Cheap Student's debt busters

Parent Cafe
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Everyone I talk to is concerned about student loan debt. Parents and kids alike.

I read this statistic recently:

Seven in 10 seniors (68%) who graduated from public and nonprofit colleges in 2015 had student loan debt, with an average of $30,100 per borrower.

That statistic makes me gasp a little. My kid is taking a few loans, but she’s trying really hard to graduate debt free.

I thought it would be fun to make a thread with a list of ways students can cut the amount of debt they’re burdened with.

Here’s the place for all your money saving ideas.

Cheapskates of the world, unite!

First order of business is comparing net costs to net costs. The cheaper college isn’t always the cheaper college.

Very often the college with the bigger sticker price will have the least net cost because they can afford to offer better aid packages and more scholarships. Seems crazy, but it’s very true.

My kiddo was accepted to three schools. An easy admissions school, a challenging admissions school, and a reach school…a public ivy. Even though the public ivy had a much bigger price tag, my kiddo qualified for significantly more aid there. It ended up being our least expensive option.

You can reduce debt two ways.

  1. Paying more of your bill (grants, scholarships, jobs)
  2. Cutting costs

A lot of kid are very comfortable working ten hours a week in addition to being full time students.

My kid works ten hours a week during the school year, and full time in the summer. It adds up. She pays her loans down a little at a time, but makes progress all year.

Apply for local scholarships and scholarships specific to your field or school that draw from smaller pools of applicants.

Cutting Costs

Some costs are pretty fixed. You can’t do much about the cost of tuition.

Housing is one place you can cut an amazing amount of costs and avoid debt.

When my kid lived in a dorm, she paid about $1000 a month and another $300 per month for the meal plan.

Next year she’s moving into a two bedroom apartment with three reliable girls she knows very well…two girls per bedroom, plus a large living room, kitchen, and bathroom. This includes a washer and dryer and all utilities…for $1600 a month. Each girl will only have to pay $400 a month. The girls are taking turns cooking dinner, so only really have to buy stuff for two big meals a week. My daughter packs her own lunch and eats breakfast at home.

She’s reduced her room and board costs from $1300 a month to about $650 a month…and will save herself $5000 of debt over the course of the school year.

Cars are expensive. Gas, repairs, insurance, upkeep, tires, paying for parking. They bleed you like leaches. Whenever possible, consider pedestrian campuses with excellent public transportation. Live walking distance to campus if possible. Figure the cost of keeping a car into your net price on campuses where you need one. Cars offer a lot of freedom, but they’re a huge expense. Consider carefully if they’re worth the debt.

My kiddo lives on a pedestrian campus. One of the girls she lives with has a car. That girl gets the parking spot that comes with the apartment at no additional cost, but in exchange for that perk (worth about a hundred bucks a month) she’s generous about giving the other girls rides. They all chip in for gas.

Books…buy used, sell them back.

Does anyone else have debt buster tips? Any ways you’ve found to save money and keep debt low?

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My kid has a vice for fancy coffee. She really likes carrying a cup around with her outside when it’s cold out. I went to Gordon Food service and bought her a giant stack of restaurant cups and lids, and my mom gave her a Keurig. Yeah, it’s still an indulgence, but Keurig coffee from home every day is much less expensive than picking up the $3-$5 cup she regularly bought from Starbucks.

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None of my friends have cable anymore. There are so many cord cutting options.

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Middle son has been an RA for three years now. No housing cost at all, plus, he loves it.

It didn’t fit my other two, but certainly fits him well.

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@MaryGJ Using a Keurig is even cheaper if you buy coffee and use re-fillable Keurig filters (and we got D a reusable mug as well).

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She does get the little refillable K-cups, happy1:) She often uses a reusable mug, but has the worst habit of washing it and leaving it at the lab.

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Rather than cable, we got our kiddo a Firestick, so she can use our Netflix and Amazon Prime accounts. Not that she watches much TV, she doesn’t have time…but it’s nice to have access when you have friends over for movie nights.

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Our S used to resell his friends books for them as well as his own, for a commission. He also bought and resold a lot of furnishings and other things on Craigslist and Amazon.

Check with your department on any new scholarships you may qualify for. S ended up with more and more merit awards over time at his U, lowering his cost of attending.

Check to see whether subletting your place is allowed if you won’t be there over the summer and whether it’s something you and your room mates WANT to do–my kids didn’t but some do.

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If you live within a couple hundred miles, shop for basics at home and deliver them on visits.

My kiddo’s college town is fantastic, but cost of living there is very high…which translates to much higher prices at local grocery stores.

Every couple of months or so, we do a supply run for the girls. We can pick up big bails of toilet paper and paper towels, economy size shampoo, canned goods and cleaning products, feminine hygiene, pantry staples…for about half the cost they’d pay locally.

If you’ve never been to an Aldi store, they’re terrific for chips, snacks, lunchbox items, basic pantry items, baking mixes, and on-the-go packaged foods. Prices are incredibly good on junk food in particular…which is not optimal nutrition for day to day, but during exams and study marathons, it can be awfully nice to find a bag of cookies in the cupboard, and have a spare can of Pringles on hand to share at a gathering.

We hit a local orchard and picked the girls a massive bag of HoneyCrisp apples for less than a third of what they’d pay where they live.

We frequent a cheese factory near our home where you can get strangely shaped cheese (parts left from when they cut the cheese into commercial shapes). You can get amazing, fresh specialty cheeses for less than five bucks for two pounds. We pick them up cheese for pizza, for tacos and salads, for grilled cheese…very inexpensively.

Our supply runs are a communal gift to the girls, to help them stretch their money so they borrow less.

Every little bit helps:)

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The best way to save money is NOT to spend it.

So…if finances re a concern…

  1. Pick a less costly college.
  2. Commute from home.
  3. While in HS, get tippy top grades which will increase your chances of merit aid.

Economize wherever you can…textbooks, transportation, clothing, food, entertainment, etc. but really…my numbered items above will save you more than cutting back on Starbucks.

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Ann Arbor isn’t exactly an isolated wasteland! Geez!

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@deb922 I think I’m missing something… what are you referring to?

No, Ann Arbor isn’t a wasteland. If someone goes to U of M though, they may want to consider living in a nearby city like Ypsilanti where the COL is MUCH lower. Get on the bus line and it’s basically like living in the outskirts of AA.

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Buy supplies at Costco or some other place where it’s cheaper than a roll of paper towels at a time.

Cut meal service to the actual number of meals student will eat. My son ate out twice a day, and it was cheaper than the meal plan. I know that’s not always the case, but pay attention.

Consider travel costs when looking at finances, and book flights, etc. early, even if it means having to hang out an extra couple of days because students last final isn’t on last day of finals. If you can use SW, you can compare prices and adjust later.

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@romanigypsyeyes sorry, I must be in a not so nice mood today. MaryGJ has said that her D goes to UM in prior posts. But here she talked about the high costs of food in the expensive college town her D lives in. Ann Arbor has tons of stores at various prices.

Lots more stores, it’s not like she’s in Houghton. Not that it’s expensive to live there, Lol! But no Sam’s or Costco or Aldi’s that I know of. And you don’t have to drive a 100 miles to get to Marquette.

Amazon Prime, is the best! Ships right to your door. No parent to drive you there.

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Ann Arbor is awesome! LOVE Ann Arbor, and my kiddo loves going to school at UMich, but it’s not an inexpensive place to live. I’m not suggesting they don’t have everything under the sun available…they do. But it costs a LOT more to buy things in Ann Arbor, than if you bought them back home :slight_smile:

UMich students carry less debt than the national average, largely because of their very generous grants. We’ve been really happy with them.

More selective schools = better funding and more aid. It’s a terrific reason to keep your grades up and try hard for your reach schools.

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12 months of rents and utilities vs 8 months of room and board. Also, what if one or two girls move out?

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Ohhh ok. Haven’t seen any of the OP’s other posts :slight_smile:

There is an Aldi’s in W Ann Arbor (Maple & Dexter) and a Kroger near there too.

There are plenty of other cheap places around Ann Arbor. Even if you don’t have a car, you can use Uber which is ubiquitous in AA.

Also, I do love Amazon Prime and do most of my shopping that way.

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Oh I like this thread, I’m booking marking for next fall!! :wink:

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If she moves off campus her aid may be reduced. Parents should check with financial aid to see how their package might change before they commit to moving.

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For UMich, your COA and FA is the same whether on campus or off.