Comments on: 12 Ways to Waste Money in College

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:51:32 +0000

Solid article on different ways college aged students can get themselves in trouble with debt. As a college senior at the University of Kentucky, I can confirm myself or my friends have made mistakes like your examples above. For me personally, I would have to say early on I got into a lot of trouble by buying new textbooks. Some semesters this would run me over $600. One great internet site that I use now is http://www.eCampus.com . eCampus has many different options available to students so they can save money. They do this by offering book rentals, eBooks, and used textbooks. eCampus also has a marketplace where students can buy or sell used textbooks. eCampus has helped me save money and I am sure they can help you too.

By: Someonelse

Someonelse — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:32:15 +0000

“When you are out of college and making $100,000 dollars a year, then you can start buying the expensive software…if you want to.”

Who are you kidding college graduates are lucking to even have a job 1 year after graduating. Try finding someone who cares after graduation, willing to pay you anything ($100 grand a year please) These days your be lucky to get any job period.

By: LoneWolf

LoneWolf — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:37:14 +0000

University was such a long time ago for me that I didn’t have to worry about cell phones (they weren’t common place yet) and software (well, I did get a Commodore 64 but there wasn’t much software that I needed for that).

There were a lot of money sinks back then though and they weren’t very different than the ones you’ve outlined above. I’d encourage every student to learn something about living debt free so that you can start from a stable foundation. Don’t learn the hard way like I did.

By: Anita

Anita — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:05:31 +0000

This is a bulls-eye list. I’m guilty of a good number of them. Definitely brings to mind “if only I knew then what I know now”. I’m teaching my children differently so that they don’t start life out of college burdened with debt. I’ve never heard of renting textbooks on-line though – anyone have a good link they could please post? Daughter is off to college this fall.

By: Marcy Webb

Marcy Webb — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 19:38:15 +0000

In most cases, it is the parents who fund the lifestyle of their students. Typically, if the parents have bad spending habit, so will their children.

We live in a debtor’s society, fueled by consumption. So, the list posted here doesn’t surprise me.

By: Nhoel

Nhoel — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 08:12:51 +0000

#9 Buying New Textbooks — renting online books? now that’s new to me…

By: Kris

Kris — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:54:56 +0000

@ Nate: no, you weren’t being unclear. I was just shocked!

And thanks for the post. I am guilty of #6 – I always buy new ink. Don’t really know why…

By: Amy

Amy — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 00:14:27 +0000

I was such a poor spender when I was in college. I ate out way too much, wasted money on partying it up, and didn’t save enough. Oh, the things I would do differently! I am not a hundred or anything, for the record I just look back and think on how much I have grown and what improvements I have made since I became an adult.

You sound like you are far wiser than I was

By: Anthony Nguyen

Anthony Nguyen — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:53:39 +0000

Speaking to #9: Buying new textbooks. I agree with you on this. I don’t know why anyone would every buy new, unless you planned on keeping the book or don’t like coffee stains/torn pages. I bought all of my college books off of Half.com. Generally (for the books I purchased), a used book would be about 1/4 the cost of new, and the condition was always basically “brand new” minus the shrink wrap.

Actually, now that I look back to my college days, I think about how often I used my textbooks in the first place. Especially, in my junior and seniors years, I hardly ever opened my books. The professors would always teach their own material. Listing a textbook on the syllabus is a school policy. I probably could have went without books those last two years. And if I needed one, I always studied in a group, so someone else was bound to have one…

Now I’m just rambling…

By: Jill

Jill — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 18:44:27 +0000

A friend of mine used to spend $120+ a week on booze. Of course, he was drinking every night of the week… But I guess that isn’t unheard of in college.