<p>I smell a ■■■■■. </p>
<p>It’s June 15. When exactly are you going to earn back the money to ‘repay’ your scholarship money?</p>
<p>Stop spending it on non-college items. Send it to the college now if you can’t trust yourself not to spend it. Your family must live on its income and assistance, not on your tuition money. What’s going to happen is that you won’t have any money for college and then at the least it will be taxable to you, and at worst the scholarship donors will request to be paid back, and in either case you won’t get to go to college.</p>
<p>Well she will pay it back when she gets her money. The problem is that she does not have her own money at this moment. And I am setting up a payment plan for my tuition so that way I can, well, split the payments it.</p>
<p>I am going to earn back the money as soon as I get hired somewhere. I have put in several job applications already. Also, I will have a Federal Work-Study job as stated by mu college, so I will have that money and I won’t end up being broke. I will be able to go to college, so that’s not even in the question. I know the scholarship donors won’t ask for the money back because they’re all personal checks and they even said they can’t keep track of what the money is spent on. The only verification required is that I send them my schedule/bursar’s statement in order to get the checks.</p>
<p>I don’t know about you, but I believe in karma. I cannot, in good faith, watch my family starve when I am clearly able to help and be able to regain the money. I would have an even guiltier conscience if I let my family suffer like that. As long as I make the money back and break even with the scholarship money (at the very least), I think I will be fine. I think at first, I blew this way out of proportion and some of you made it seem worse than necessary. College is extremely expensive, yes, we all know, but that does not mean it is unaffordable. I will have money coming from several sources in order to ensure that I am not flat broke and I have already began budgeting my money for my payment plan so that way my loans are as minimal as possible. Thank you.</p>
<p>But can someone please explain the whole tax situation? What exactly will I have to do come tax time regarding the scholarship money? I’m a bit confused by that…</p>
<p>^See Chapter 1 of IRS Pub 970 <a href=“Publication 970 (2022), Tax Benefits for Education | Internal Revenue Service”>Publication 970 (2022), Tax Benefits for Education | Internal Revenue Service;
<p>oh please don’t go all sanctimonious after you already told about the shopping spree. It’s okay, you are just acting poor
<a href=“http://www.learnvest.com/2013/08/are-you-behaving-like-a-poor-person/”>http://www.learnvest.com/2013/08/are-you-behaving-like-a-poor-person/</a></p>
<p>Can you just at least think for a minute that you might not know everything and make sure you are set up okay for fall? Take a minute and lay out your financial letter. What are the costs and what are the grants, loans and such you are given toward that. Then people can tell you more specifically how the outside scholarship money will likely be treated and what the tax situation looks like. Also, very important, have you reported this outside scholarship to your college yet?</p>
<p>All the details are in the link 4kidsdad posted.</p>
<p>The short version is that scholarships and grants are tax-free when used for tuition, mandatory fees and required books and supplies(referred to as QEE). Scholarship and grant amounts used for other purposes including room and board are taxable. If you are claimed as a dependent on your parents return you get a $6100(for 2013) standard deduction before you have to file a return and/or pay taxes. You have to add to all taxable scholarships/grant amounts to the amounts you earned from work during 2014, any interest etc.</p>
<p>I’m acting poor? Please, you don’t know me or know my life. I don’t know everything, I never said I did. How about YOU stop acting all pretentious with your bombast tone. Anyway, yes I have reported it. I reported it probably about a week or so ago and I have yet to hear back form the FA office about any reductions in my FA award.</p>
<p>Everyone else, thank you!</p>
<p>So the money used to cover education expenses is not taxable?</p>
<p>The scholarship/grant money used to pay for qualified education expenses is not taxable, not all education expenses. I listed the qualified education expenses in my previous post.</p>
<p>Thank you!!</p>
<p>scholarship/grant money for room and board and other expenses are taxable.</p>
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<p>You have been given a W/S award. that is not a guarantee for a job. You need to soon contact the school to find out how you can get the WS job</p>
<p>Work study is not guaranteed. They won’t find you a job-you have to do that. My son went to 6 interviews before he got a work study job. He works 13 hours a week which pays for his misc. bills. </p>
<p>Most organizations, most people will be unhappy to find out money given for a particular purpose did not go to that purpose. This is the case at times when it’s money given by a relative for something not so specific, and that relative finds out it went for other uses. It has been grounds for changes in giving policies. </p>
<p>OP, in your case, you were entrusted with the money that some scholarship organizations sent directly to you. That you lent the money to others, spent the money for things that may not have been the uses of the award, however, is your business since the the checks were not sent to the school, which is what a lot of organizations do. So, it’s now up to you to come up with the money for school, and make sure that the reporting of the money as the college requires and the federal/state government requires is done. If you get caught not doing the right thing in those areas, there could be some onerous consequences. Not a good way to start your college and your independence. You’ll find out that it’s a small world out there at times, and some info can spread wider than one would expect. 40 years and I still remember as do many of our classmates, the story of some kids who cheated on fin aid and got caught. </p>
<p>So, since you are asking, m opinion is that you did something foolish unless the situation was truly dire in terms of the funds. You really should have sent the money to the college account immediately. But what’s done. you may not be able to repay and what you decide to do with the rest of your money is your business. Good luck in getting a WS and making the payments needed for your school year. </p>
<p>Thank you so much. Honestly, most of what I spent the money on is what I believe to be dire. I returned the clothes I was able to and did what I could to make up for my mistakes. Life’s a learning process and I’ve definitely learned from what I’ve done. I just was not willing to let my family suffer while knowing that I could help. I would not let my family starve or barely eat if I could buy food, and I think that in the humane sense, the scholarship donors would definitely understand, especially since I will be getting the money back. Whatever I had left I sent to the school to pay off the tuition which I am glad I did. I also spoke to one of the scholarship donors and she said using it to buy clothes is fine. I think that it was incredibly naive of me to be so careless, but you have to make mistakes to learn from them, right?</p>
<p>As for the WS job, I believe that my school is incredibly good with helping the students get jobs, so hopefully that comes through. I think everything has a mysterious way of working itself out with assistance from myself of course. If I came off as rude or disrespectful, I apologize and I just want to thank you all for your help. I’ve learned a lot from this post and the replies and I hope that I can continue to find such useful advice on this website as I journey off into the real world and into the college world as well.</p>
<p>Once again, thank you and I will definitely try my best to make better financial decisions as a young adult.</p>
<p>“Acting poor” is a thing, a complex problem, that’s why I gave you the link, because it is a problem that keeps people down. Lots of studies show poor people tend to make bad financial decisions, the kind that land them in ever deeper cycles of debt. It is characterized by going for short term instead of long term gains, when meeting urgent needs comes at a hard price, of snowballing financial woes.</p>
<p>It includes spending money because it happens to be in your pocket, because you didn’t ever have extra before and ‘deserve it’, or think it doesn’t matter if you are careful because you will just be poor anyway. It includes spending money you have for school on other things because you can, then having wishful thinking that the money ‘will all work out’ or loading up on loans that will keep you in the poorhouse on graduation. It includes spending paychecks in advance on a job your don’t even have. (There’s a guy who wrote a bestseller on habits of rich vs poor “Rich Dad, Poor Dad.”</p>
<p>When you spend your college money on your family for food, it makes everything easy. Now no one wants to go to the food bank, file for assistance and do the kinds of things they would have to do if you didn’t have that money. Very tempting. I don’t think the donors would understand. If they wanted the money to go to feed the poor they would put it to such organizations, but this money is earmarked for school. This ‘getting the money back’ is really a puzzle. You don’t even have a job, so it is more magical thinking.</p>
<p>I’m very sympathetic to these problems, and if people are harsh it is out of concern that you still haven’t worked out the ramifications of this on your upcoming year. Most of us who had kids in college on aid, and even parents paying for college, know that there is not a lot of extra money on a college kid budget. It seems inconceivable that you would have extra. I know it is sometimes possible, and then it is okay to spend extra AFTER the semester is over. I just worry that you haven’t worked that out on paper how the first year will work financially and if this outside scholarship will reduce your school aid. </p>
<p>It is good that you are listening, and sure, you can make mistakes and learn from them as long as it doesn’t put you out of school.</p>
<p>Also, one practical thing maybe you don’t know, if you send these funds to your school, any overage after tuition and fees, room and board, will be put into your bursar account. Then you can draw on that to buy your books (by used, or rent if it’s cheap.) and initial supplies. You might need a few things for your dorm, like XL single sheets. If it is easy to find w/s job at school, you will use those funds for ongoing needs, like toothpaste, deodorant, supplies, club fee, and you will have to save some for trip home winter break and next summer break.</p>
<p>@BrownParent
@collegecrisis96 </p>
<p>BrownParent makes some excellent points and I have seen this in action with my h’s relatives. They never had any savings because as soon as they got a few bucks they would spend it…unwisely. They would actually use the words, “I deserve ____.” They would also waste money on cigarettes and going to bars. If they had saved the $5 per cigarette pack and the $5 cocktail bar purchase, in a year’s time they would have a good bit of savings to pay for a car repair or whatever.</p>
<p>When I met my H, I had to help him overcome some of these bad habits that he learned from his family. I called him the King of Side Orders because when we’d go to a restaurant he would order a dish and a few side orders (or appetizers) which really added to the bill. I encouraged him to look over the menu carefully and pick out an entree that alone would fill him up. I also made him sign up for a 401k and do other forced savings. He still has some tendencies, but he has come a long way. </p>
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<p>yes, it makes everything too easy for them. They dont have to look for WORK…or pick up an odd job that will bring in extra money. It is called, “raising their bottom,” which means that you are preventing them from reaching bottom which is the motivation for people to get off their tushes and work/save money/etc.</p>
<p>To clarify… >>.It is called, “raising their bottom,” which means that you are preventing them from reaching bottom which is the motivation for people to get off their tushes and work/save money/etc.<<<</p>
<p>what I should have said is: when you give your scholarship money to your family to pay for food, you are raising their bottom. They need to hit rock-bottom so that they will be motivated to find work, etc.</p>
<p>If you ever watch a few episodes of Judge Judy, you will see this frequently. A friend/family borrows money, borrows student aid, or borrows a credit card for some purchases, and later cant pay it back. I dont see how your mom will be able to pay you back because when she gets some money, that will go towards current expenses…rent, utilities, food, etc.</p>
<p>I am concerned that you are going with a payment plan. You need to put all your funds towards college right awway. A payment plan may create a false sense of security and budgeting issues. you may find yourself at the end of the semester with no funds to make payments. you will owe the school and not be able to register for the next semester’s classes.</p>
<p>What school is this? What aid have you been awarded?</p>
<p>I also don’t understand how the mother is going to pay the OP back. What does “when she gets her money” mean? What money? Also, OP mentioned how family members are going to send him/her money while he/she is in college. ? Is that definite or just something that sounds good? Are those family members sending money to your mom to put food on the table? </p>
<p>Oh my gosh, Mom2collegekids, when we get together, if our spouses are there, they can have a field day with the side orders. It was and still is an issue he has. I grew up very rarely going out, and to this day, when I do, unless it’s some special occasion, I’ll split an order with someone. My husband loves to be Mr Generosity when going out with side orders for everyone at the table while his pinch faced wife won’t order with all of that food right there. </p>
<p>None of us know your particulars, OP, but if the situation were so dire and you were so clear cut about whether you did the right thing or not, you would not have been posting and having such a guilty conscience about what you did. If you run out of money for college, it’s often the case that you have to sit it out and get less when you give it a whirl the next time. I was on a hefty fin aid package myself for college as was my DH and my brothers and I don’t envy anyone for so qualifying. It’s a tough go when you are at least a step , often more, financially behind your peers every bit as able as you but they don’t have to worry about money and family making it. </p>
<p>Though some donors to these funds would applaud what you did and perhaps help you further, be aware, there are some who will not. They have the choice to donate or be involved in food bank and other outreach programs and chose to put their time and money into college scholarships. I work at a food bank/pantry, for instance, and have done stints on scholarsip committees and fundraisers for the same. </p>
<p>Get the locations, the hours for the food banks and soup kitchens in your areas. I can tell you that around here, a family is highly unlikely to starve. Any number of churches or organizations would step up and intervene. My church would be on it immediately. The same with clothing and other such things. A broken tooth, lost glasses, some other such emergencies, you are often on your own, but I can unequivocally tell you that no around here starves if the police, a church, is contacted. Before you leave for college, use your research skills to get a list of places that can help your family in certain crises. I carry soup kitchen and other such info cards in my purse and give them to panhandlers because if they are truly in need of a meal, it’s likely they’ll need future meals and that info is going to help them more than a buck in the bucket. Most of the time, they want the money, not the food, I’ve found. The one outside of the Bronx McDonald’s cursed me when I bought him a burger and a lemonade. He wanted the two bucks, he told me and threw out the food in front of my face. His sign said he hadn’t eaten in 2 days. He’s still back at work, right across the street from the Bronx zoo, for all who are interested.</p>