Monthly Archives: August 2013

Paying For Tuition-Tips & Tricks

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Paying for tuition is probably my least favourite thing to do, aside from cleaning bathtubs and well cleaning in general. But straying away from all of my least favourite things to do, the though of losing a nice chunk of my summer earnings in the click of a button is not the greatest feeling in the world. That being said I hadn’t really thought about strategically paying for tuition until the other night. I have been fortunate to work co-op jobs of and on between my undergraduate degree and have been saving up money every term so I can pay for the following school semester. And sadly I had naively though that all people had the money waiting around so they could simply click a button and pay off their tuition.

That being said I’ve realized that there are a lot of different factors/sources of money that go into paying off some people’s tuition for the each semester compared to mine which lacks much complexity at all (since I have worked co-op jobs throughout university the government no longer gives me much in the way of student loans, I haven’t applied since 3rd year and no longer can receive the Ontario provincial credit because my degree program is 5 years in length)

paying for tuition

Paying for Tuition-Sources of Money

These obviously vary by individual, but these are possible sources of money for students.

  • Money made from a Summer Job
  • Government Student Loans
  • In Ontario the 30% off tuition rebate
  • Scholarships/Bursaries/Grants
  • Line of Credit/Loans through the bank
  • RESP’s set up by your parents

All of the above are sources of money that you can use to pay for the semesters tuition, some options are much better than others and to be honest if possible try to avoid getting a line of credit or additional loans through your bank unless you need to. Those have higher interest rates and/or start charging you interest as soon as you take the money out versus. government loans where you don’t start getting charged interest until after you graduate.

Paying for Tuition-Strategic Plan

Below are some points to consider when it comes to strategically paying for tuition and how best to use the funding sources mentioned above.

  • Government student loans sometimes can cover a nice portion of your tuition AND you often receive more money in the first semester than the second, this means you will probably be relying more on your summer work $’s in the second semester.
  • Based on timing the Ontario tuition rebate is often late, this won’t be possible to use during your first semester but instead can be all used towards your 2nd semester (this might require additional some job $’s to be used instead)
  • If you have enough RESP $’s to cover everything don’t use your student loans to pay off your tuition, get it direct deposited into your bank account and if you don’t like risk it can collect interest in a high interest savings account. Chat with your parents about RESP’s it can really help you with the planning of your tuition payments.
  • For those that saved up quite a bit of money over the summer or through a variety of $ sources and have money sitting in an account unused until next semester you should really consider investing in safe stocks that have dividends. You are more likely to get a stronger return than a savings account and also won’t spend the money if you can’t access it (since it’s tied up in stocks). Once it’s time to use the money next semester cash out/sell your stocks and you’ve made a bit of money instead of letting the $’s just sit around
  • In most cases if people don’t find they need government loan dollars they will no longer apply and sign there forms to keep interest free status until after grad. If you are a savvy investor sign up for the loans and invest the money you receive. By doing so you can then turn the money around and pay off a nice portion of your student loan before you start getting charged interest.
  • Not much can be said about scholarships and bursaries, they are just awesome, reduce stress and most of all are helpful for students. If a scholarship leaves you ahead in dollars on tuition payments(summer money, government loans etc.), once again put the access money in a high interest savings account or invest it.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully I haven’t confused you with all of the info above but if you really want to make use of the money sources you have it’s best to really give it a think instead of just paying your tuition and letting whatever other money you have sit and not collect interest.

The simplest thing to do for those that don’t want to invest is to just put whatever money you aren’t using for tuition, books, living expense and put it in a high interest savings account. Don’t touch the money or use it unless it’s really necessary, because there’s always next semesters tuition to worry about as well. Earn a little interest here and there until it’s time to use the money next semester.

Those who want to take on a little bit more risk can invest in “safe” stocks like utilities (ie. Bell) or even the banks who provide dividends. Why not make use of money sitting around? And there’s the option for people that are risk takers to invest in options, I have yet to do so based on my lack of understanding and a little bit of fear.

There are a variety of options for students when paying for tuition, but what is most important is for you to keep track of the outstanding loans that you do have. It will not be the nicest of surprises when you notice that you owe a lot more than you thought when you’re close to graduating.

It’s been about 8 months now since I’ve been at school and to be honest I’m a little excited. Soon I’ll start reminiscing about all of the good times since I’m almost done, but I’ll stop while I’m ahead. Don’t sweat tuition payments there are a lot of options out there for you to get by :)

Verizon Coming to Canada-What It Means for You

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I am well aware that this isn’t something that is set in stone and has yet to be confirmed but there has been a lot of news going around about Verizon coming to Canada and how the big 3 monsters Rogers, Telus and Bell aren’t going to go down without a fight when it comes to them trying to enter the market. The government has decided to support increase competition by not blocking Verizon from entering the Canadian market and I am all for it. Recently Rogers, Telus and Bell have been pushing their message through radio, big spreads in major Canadian newspapers and magazines all to make Canadian consumers believe that Verizon’s entrance into the Canadian market will be bad, bad, bad. But I truly believe that it’s a good thing and as students we could all benefit from saving some extra money on our cell phone plans.

What Does This All Mean for Students

As students and of course people that are constantly on our phones we tend to really make use of our plans and the capabilities of our phones extensively. Right now Canada is dominated by 3 big players with a few smaller companies including Public mobile, Wind and Mobilicty that mostly cater to larger cities like Toronto. Most of us living in campuses outside of the GTA are stuck with Rogers, Bell or Telus and their “cheaper versions” like Fido, Koodo and Solo mobile. Well these offer relatively less expensive alternatives most people I know are with Rogers, Bell or Telus and getting charged quite a bit. The possibility of Verizon coming to Canada makes those big guys shake because simply put they haven’t had any competition for some time. Lack of competition has meant we pay quite a bit for our monthly plans and if you plan to switch from Bell to Rogers for example you may not end up saving much more money.

Lack of competition has kept prices up and especially cash strapped people like ourselves are unfortunately paying way too much for the services that these big companies offer. Ideally, cutting out all of the complicated business speak, for Verizon to enter the market and to compete they need to come in with better pricing which in the end may just drive pricing down for cell phone plans. If Verizon does enter the market, increased competition will put pressure on Rogers, Bell and Telus to stay competitive price-wise which may lead to cheap prices for us students and every other cell user.

Prices Rising Because of New 2-Year Plan Maximum

Recently you may have heard that cellphone providers are now not allowed to have 3 year plan offers and these plans can now only go for a maximum of 2 years. This may have had people jumping up and down originally but this has lead to increased costs for your phones when you start a new plan and also increased the monthly rate for plans. As thrifty as I am, I’ve had a plan with Fido for $28 dollars a month including taxes for a basic voice plan with unlimited texting and some long distance minutes. That plan no longer exists because of this new shift to 2 year plans, yet my plan was a 2 year plan, see whats wrong here? Lower priced plans are being phased out, even at Fido which is Rogers “cheaper alternative”. Prices are slowly creeping up especially because of these new pressures put on our cell phone providers. You can check out something put together by Mobile Syrup a few weeks back that was discussing the new 2-year plan maximum for cell phone plans and the pricing across the board from the big 3. What’s really scary is how similar the pricing is for all 3 with very little competition when it comes to pricing.

Final Thoughts

Make sure to read about this issue and come up with your own opinions as well, but I am all for Verizon entering the market and making my cell phone bill that much more inexpensive. Prices seem to be rising because of the 2-year maximum put forth by the CRTC and these prices are eerily similar across the board at all the major providers. Cell phone plans are something people shouldn’t be paying $100/month for (this may be shocking, but I know people that do) but instead something much more affordable. I unfortunately need to renew/renegotiate my current cell phone contract within the coming weeks and I’m not looking forward to it one bit, I know it’s going to be difficult to negotiate once again simply because everyone else out there has similar plans at similar prices. I hope that there is more competition in Canada due to Verizon entering the market and from what I’ve seen I’m not alone in wanting more competition either. I want to note that I am all for Canadian business and them thriving, but I think competition overall whether it be from another Canadian company or an American one can make our businesses stronger in the end.

Do you want Verizon to enter the Canadian market? Are you up for more competition and better pricing for you as a student and cell phone customer?