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.
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