Comments on: How I Financially Survived College

By: The Financial Philosopher

The Financial Philosopher — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 14:35:06 +0000

Graduating with debt could arguably be a mixed, but positive, blessing. The most favorable outcome, in my view, is that the graduate enters into life with some debt to manage; the attitude, desire, and skills to begin debt reduction; and some of the more significant personal finance mistakes behind them. College is the ideal environment to make mistakes — the greatest tool for growth. In the end, college is less about academics and more about learning how to live (socially, emotionally, financially). I find it to be unlikely that an 18 to 22 year old will manage their finances without making any significant mistakes before graduation. Mistakes made after graduation, as opposed to before graduation, could potentially be more damaging…

By: Beth

Beth — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 14:00:28 +0000

I feel like much of my college years were wasted (oh, why didn’t I listen to advice to take more variety or classes–like business?), and I didn’t work much during college, other than tutoring a few hours a week. However, since I went to a small (public) university in a small town in the middle of nowhere (student enrollment of less than 2,000, and town population around 5,000), there weren’t really a lot of job opportunities, but there wasn’t really a place to spend money, since I don’t go to movies or drink. I wish I had gone to a bigger university with better job opportunities working during the school year. I probably would’ve spent more money, but I think I would’ve been forced to learn budgeting rather than “budgeting by default.”

By: Dennis

Dennis — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 03:20:54 +0000

I’ve found that despite my college education, I was not taught how to manage my personal finances. It’s kind of frustrating to have invested four years of my life in an education that seems so practically useless right now (other than helping me get a job).

By: Moneymonk

Moneymonk — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:00:04 +0000

My needs were less in college than thay are now.

College- roomate, cafeteria food, activities on campus, no insurance, no assets, no car. I did not have much money to mess up financially.

Now- that I am married with a child. Needs are totally different.

By: plonkee

plonkee — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 19:41:47 +0000

I ended up with quite a bit lower bank balance when I left college – I had an interest free overdraft of about £1000. I also had reasonably large student loans.

This is because the only time that I earned any money was in the summer. I took slightly unusual jobs that sounded fun and intrigued subsequent interviewers.

I didn’t scrimp and save, but everyone did everything cheaply – we all went out clubbing on weekdays and not Saturdays because there were cheap student nights on weekdays. I also didn’t have a car, which cut down costs.