Most college students are struggling financially. It may be a bit uncomfortable, but it is reality because you are making your way down your career path. Believe us when we say that in the end, it will all pay off. You may have to survive college on a tight budget, but once you do, the money will begin to flow and things will fall into place.

Believe it or not, even you can survive college on a budget. You just need to keep some important tips in mind to do so, including:

Make a Commitment

If you make a commitment to yourself that you will stick to your budget, you will be more likely to do so.

Get a Roommate

You can make following your budget easier if you live at home while in college or you get a roommate (or two). This will ease your financial burden, making your budget seem less restrictive.

Scrutinize Expenses

When you are on a budget, it is really important to ask yourself if you really need something. Is it a need or a want? For example, those $5 lattes may taste good, but if you get one or two per week, you will spend a lot of money each year on it. You may want to make such things an occasional treat in order to help stick to your budget.

Buy Used

When you buy things used, you will almost always save a great deal of money. Books, clothing, cars, and even apartment furnishings, can all be picked up used at the local bookstore, online, or at area thrift stores.

Think Positive

If you are familiar with the laws of attraction, you know that what we think about, we tend to bring to our life. So if you concentrate on the positives and the fact that you will be just fine sticking to your budget as you make your way through college, then you likely will.

There are many ways you can live frugally as a college student. Heck, being a college student is synonymous with living frugally! Whether you use coupons, share expenses with others, or focus on what you need to stay within budget, you can get it done. You just need to stay focused and keep track of your spending.

If you are like millions of other students heading off to college or are already there, you are probably inundated with credit card offers. Most college students get several offers for credit throughout the year. But is it a good idea for you to have a credit card while you are in college, when let’s face it, your finances are probably not that great?

In order to answer the debate about whether or not college students should have credit cards, we need to look at the pros and cons associated with each position:

Pros

On the pros side, students are often strapped for money, and credit cards can be a legitimate way for them to help make ends meet. Having a credit card may give you assistance in getting by each month, or it may be there for those times that an emergency expense arises. Either way, it can make your college days easier to manage when it comes to your financial affairs. Having a credit card at this time can be a good way to start building your credit score, especially if you are responsible with them.

Cons

When it comes to the cons of having credit cards while you are in college, there are plenty. For starters, you may end up racking up debt that you are not prepared to pay off once you graduate. Plus, you will be compounding a great deal of interest along the way. Having a lot of credit at this time, especially when your income is lower, may also have a negative impact on your credit score. Not having the credit card will do more to help you learn to live within your means.

Some college students do great with having a credit card, while others may find it a hurdle they must clear later. If you do get a credit card while in college, you will want to limit it to only one or two, so you don’t put too much financial obligation on yourself before finishing college.

So whether or not you should get a credit card in college really comes down to a personal decision. There is no right or wrong answer, as many people do well with them, and many don’t. You have to ask yourself if you are responsible enough to not abuse it and to make sure you make the payments that come along with it.

Scholarships are a good option for paying for college without taking out student loans. But many people who hear this scratch their head, throw their hands in the air, and announce that they have no idea where to find them. That’s where the information in this article will come in handy.

Here are several places you can look in order to find scholarships:

Online Searches

Just doing an online search for scholarships will provide many resources. There are plenty of sites that have databases of scholarship information. Just stick with those that are free to use.

Ask Friends

If you ask around, you will find that many people will point you in the direction of scholarships they know about. Pose the question on Facebook, and you will likely get plenty of good leads to follow.

Check Colleges

Most high school counselors and college financial aid offices can provide a lot of assistance in locating scholarship information. Check with them in order to find those tools and resources that they have made available to their students.

Interest Inquiries

Everyone has certain things like they like to do or get involved in. It may be religious or ethnic based or it may be based on sports or a hobby. There are likely scholarships available in each of these categories, so check with their respective groups, organizations, and trade associations.

Look Locally

There are plenty of local scholarship opportunities available. Check with your local Chamber of Commerce, City Hall, and religious institutions to see if they are offering scholarships or know of others in the area that are.

Finding scholarships that you will qualify for may seem like a daunting task. But for most people, they turn out to be well worth the time and effort. Just take the time to research and find them, apply correctly, and wait to see if you get chosen. Apply for as many as you feel you meet the criteria for. You are bound to get approved for some of them, making your college tuition a lot easier to handle.

Until next time, keep looking for those scholarships!

You can learn a great deal about what it takes to get student loans with poor credit and without having a cosigner. Student loans are a huge issue in the U.S. In fact, they actually exceed over $1 trillion worth of debt around the nation. Many people either feel they can’t qualify for a loan no matter what, or they want to avoid the loan process all together for whatever reason.

The good news for those who want to avoid school loans all together is that there are options available. Here are eight ways you can pay for college without taking out student loans:

1. Grants

Depending on your financial situation and that of your family, you may be able to qualify for grants. You should always start out by applying for student grants, which do not have to be repaid.

2. Scholarships

Today there are scholarships available for everything you can think of. You can get a scholarship for being a particular ethnicity, knowing how to knit well, or because you are a vegetarian. You name it, the scholarships are there, just waiting for people to apply for them. And no, you don’t always need to have great grades to get them!

3. Work Study

Many college campuses offer a work study program, where the student will put in time doing work and in exchange get a grant for their tuition, either in full or in part.

4. Campus Jobs

If you are going off to college and will be staying on campus, there are usually plenty of jobs available. This will give you some extra money to pay for the semester tuition bill.

5. Go Community

Rather than doing your first couple of years at the university, go to the community college. The tuition rates are much lower, usually making it within reach to pay cash each semester.

6. Think Military

Many people enter the military, at least for a few years, in order to earn assistance in getting a college education.

7. Inquire at Work

If you currently have a job, inquire with the human resources department to see if they offer tuition assistance. Many employers do, which would help you pay for classes either in part or in full.

8. Live Frugally

Rather than rush out and get your own pad and start living it up, stay living at home with your parents or live with roommates, so you can spend less and use your earnings to pay your way through college.

If you want to get through college without having loans, you can make it happen. You will need to consider your options and choose the route that makes the most sense for your situation. Being debt free after college is within reach!

There are millions of people who have a dream of attending college but are plagued with bad credit. Often times that bad credit forces them to get a cosigner in order to obtain a student loan and pay their way through college. If this sounds like the type of situation you may be in, there are some things you can do to get around having a cosigner.

Many lending institutions require those with poor credit or no credit history to have a cosigner in order to get a student loan. But for many people, that can pose a problem. Some people may not have someone that is willing to cosign or that can even qualify to be a cosigner. Still some people may not want to involve others in their financial affairs. All of these are legitimate reasons for wanting to avoid getting a cosigner involved in your loan process.

Here are a few ways you might be able to get a student loan without a cosigner:

Federal Loans

When you apply for government student loans, they usually don’t check your credit, so there is a good chance that it will not be an issue. Even those without a credit history can usually get a federal student loan.

Private Loans

There are many banks that will require a cosigner in order to get a student loan. But there are also some that work with people who don’t have, or can’t get, cosigners.

Other Options

Outside of loans, you still have other options that you can consider in order to get assistance paying for college. These include grants, scholarships, and work study programs. You will want to consider all of these options, especially if you are having difficulty getting approved for a student loan without having a cosigner.

In order to get a student loan without a cosigner, you should contact several lenders and explain your situation to them. You should also apply anyway, to see what happens. Also, as you go along, work on improving your credit score because the sooner you do, the better your loan approval chances will be.

What happens with many people who apply for a student loan and are told they need a cosigner is that they get discouraged and give up. Don’t let this happen to you! If you continue to work at it, you will end up finding the loan you need, even without a cosigner. It’s all a matter of making the contacts and getting everything in order.

In Bad Credit Student Loans are a Reality, we introduced you to the reality of obtaining a student loan if you have bad credit. What you learned is that even with having bad credit, there are still plenty of student loan options for you out there. In this article, we are going to go over some of the steps in more detail.

Most people who have bad credit feel they are out of luck when it comes to getting a student loan. But that is just not true. There are options out there, and nearly everyone can find a loan to meet their situation. But there are some steps you can take to help you navigate your way through this process.

Here are the steps you will want to keep in mind in order to obtain a student loan with bad credit:

Check Credit

Without knowing what is on your credit report and what your credit score is, you are kind of in the dark. Get the info you need by requesting your credit report. Once you get it, review it closely, and be sure to file a dispute if anything is incorrect. Credit scores range from 300-850. The higher the score, the better. Those with a score lower than around 600 are seen as bigger risks to lenders and will often pay higher interest rates.

Get Quotes

When applying for a loan, especially when you have bad credit, it is important to get multiple loan quotes. Gather information from several sources who lend to those with poor credit.

Compare Everything

Once you have the information from all the lending institutions, compare each one. Look at the interest rates, loan process, their reputation, etc. Once you have done your homework and compared everything, decide which will be the best option for you.

Work to improve credit

It is a good idea to start making plans to try and improve your credit score. You would be surprised at some of the small things you can do that will end up having a big impact.

Re-evaluate Loans

If you are successful in improving your credit score, be sure to try and negotiate a better interest rate the next semester or year. You may even need to apply with another lender, but if you qualify for a lower interest rate, it will be well worth the extra work.

Following these steps, you will be able to find a loan that meets your needs and puts you on the college path you desire. Be sure to watch for our next newsletter, which will look at a variety of ways you can improve your credit score.

Do you or someone you know have a poor credit score and think you can’t get a student loan? Well, think again, because believe it or not, there are options available. Even those who have bad credit are usually able to find options in obtaining student loans. You just need to know what your options are and how to best go about working toward obtaining one of them.

In this article, we are going to take a look at bad credit student loans. There are millions of people each year who want to go to college, need a student loan, but find out that they have a poor credit score. Having a poor credit score does not mean that you can’t get financial assistance or a student loan to go to college.

When it comes obtaining a student loan when you have bad credit, there are some things you will want to keep in mind, such as:

Private Loans

This is the largest area in terms of growth when it comes to student loans. Millions of people have private student loans. For those with bad credit, private loans are often one of the best options for still being able to obtain financial help. Private loans are those that are not given by the government or Department of Education. They may be given through banks, lending centers, or a variety of other establishments.

Interest rates

Having bad credit means that higher interest rates usually come along with it. No matter what type of loan you get, or what it is for, those with poor credit usually pay higher interest rates because they are seen as bigger risks. But this should not deter you from getting a loan or going to college. Obtaining a college education will enable you to improve your credit score, which will give you better interest rates on all future loans, and it will help you earn a higher annual salary.

Improve credit

Even if you start out getting your student loan for your first semester or year from a private lender and pay a higher interest rate, it doesn’t mean it needs to stay that way. You can do things to improve your credit score as time goes on, and once it improves, you can negotiate a better interest rate or apply with another company.

If you have poor credit, whatever you do, don’t give up on your dreams of going to college. There are student loan options for those with bad credit. All you need to do is check with a variety of lenders to inquire about your options, compare them, and move forward with your selection.

Are you one of the millions that need to raise their credit score?

Many people believe that if they have a low credit score they are doomed. They think there isn’t much they can do in order to raise that score. But that is simply not true! There are actually quite a few things you can do in order to start raising that score.

The good news is that you don’t have to do all of them either. You can do a couple of these actions, and it will still help to raise your credit score.

Here are five effective ways to raise your credit score:

1. Verify and Dispute

Each year millions of people find that there are errors on their credit report. Problem is, these errors will most likely lower your credit score. This makes it important that you verify your credit report and dispute anything that is not accurate. To dispute information, you simply need to write the reporting agency a letter with your personal information, stating what you believe is an error. They will investigate and take action accordingly.

2. Get Serious About Paying Bills

One of the biggest reasons people end up with a poor credit score is because they don’t get their bills paid on time. Each time you are late making a payment it counts against you. Therefore, it is important to get on a monthly budget and pay all bills on time.

3. Apply for Credit Cards Sparingly

Applying for too much credit can bring your credit score down, so you want to avoid making a habit of applying for it. Also, having too much or too little credit can hurt. If you have credit cards, hold off on trying to get more. If you don’t, apply for one. If you can’t get an unsecured one, get a secured one in order to start building credit.

4. Consider Debt Consolidation

Many people find that it is easier to pay on one bill each month, rather than trying to make multiple payments. If this fits your style better, you may want to consider debt consolidation, which would give you one monthly bill to pay, making it easier to get payments in on time.

5. Get Credit Counseling

Credit counseling can help you get things into perspective and get a handle on your debt. From there, you should be able to get on the right track and ultimately raise your credit score.  Not all counseling is equal and some could be scams.  The National Foundation for Credit Counseling is a good place to start.

Each of these offers an easy step to raising your credit score. Get started with one of them today, and within months your score will begin to head in the right direction.

When selecting mutual funds for your investment portfolio there is one attribute of your portfolio you should consider and that is asset allocation. Here are some ways to think of asset allocation and the various types.

Conservative Asset Allocation – This type of allocation puts you in more conservative funds for your investment style. When you decide to invest in mutual funds that make up this asset class, you’re frame of mind should be:

• You DON’T feel comfortable investing in high risk investments to possible gain higher returns than average.
• Your investment objectives for this asset allocation might include larger investments bonds and cash.
• You might not be interested in investing in stock equities.
• You’re interested in preserving capital.

Moderate Asset Allocation – This type of allocation puts you in more conservative funds for your investment style. When you decide to invest in mutual funds that make up this asset class, you’re frame of mind should be:

• You’re interested in investing in assets that have lower risk than what’s described in the aggressive asset allocation but higher than what’s described in the conservative asset allocation.
• The moderate portfolio might contain a mixture of income and capital gains investments.

Aggressive Asset Allocation – This type of allocation puts you in the most aggressive funds for your investment style. When you decide to invest in mutual funds that make up this asset class, you’re frame of mind should be:

• You feel comfortable investing in high risk investments to possible gain higher returns than average.
• You’re allowing more than 15 years to accomplish your investment objectives.
• Your investment objectives for this asset allocation might include larger investments in small company funds.
• Aggressive stock funds would also be considered for this asset allocation.

For an example list of mutual funds that make up this type of asset allocation read Aggressive Asset Allocation.

While asset allocations might include some of each other, e.g. – bonds, stocks, cash, etc, it’s the percentage of those asset classes mixed together that make up asset allocation. When coming up with the right asset allocation for you, it’s about answering questions like, “How well do you want to sleep at night?” and “How best can you protect your investments as you move closer to retirement?”.

At the bottom of this post is an example of an aggressive asset allocation for the current economic environment (4th quarter 2008).

My aggressive scale is 1 to 5 with this example landing on a 4 or 4.5 of that scale.  This example could be applied to your 401(k), 403(b), as well as Roth type of retirement plans.  This asset allocation example can apply to folks in their 20′s, 30′s and 40′s who have the time to recover multiple times from financial failures during those decades in their lives.

The current economic environment (4th quarter 2008) includes wild up and down swings in the stock market, home foreclosure worldwide, job loss worldwide, and banks collapsing are just a few realities of the current global financial melt-down.

However, since we can only count on history to tell us a bit about the future and you have the where-with-all to imagine an economic turnaround eventually, now is the time to look at what you should be investing in for the future.

Massive Withdrawal

Never before have so many people withdrawn money from their mutual funds as in September 2008.  This also happened in 2002.  In other words, people feel so bad about the market falling that they lost/lose money and then took their money out at a time when you should be putting money into the market, when it’s time to get in because there are rock bottom prices and great buys.

When there’s a 20% sale on sweaters, what do you do? Check out the sale.

This tells us what people can and cannot stomach.  In other words, your risk tolerance is challenged in times like these.  That also should tell you how to invest.  In what asset allocations should your money be proportioned.  What makes you sleep at night? This is one question that will drive your decisions regarding asset allocation.

With that said, there will be plenty of people who will NOT ride the market up but get in when the market is close to a top because everything will feel good and not risky.

Again, this is just an example and you can compare it to other funds in your retirement plan.

Balanced Funds – 5%

Good picks are:

• PIMCO Total Return Admin – Symbol PTRAX

Large Value Stocks – 23%

Good picks are:

• Columbia Value & Restructuring – Symbol UMBIX

Large Growth Aggressive Stocks – 30%

Good picks are:

• Fidelity Contrafund – Symbol FCNTX – is a good example of a Large Growth Aggressive Stock fund

Small Value Stocks – 20%

Good picks are:

• Fidelity Leveraged Company Stock – Symbol FLVCX
• or Royce Value Plus – Symbol RYVPX
• or Heartland Value Plus – Symbol HRVIX

Small Growth Stocks – 22%

Good picks are:

• Brandywine – Symbol BRWIX

For a grand total of 100% allocation.

I use Morningstar.com to research these funds.  Pick one fund for each asset class if your total investment is under $500,000. This is a guideline and not a strict rule.