• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Simply Jennifer

My Journey Through Parenting, Weight Loss, and Life

Sign Up For Our Latest Blog Posts!

  • Home
    • About
    • Disclosure
  • Family
  • Life
  • Recipes
  • Health
  • Giveaways
  • Reviews
  • Contact Me
You are here: Home / Family / Paying For Unexpected College Costs

September 21, 2017 Leave a Comment

Paying For Unexpected College Costs

This post may contain affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a commission (at no additional cost to you). What does this mean?

Every parent knows that eventually, the day will come when they need to pay for their kid’s college education. Tuition costs alone could set you back somewhere in the region of $100,000 and that’s before you’ve paid any of the living costs. But once they start studying, you’re going to get a shock because the costs don’t end there.

Even if you’re saving throughout the year, you’ll still fall short. One of the college costs that most parents are unprepared for is textbooks and supplies. The average college student spends around $650 every year on books, but depending on their major, it could be even more than that.

As well as books and supplies, you’ll need to help them out with any extra clubs and organizations that they might join and when you add all of those costs together, you’ll find that the money you saved up before sending them off to college is a lot less than what you actually need, so how exactly are you going to pay for all of that?

Borrow Money

The simple solution is to borrow money. You might be able to get a bank loan or take out some extra money against your house but that’s risky. Companies like wholelifeinsurance.co can give you advice on borrowing money against your life insurance policy. This is a much more sensible way of borrowing money because you don’t risk your more important assets like the house. You also won’t need to borrow a huge amount of money so there is no need to put your house up for collateral.

You could also look into parent loans specifically designed to pay for college. College Ave Student loans supply specific loan programs for parents to help cover all of the extra costs that you might incur. The benefit of having a parent loan is that you’re in control of that money so you can guarantee that it’ll go on school supplies instead of getting wasted.

Don’t Buy New

Buying new textbooks is ridiculously expensive but you can save some serious money if you buy second-hand. You won’t always be able to get the latest editions so the information in them can sometimes be slightly different. However, the textbooks won’t change too much in one or two editions so as long as you don’t get one that’s too old, it should do just fine. Tell your kids to get in touch with other students in the year above them and see if they can either borrow the books or buy them at a reduced price.

Ask Current Students

One of the best ways to prepare for unexpected costs is to expect them. Knowing how much you’re going to have to pay out beforehand means that you can save the extra money and avoid getting caught out. If you have any family friends that already have kids in college, ask them exactly how much money they needed for all of the added extras and get a better idea of what the actual costs are going to be.

Failing to prepare for these unexpected college costs can put you in financial trouble as well as ruining your child’s college experience.

Related

Filed Under: Family, Life Tagged With: Affiliate, college, family, learning, life, school

Previous Post: « Safety First When Losing Weight
Next Post: DIY Ginger-Cantaloupe Popsicle »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

A little about me…

I'm a 30-something mom of two teenage boys living in the beautiful state of Virginia. This blog has great book reviews, fun gift ideas, and honest product reviews. So pull up a chair and have a seat and stay awhile :) Read More…

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

SIGN UP FOR OUR LATEST BLOG POSTS!

Simply Jennifer is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Footer

  • Family
  • Giveaways
  • Recipes
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
QOTD: If you had $500 to spend in any store, which QOTD: If you had $500 to spend in any store, which store would it be?
Thoughts become things, so make them worth having! Thoughts become things, so make them worth having!  #thoughtsbecomethings #inspire #priceless
TGIF! Share your enthusiasm for Friday with me in TGIF! Share your enthusiasm for Friday with me in the comments! #letscelebrate #fridayfeeling #tgif

Sign Up For Our Latest Blog Posts!

  • Family
  • Giveaways
  • Recipes

Copyright © 2021 · Design by Studio Mommy

Copyright © 2021 · Her Exclusive On Genesis Framework