<p>I'll be a freshman in about 20 days, and I found out that I'll have around $1500 surplus scholarship money. I'd like to buy a nice 32" HDTV (to last me 8 years for Cable, 360 gaming with friends, and connection to my MacBook to work on projects), maybe speakers, and the of course the list goes on the more you think about having extra money.</p>
<p>I could be smart and pocket it, but if I'll be getting around this much money every semester, you think it'd be fine to spend it all first semester with buying those initial things that will last me all of college, and then if I need some extra cash, use that money? I worked hard to get those scholarships (Valedictorian), I understand college is about keeping your grades high, especially to keep those in state scholarships, but maybe I'm missing some key situations in college for which I would need this money (all tuition, fees, and books are already paid for btw). You think it'd be fine to do this first semester, but then FOR SURE just bank it all?</p>
<p>You worked hard. I say treat yourself to something nice, especially if you are expecting similar scholarships in the future. So long as the TV doesn’t interfere with your school, I don’t see a problem with splurging on something you’ll really like.</p>
<p>Yea I mean I don’t plan on spending all my time in my dorm or on the TV, but it’s still like a necessity. I guess I had something telling me that I’ll be like that rash/impetuous person that spends a lot of money that he instantly gets. It’s tempting of course, but I also understand the important concept that a lot of little things create the big problems, so depending on this extra money would eventually deplete all 8 semesters of the money I’d be getting. Seems like this TV is all I’ll really need, I’m expecting college to be tough as hell with studying long hours for my Bio and Chem classes, but I probably won’t need a lot of extra “accessories” like I’m thinking about right now. Thanks for your input, I’ll go ahead and start doing some research on which to buy knowing it’s a good reward but that I also need to be careful.</p>
<p>I don’t know, I guess you could but personally I’ll save it up incase later on in my school life money doesn’t come through. But if you want to, nobody’s gonna stop ya’ll :)</p>
<p>You can splurge some of your money. Save some for summer trips or funding if you end up with an unpaid internship. A 32’’ HDTV won’t run you all $1500. Have fun with your money while you can.</p>
<p>I’d save it and be able to do more fun things during the semester (movies, going out, short trips, eating out.) It looks like you can get a 32" HDTV for about $400 though, so that’d still leave you a decent amount of cash.</p>
<p>I’d save all of it. You might not have that surplus every year. You should certainly save at least some of it, but I’d save all of it. I’m stingy.</p>
<p>I love scholarship surplus money. Spend some, save some. It’s gotten me a guitar, a Wii, new tango shoes, a nice camera, lots of concert tickets and dinners, and a Roth IRA account lol.</p>
<p>^Lots of stuff right there lol. As long as I’m careful with needs and wants, looks like college will just be like a job that pays moderately. </p>
<p>You guys mentioned something I didn’t think of: travelling. I’m majoring in Biology for Pre-Med, so I wouldn’t exactly be doing the study abroad trip in China for business that my school offered (I want to finish Bio in 3 years and maybe do fun courses or a business minor 4th year), but money like that could definitely come in handy if I chose to go somewhere, especially countries where one dollar can go a long way (think India where one dollar is 48 Indian Rupees and sometimes a few rupees can you get you some high quality tea). I’ll spend about $400 on the TV and maybe some furniture, and then I’ll save it and look out for future opportunities. Thanks for all the input guys!</p>
<p>The price of nice TVs seem to be plummeting these days. Judging by my most recent Busy Buy visit, you can get a pretty sweet one for around $500. Don’t spend more than this on a TV; you’ll be using it a lot less than you might think.</p>
<p>I’d save the other $1000 for general living expenses and nightlife. How far the $1000 will carry you depends on your school / the location, though. On an isolated, rural campus, it could last you the whole year. However, if you’re in a city, it might last you anywhere from a month to a semester. On an urban campus, I’d even suggest saving the full $1,500.</p>
<p>Save as much as you can bear. You never know when you’ll lose scholarship money, and having extra tucked away will save you a lot of grief. Plus, if you end up not using it, you can buy yourself a great graduation present (or pay off a big chunk of your loans) after four years.</p>
<p>I know there are much bigger TVs out there, but make sure you have room for a TV in your dorm before you go buy one. Some dorm rooms are practically closets. You might want to wait till you’ve settled in before actually buying anything. Also, if you have a roommate, he might not appreciate your having friends over all the time to play video games. In other words, you definitely deserve something for all your hard work, but I don’t know if a new entertainment system is as worthwhile an investment as you believe - hence the reason you should wait.</p>
<p>Also, I assume that because you’re posting this, you’ve already double-checked to make sure that you can actually keep the surplus? Some scholarship programs require you to return any extra money.</p>
<p>how do you guys all get your surplus scholarship money? of the $10k in scholarships ive won, ALL of them are sending the check either directly to my university, or to me but made out to my university (and my school is just using it to reduce the full ride grant they gave me, since i have no loans). Did your scholarships giv eyou teh money directly, or did you find a way to use the excess?</p>
<p>^^yea I’ve asked a few seniors at the university and they say they get to keep the money. It’s an Honors dorms so it’s actually kind of big, and I have a private room (hooked up to my “roommate” via a bathroom). Yea you guys are right I won’t spend more than $500 on the TV and I know I won’t be spending much time on it anyways, but I’ll probably wait to see the room just to make sure that 32" is fine. Might also buy a printer. But I’ll definitely save up the money now that I look at it, maybe for traveling or if an emergency comes up and I need something really quick. </p>
<p>^Well my university website shows me that I have a $9500 per semester tuition fee but $11000 in scholarship, so they just deposit the extra money (no matter where it came from) into my bank account. I’ll put it to good use , lol, but I’ll still save most of it after the initial spending.</p>
<p>I sell TV’s at Sears and you can get a nice Samsung or Sony 32" for around $450-$500 on sale. Don’t get a 1080p one because it’s pretty much a waste of money in that size range.</p>
<p>Very true! A lot of people overlook this. 720 is plenty enough for anybody, especially for TV. I mean, unless you watch a lot of 1080p blu-rays, you will never get 1080p content.</p>
<p>Very true, most games don’t output in 1080p, and sure some computers can, but the native resolution of a lot of computers is usually 1200 by 800 anyways. Same goes for TV broadcasters, it would take up a lot of bandwidth, so most companies broadcast in either 720p or 1080i. You practically have to be a foot or two away from the TV to notice the difference with 32", but when you get to 40 or 46", then 1080p might be worth it. Yea I won’t be using Blu-Ray anytime soon, but I guess it might be nice to futureproof the TV, but again 1080p is like a gimmick to convince customers to buy a more expensive TV. I guess if I’m going to spend any of this extra scholarship money, I should be even more cautious when I’m spending money on things like printers, TVs, etc than when I’m trying to save it.</p>
<p>While it is tempting to go shopping with the extra money, I wouldn’t. Get things you need, maybe a treat or two, but save the rest. You never know when you might need the money. Your car might break down, or some other unexpected expense. It is always good to have some backup cash.</p>
, lol, but I’ll still save most of it after the initial spending.</p>