Monthly Archives: March 2013

University: A Huge Investment Taken Lightly

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I was checking out a variety of personal finance blogs today and stumbled upon a post by James Petzke from This is Common Cents called Making the College Decision Cost Effectively. And to be honest I thought it was a great post, one that covers a really well thought out and meticulous look at the college decision making process. I wish everyone would think like that, and take a little bit of advice from him, even I wasn’t that intense in my  decision making process. Now I know a lot of my readers are currently in school already but I still really wanted to discuss the topic and maybe help out some readers who haven’t made their university choice yet.

Going to university is an experience, a place where you will spend at least 4 years of your life, make a ton of friends, party, go to class and all those other fancy things. We carefully examine the program choices available, or some people don’t at all and go on a whim while others just go because it’s “what we should do”. Whatever your reason, I think there is a different way we should be looking at our decision to go to university.

Think about it this way. University is a 4 year investment, where you are pouring thousands of dollars to get a return at the end of that time period and most often that return is a degree that can help you get a job and start making some dollars. But why do we make this decision so lightly? Why do some students choose a school simply based on the “experience” they will get and not based on the amount of money you will spend over those 4 years and the end product (a degree) you end up with.

Simply put, why do some students go to school thousands of kilometers away, pay $800 in rent a month? AND go to a school where you can receive a comparable degree that can be obtained at a school within the same city you live with no rental costs (living with the parents). Would you pay double the money for an iPad? I think it’s a similar decision. And I don’t have an iPad nor would I pay someone twice what it’s worth.

I know that university is a much more emotional decision, but I think that’s what we’ve turned it into. You can make university great wherever you may end up, what’s important is that the thousands of dollars you invest get’s you an end product that will help you get the job you want. Put in the research like any other decision you make, but make it based on the degree you will receive PLUS the money you will put in to get that degree, I think sometimes we forget the money aspect.

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I think a university education is a huge investment that is taken lightly, what are your thoughts?

Cheap Toronto Bars: The Green Room

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I have been fortunate enough over the last few months to be working in the city of Toronto for a co-op work term, which has meant that I have been to some great student bars in the city that I had never heard of before. A great place that I was able to check out is The Green Room. Now don’t get me wrong, this isn’t an extravagant place for those looking to buy bottles, sit in a lounge type setting and toss dollar bills around. It’s essentially a great place to hang out with friends, drink some cheap and great beer as well as grab some really inexpensive food at the same time.

Now don’t freak out when you can’t find it at first, it’s located right around the corner from the Brunny at 296 Brunswick Ave right near Spadina subway station. The main entrance is actually in an alleyway off of Brunswick Ave and the front door is in fact green. The inside is cozy for sure and was great considering it was feeling a bit wintry that night. Seating consists of wooden tables with chairs or benches and there are 2 floors. We arrived at about 9 on the Friday and were able to find seating for about 8 which worked out great, but it did fill up fairly quickly.

Beers, Beers and Beers

So I didn’t end up buying any food so I can’t provide a very detailed food review, I do need to point out that all of the food was really well priced, bordering on cheap. But when it came to beers I managed to get both a pitcher of Steam Whistle for under $12 and Mill Street Organic under $13 which is amazing. I don’t think I have ever got Canadian that cheap even so it was definitely a big win.

Personally I didn’t buy any food while we were at The Green Room, but some of my friends did and I may have tested out a few things here and there. One of which was a quesadilla which was great and I believe around $5-6 dollars.

Final Thoughts

The Green Room reminded me of the coziness of a sit-down bar in Guelph, for even better prices and it was within a subway ride away from my house in Toronto. I definitely will go back again especially because of the great beer selection and prices. The Green Room would definitely fit under the category of cheap Toronto bars and a place where students can save some change and not break the bank on a casual night out for drinks and some food.

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