To all the CC financial regulars - Thank you! I am a parent and joined CC July 2016. I knew I had a huge learning curve guiding my S18 and D19 on the college process. Thanks to the financial forum, I learned about net price calculators, the difference between need based and merit based aid, and was able to work with the kids to create college lists that also worked financially for our family. We had saved 16K per kid for college, and really didn’t want to take on parent loans as retirement is 10 years away. We came up with a budget per year per kid, and even when we thought our belts were tight, we tighten them even more. Hubby took on a part time job on Saturdays. Kids worked part time 10-15 hours a week during high school, and contribute to the tuition bill (in addition to the work study). S18 is just wrapping up his first year at college, and D19 is excited to attend college this fall. This forum was a huge factor in knowing to create college lists that kept us on budget and were a good fit for the kid, and helped us determine our financial approach up front. Setting the financial groundwork early for the kids has impacted them positively. The part time jobs allowed them to learn how to manage money with the focus on saving for their college expenses. Thank you. At first it is overwhelming, but the knowledge shared here has been invaluable. I know we have 4 more years to go, but we’re off to a good start.
Best of luck to you and your kids!
Thanks for the feedback with such a positive story!
I’m glad!
Congratulations to you and your college students!