Personal Finance Blog by Debit versus Credit

4 Ways College Students Can Save Money

October 28, 2008 | Filed in: Frugality | 6 comments

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Being myself a student I’m fully aware of all of the potential cost-savings that can come along with pursuing a higher education.  Of course these cost-savings don’t come cheaply: paying for college can cost thousands to tens of thousands of dollars a year.  But you’re already paying for that right?  You might as well take full advantage of what you’re paying for and listed below are 4 ways to do just that.

• Cancel your magazine and newspaper subscriptions.  The library at your university or community college is more than likely well stocked with all of the latest magazines and newspapers.  You may not find any of those “special interest” magazines that you keep under your bed, but you’ll likely find all mainstream magazines as well as business and hobby magazines.
• Cancel your gym membership.  Many colleges offer unlimited use of their workout facilities.  Take advantage of this.  There is no point to paying for an expensive gym membership when you probably already have full access to the gym at your school.
• Cancel your Internet.  I’m willing to bet that your college offers free Wi-Fi everywhere on campus.  I’m also willing to bet that their Internet access is a lot faster than your current one.  If you live on campus or close enough to the campus where it’s just a hop skip and a jump away you might consider cancelling your Internet and taking your laptop to school whenever you need (or want) to use the Internet.
• Take your date to school.  If you’re looking for a great date idea that doesn’t cost much then look no further than your local college campus.  I’m not talking about taking her to your accounting class with you (you’ll not likely have a girlfriend any longer if you do this) but rather taking advantage of the sports courts that your campus has.  More than likely your campus has racquetball courts, tennis courts, a sand volleyball court and a basketball court.  Volleyball and racquetball are my favorites, but maybe your date prefers to play some b-ball.  Either way it’s all right there, for you to use.

Tags: Frugality, Money Saving Tips, Money Saving Tips for Students

Scratch Beginnings

October 24, 2008 | Filed in: Friday Book Club | 3 comments

It’s not every day that you get an opportunity to read and review a book before its publication.  You can imagine my delight when Adam Shepard, the author of Scratch Beginnings, contacted me and asked if I’d be interested in reading his book.  Now technically the book has been around for a couple of years now, as it was originally self-published, but now it’s been picked up by Collins to be published.  In fact since I’ve had the book it’s actually been published and you can now find it at your favorite bookstore or at Amazon.com.  You can also enter a contest that I’m holding where I’m giving away three signed copies of Scratch Beginnings.

Scratch Beginnings was a fun read.  It’s an Autobiography that sometimes makes you feel as if you are reading a journal.  For anyone who’s ever read their siblings or significant others journal you know how much fun this can be.  The plot is simple.  The author, Adam Shepard, is to undergo an experiment where he will move to a random city in the Southeast U.S. with nothing but $25 dollars, a sleeping bag, the clothes on his back and an extraordinarily strong will to succeed. His goal is to prove, or disprove, the notion that one can not rise above their situation. His secondary goals are to have $2,500 dollars in cash, a fully furnished apartment and a car that is in good working condition after the period of one year.

Criticism and Defense

The major criticism against this book is that the author is a white, educated male and therefore any such “experiments” are immediately flawed.  I think that we can safely brush aside the notion that just because Adam has a college degree the experiment is flawed.  He did a wonderful job of completely immersing himself in the experiment and never once did he reveal his formal education or any related qualifications while interacting with those around him.  It’d be foolish of me to pretend that white privilege is not in existence and that he had nothing to gain from being white, but I’m of the opinion that if it made any such difference it was not much at all.

The fact is that he was dedicated to his goals and he worked hard every single day to accomplish them.  Things weren’t ever easy for him, but he always pushed ahead knowing that he could make something out of himself no matter what life threw his way.

Wrapping it Up

What I enjoyed most about Scratch Beginnings was how real it seemed.  Of course being an Autobiography that’s how it’s supposed to be, but usually Autobiographies seem stuffy and often unrealistic.  Not Scratch Beginnings though.  Everything about this book screams reality, from the difficulties on the streets to the abrasive language often spoken by characters that you meet.  It likely won’t ever be listed on the NY Times Best Sellers list (due to its limited mass-market appeal), but you can be sure that it will be respected by all who read it for the sheer level of honesty and commitment that the author portrays.

Tags: Book Review, Friday Book Club, Homelessness, Poverty, Scratch Beginnings

How To Get a Free Copy of Your Credit Report

October 23, 2008 | Filed in: Loans and Credit | No comment

Today I’m going to feature my very first screencast, which walks you through getting a free copy of your credit report from annualcreditreport.com. Sorry about the crude quality, I’m still new to this, but it gets the job done!

Tags: credit report, screencast

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