<p>Seeing the world costs money.</p>
<p>While I know we have a spammer on our hands, just for the record, work study does NOT count toward your financial aid for the next year.</p>
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<p>I don’t understand this at all. My DD receives Work Study and has for the last three years and will for the upcoming year. It IS part of her financial aid package for NEXT year.</p>
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Many countries in Europe pay taxes at similar rates to us. In France, for example, the top rate is 40%. Most of eastern Europe have rates that are much lower than ours. There are a few that are ridiculous, but these generally provide an extraordinary level of social services way beyond college, so it’s not really comparable.</p>
<p>[Tax</a> rates of Europe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_rates_of_Europe]Tax”>Tax rates in Europe - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>Denmark is ridiculous, and they are being punished economically for it - young people are leaving the country to work elsewhere in large numbers. They are destroying their future.</p>
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You fail to consider the possibility that your life, while you consider it to be “rich”, may be <em>less</em> rich than it could be because you won’t get a few gadgets.</p>
<p>Cell phones, for example, make my life much more efficient. Quick example - I got a call on the way home from work last night from my D to pick her up at a friend’s house. Had I not gotten the message until I was home, this would have cost me an extra 30 minutes at least of driving. My kids would find not having them (and the internet) to be socially ostracizing. I think it is valuable that they have the tools to develop friendships and relationships, even if it takes a few bucks out of the college fund.</p>
<p>Not having cable TV, you wouldn’t realize the tremendous amount of quality, interesting (and yes, educational) programming that exists. The History Channel is fascinating. And the DVR allows you go to almost completely commercial-free. How awesome is that? And - I read books too! (No thanks on reading it to me though - way too slow).</p>
<p>Do you like music? You don’t know what you are missing by not having an Ipod. Right now I have about a gigabyte of string quartets on mine that I am working my way through. I’m checking out possibilities for my quartet to play. I listen to them in the car and while I am at work. How rich is that? Not possible without the gadget.</p>
<p>Maybe these “toys” aren’t all that frivolous after all.</p>
<p>I was reared in the era before cell phones, satellite TV, and iPods, and I recall having a rich childhood. I arranged rides ahead of time, as my S does now. I can find all of the same stories and information in books as on TV, and I have more control over the intellectual level at which the content is presented. We have laptops and internet access, and their attendant activities are the least enriching aspects of our lives (we’ve been telecommuting for fifteen years, and prefer spending time outdoors as we live in the Caribbean.) And I do enjoy music – I attended a conservatory as a child and competed internationally on a string instrument – and the lack of an iPod hasn’t diminished my enjoyment of music.</p>
<p>People had rich lives when phones were stuck to walls, when TV was broadcast in black and white, and when music was played on LPs, because a rich life doesn’t depend on those things. I appreciate cell phones, and enjoy satellite TV, DVR, and iPods as much as anyone, but since I can’t have everything, I choose instead to forgo those items to be able to pay for my son’s education. I am not trying to recruit anyone to my lifestyle. I am simply commenting on a thread about paying full tuition, and pointing out that tuition is within the average parent’s means if their adult lifestyle reflects educating their kids is a higher priority than social toys.</p>