Tag Archives: saving

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?

Banking: Saving Basics

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I know its been long overdue that I get away from the flashy stuff and start heading down the path of bank accounts, savings and the things we all don’t want to talk about. But unfortunately it’s happening and I’ve decided to start with some saving basics. One of the first steps to increase your net worth and prevent debt is to open up a savings account (don’t quote me on this, but it’s definitely a great first step). Most students, I hope, have a savings account but I’m going to assume most don’t, or don’t use it properly. Within this post I will cover just your standard savings account…don’t want to scare you off now.

Regular/Standard Savings Account

A savings account is something in addition to a preexisting chequing account that you already hold at your bank. It’s somewhere to put money that won’t be used on a day-to-day basis and allows you to earn a small amount of interest without having to invest yourself.

What you should look for in a savings account

  • Choose a savings account with the highest interest rate possible without service charges (us students don’t have money to just give away)
  • Some banks have been offering limited time “high” interest rates from about 1.5-2% on new deposits, check it out or inquire at your local branch
  • Check out online banks like ING, Ally and PC Financial that have a focus on savings accounts with relatively higher interest rates than major banks

Interest?!?

Yeah the word might sound scary, and even sound like your getting charged for something instead of earning it. In fact interest in a savings account is a good thing, not like those annoying charges on your credit card statement. Usually on a monthly basis interest is given as a percentage of the total value of your savings account, some banks might take the average monthly amount in your savings account instead.

Once you start seeing your interest deposits every month you will being to realize how low interest rates are these days. Huge interest values per month like $1, $2 and maybe one month it might even just reach $7. It’s definitely something to keep in perspective when it comes to how easily we pay for things that cost $10-$20 on a daily basis…see how long it takes to make that money back in interest! Might make you want to spend a little less on those McDonald’s burgers every week..

Final Thoughts

One of the issues that students may have is actually using their savings account as a chequing account. What I mean by this is a large portion of your savings account shouldn’t be touched on a frequent basis. It’s a place where monthly rent is pulled or that semester’s tuition comes from, but it shouldn’t be an account where daily withdrawals are made from in order to fund your night out downtown or your most recent clothing purchase.

It’s important to control your own bank account and be aware of the different products available at your bank AND what they can do for you. Having a savings account amazingly enough can help you save your money better, simply because it is also money that you don’t have easy instant access to

For more information check out this Government of Canada page on savings accounts. But seriously…my blog post is way more interest anyways.

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