<p>Alright, so there is this very attractive girl who wants be to buy her Journalism 101 book (which I really need) for $25. The bookstore and every where else sell this book for an insane amount. Because I like this girl and would like to pursue a friendship(or more) with her, I want to buy the book. The only problem is that my parents are paying for school, and we're under financial aid, which you guys no not only helps them pay for tuition, but also for stuff like books, school supplies, or anything else I need for college. Since this girl isn't a store I can only pay her with cash. Will my student aid still cover this, even though I'm not paying with credit card?</p>
<p>Do you have an efc 0 and are you at a full need met school. </p>
<p>If you get a refund after direct costs are paid, then no issue. FA for books is an estimate.</p>
<p>Yeah, I got the refund last week. So I can just use cash to buy the book then?</p>
<p>Yeah, it’s not like they can track what you do with your refund. And even if they could, you’re not doing anything illegal or even unusual by buying college books with your financial aid money.</p>
<p>Hmmm…so I can say, order a pizza to my room to…fuel my brain and assist me in my studies for a final? Can I use the refund money for that too?</p>
<p>I don’t see any reason why not. Food is extremely important (especially during a major cram session!) The only advice that I would give with money in general during college is to try to save some of the money for your refund for important purchases throughout the year. You don’t want to use it all up the first month or so and end up feeling the pinch if you break your computer or something and have to get a new one.</p>
<p>Thank you. I have another question. how long do I get that refund? Is it monthly? Yearly?</p>
<p>No problem! In most colleges that I’m aware of, you get your refund after all of your directly billable expenses (tuition, room, board) are deducted from your financial aid for the term. It’s not really a ‘monthly’ or ‘yearly’ thing as far as I know – if your school charges by semester, you get the refund (if you receive more aid than the amount of the bill) every semester.</p>
<p>Note if your parents are paying cash (or taking parent loans) for your college and you are getting “refunds” of cash from the college, this is actually in some ways your <em>parents’</em> money. Say your parents pay 3K toward the college… and you are getting 1K “refund” from the college… I would argue that unless your parents know about this refund and have given their blessings for you to use it any way you want or need, that your parents have been duped into overpaying for your education by 1K. Meaning, they could have just paid 2K and then your bills would all have been paid and squared away.</p>
<p>It could also mean you are taking out too much in loans… if the “refund” is on the back of lots of student loans, realize this is just cash you have borrowed in excess of your actual need. </p>
<p>You don’t say how much the refund is - $100? $1000? </p>
<p>Note unless you have full grant/scholarship directly from the college … whatever “refund” you are getting is either coming from cash your parents overpaid or some student loan money you have to repay later when your loans come due.</p>
<p>Annika makes a great point.</p>
<p>If you have any loans, then blowing that money on pizza (or other unnecessary stuff) is not a good idea. And, if your parents have paid anything towards college, then you need let them know about that money. Yes, some should be used towards books, etc, but excess money should go back to them.</p>
<p>Man I ain’t gonna judge, but you just met this girl and she’s already asking you to buy stuff for her? Damn… Well, GL with everything</p>
<p>I believe that OP is buying a journalism book from her (probably her now used book).</p>
<p>^^oops lol totally misread that</p>