make my children healthy, wealthy & wise?

What about YOU?

Tell us what you tell yourself about money, higher education, cooking, baking, self-reliance and the “American Dream.”

I’m ALL EARS. For real. I can use all the help I can get!

Warm regards,
Nicole

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Jessica

Every person is different and should consult their CPA, but I found the best way to help pay for it is with a whole life insurance policy. This is what we have in place for our little girl. I can help people in CO and WY
- Nicole
  
  Hi, Jessica,
  I had considered whole life insurance when our first child was about to be born and we were shopping for life insurance. We ended up with term, but honestly I’m not sure what our reasoning was any more! Thanks for the info!
  Warm regards,
  Nicole
Theresa

We opened a Smarty Pig account for our baby’s college education, the car we just bought, our future home purchase, and new glasses for me. I feel that I can handle large expenditures if I know I’m contributing little by little. Also baby’s grandparents got her a whole life policy like precious commenter said. She may or may not use that for college. My husband had his education paid for. I did not. There are advantages to both. I always tell myself and worrisome husband that we have all we could need and the wants will keep making themselves known. It’s just that way.

Hugs and good luck.
- Nicole
  
  Hi, Theresa,
  Thanks so much for your post.
  I generally feel like we are doing the best that we can, and if we could do better, we would. We don’t spend needlessly or mindlessly, we work hard & earn as much as we can. But I just can’t see us being able to pay for college for all 3 of our kids in cash. I had all of my education paid for, and am now paying for another degree myself (well, with my husband), & I was raised to be fearful of loans. But the cost of college is not realistic any more. Part of me feels like, in another 10 years, the landscape will have changed and another solution will have emerged. That’s the optimistic part of me!
  Thanks again for your comment…
  Warm regards,
  Nicole
Melissa

Hey oh! I love this question. I am a 24 year old college student & I have paid for/financed everything on my own since I began my higher education journey. I am currently a junior and I just transferred to Mills College (a private, progressive liberal arts college for women in Oakland, CA). There are a couple of big hurdles I faced trying to pay for school and a couple of really awesome things I learned along the way.

First off, if you don’t have monetary support from your parents you are royally screwed until you are 24, or married, or a parent, or in the military, etc. (these are the requirements to be considered an independent student & have your financial aid assessed on YOUR income and not your parents). If you aren’t going to be paying for your kids to go to school, make sure they understand this fact.

I didn’t know what I wanted to study when I graduated from high school so I chose to travel, volunteer and work full-time instead. I’m so, so glad I did this even though all of my friends have long since graduated & I am still a junior. Programs like AmeriCorps provide young adults with the means to give back to their community while receiving a living stipend, hands on training, life experience, leadership skills and a $5000 educational award for each year of service. AmeriCorps helped me figure out that I love working with school-age children and that I want to make my life about helping others. It also helps me stand out on job applications, scholarship applications, college admission applications, etc. Tell your children about AmeriCorps!!!

Once I decided to go back to school (I was 22) I chose to go to a really good community college to get my general education out of the way. This saves you a LOT of money and allows you to erase any bad grades from your high school days because all the universities care about is your college GPA. Lots of community college have transfer agreements with larger four-year universities, too. Good research and a willingness to explore alternative avenues can save you a lot of money!

Now that I’m 24 I receive a lot of financial aid & my 3.8 GPA has earned me some really helpful merit scholarships. Hooray!

To summarize, these are the best tips I can share:

1) Make sure your kids understand how important their performance in school is…good grades can go a long way.

2) Don’t freak out if they don’t want to go to college right away! As long as they are actively searching for the path they want to pursue they will figure it out. AmeriCorps (again, Google it if you don’t know what it is!!) is a great way to fill a gap year AND can help pay for college.

3) Community college can seriously save you money for the first two years and give you a clean slate if your high school GPA isn’t exactly perfect. Don’t forget about those transfer agreements…

Lastly, I am happy that I have had the opportunity to pay for my own education. My mom provided me with a GREAT elementary and high school education which really prepared me to be able to achieve my own success in higher education. I really feel like I OWN my education since I have earned it and paid for it on my own. I plan on doing the same thing when I have children: provide them with every opportunity to learn and thrive all the way through high school…then it’s up to them! So many people go to college and earn degrees that they never use. My journey has been harder than those who had their schooling paid for, but I really value mine and took the time to figure out exactly what I wanted to study!

Hope this helps or at least stimulates some good thinking…
- Nicole
  
  Melissa!
  
  I nearly cried when I read your story. You are so wise.
  
  I absolutely L-O-V-E the idea of a gap year (& the idea of AmeriCorps – although I think it may have been the victim of some funding cuts recently), and think that your mother must have done a bunch of things right in how she raised you (although all of your integrity is your own accomplishment at this age). Education is a wonderful thing, & postsecondary education can be very useful and important, but it should be the product of conscious, independent thought. And at 17 or 18, it’s hard to imagine being capable of that sort of independent choice. I don’t regret going to college and getting a law degree since it brought to me where I am today, and I’m happy and fulfilled (most days!), but I did not make my own choices. I don’t blame my parents – they are both educated and value it highly, and conventional wisdom at the time was still that you MUST go to college and you MUST own a home to be happy. Now – neither of those things is necessarily true, at least not right away.
  There is no one way to be happy. There is no objectively “right” way to live your life. I want to raise my children to be strong, confident, caring, people with good manners who treat other people with respect. Thank you for helping me remember that that is the goal. I feel much calmer now!
  
  Warm regards,
  Nicole
Jennifer R

I want to second the wise comments by Melissa. I teach a class at our local community college, and it can be a very good choice for general education requirements (1st two years of higher ed) but do pay attention to the transfer agreements with your chosen 4 year institution. Cheers!
- Nicole
  
  Hi, Jennifer,
  
  I completely agree. My husband went to a local community college campus of Penn State for his freshman year to save money, and it was a big help for his parents.
  
  Thanks for posting!
  
  Warmly,
  Nicole
Susan M

Money does not grow on trees but their are things you can do to lower the out of pocket expense. In addition to going to a community college, start looking at what scholarships
are available. There are many that go unclaimed every year because people do not find out about them and try to get them. When I went back to school, one of the teachers would ask me each semester if I wanted a scholarship. All I had to do was play in the band. My state has a lottery that goes for scholarships. Also help your children be well rounded since that increases the chances of the school wanting them enough to pay them at least part of the cost. You need to start doing your homework now so you can help them later. Also they need to understand how much help they can expect for you. Say they can live at home if they can commute to classes and you will help with information or whatever you can do.

Hope this helps and I’m sure that your children will grow up to be wonderful even without the money tree.
- Nicole
  
  Thanks, Susan. Good tips, all around!
  
  Warm regards,
  Nicole
Tracy

We have not been able to set any money aside for college for either child. When I was working we had a bit more money, but then our son was born, I quit to stay home (the position I temped in was eliminated anyway, and daycare was crazy expensive for a 5 year old and a newborn), and in the midst of all that nuttiness we bought our first house. It’s been tight, but we’ve done our best on a single income. Now we’re heading back to college. I financed my previous college and other training, while my husband alternated semesters with his parents to pay for his two years of college. Though we are having to use Pell Grants and loans to finance our college education we really hope that we can purchase a college savings account for our kids. The kids may still have to finance some of their education, but we hope that with the jobs that could come with furthering our education we’ll be able to actually set up savings accounts for retirement and education for the kids. It is quite the canumdrum, be it furthering your own education or saving for that of your child’s. We also do plan on buying whole life insurance for the kids…but that comes from a tragidity that happened in February with a classmate of my daughter’s. Good luck.
- Nicole
  
  Hi, Tracy,
  They say that this is the first generation of Americans that is still going to be paying off their own college loans when it comes time for their children to go to college. I think something is going to have to shift dramatically in the world of post-secondary education in this country, and soon.
  Good luck to you and thanks for posting!
  Warm regards,
  Nicole
miranda

I tell my self ……” name brands rarely matter”, “all things come to those who wait”, “doing things your self brings self pride”, “Less is better” on the other hand doing things right the first time is a blessing. sometimes that means doing a bit more. “think of the future. Its where we are headed after all”, “dont forget to stop and enjoy the simple pleasures that dont cost money. make time for them if you need to” . Food is easy, the best food ever is cooked with the best of intentions, a light heart and a clear mind. I do believe our moods effect our end product. I shop at Aldi ( who is getting VERY good at allergen labels by the way), the dollar tree, good will, the asian grocery. Anywhere I can save some cash. I like to be as self reliant as possible. My yard is being called a mini farm by my dad. Im still learning to to do this canning thing. :) I just cut every corner i can without cutting the quality of our life back. good luck!
- Nicole
  
  Wow, Miranda! That’s a lot of catch phrases you keep in your head!
  I love it when I hear that lower priced markets are good at allergen labels. We don’t have an Aldi near me, but now I wish we did!
  Cutting every corner without cutting quality of life sounds like the name of the game. Thank you for your post! It’s nice to see you working your way through the blog. :)
  xoxo
  Nicole

This recipe was brought to you by Nicole Hunn of Gluten-Free on a Shoestring: http://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/what-makes-you-healthy-wealthy-wise/