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Niagara College Student Cuts Costs

The window to enter into our scholarship for the first half of the year has closed. In the lead-up to the winner announcement, we’ll be posting some of our contest entries. Below we see what J.V. is doing to save money for college and cut costs while attending classes.

Our Essay Questions

  • As a college/university student, what are your main money obstacles and what do you plan on doing to address these issues?
  • Looking back, how should schools have taught money management to children under 18

The response from college student J.V.

As a student of Niagara college, I find that it is especially difficult to save money while attending school. I currently stay with my parents in order to keep the costs of renting down, but that still is one of my biggest expenses. Since I am living with my parents, the drive to school is longer. This has caused my gas expenses to increase. These are my main money obstacles along with putting aside money to purchase a house in the near future. In order to address these money issues and decrease some expenses, I have made some changes.

First, I sold my truck and purchased a car to have a more fuel-efficient ride to school. This has helped decrease my fuel expense by nearly half. To address other money obstacles, I have decided to take night classes so I can work during the day and continue to make a steady income.

When I was just coming out of high school, I had already accumulated debt and had no sense of money management. This was due to the lack of education I received on this topic. For that reason, I believe it should be necessary for students to be taught this basic life skill. A course like this would also be very beneficial for students like me who take better to experiential learning. Right now, students are learning the hard way, crawling their way out of debt, and I believe it’s only fair to try and help educate them.

See our scholarship page for details.

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