Hi all!  This is a staff post by Teacher Man from My University Money.  Enjoy!

So your big day has come and gone, you wore the cap and gown, stood line for hours while 1000 other people had their 10 seconds in the spotlight, and now you finally have your big university/college degree/diploma.  You have reached the end of one journey and are now ready to enter the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, after all, now you get the well-paying job and disposable income that you have forgone all these years since high school as you pursued higher learning right?  Uh… kind of.  Welcome to the world of bills and expenses (you were introduced to this while in school, but now it really starts to kick in) and those sweet student loan cheques that used to signal a celebration when they arrived in the mail?  Yah, those need to be paid back too.

I Don’t Know You, How Do I Know What Fits You Best?

There is no “one-size-fits-all” advice to help guide people through the budgeting process when they go from “starving student” to “affluent working stiff.”  The reason being is that everyone had different experiences while in school, and will now be in a different set of circumstances upon beginning their foray into the working world.  If you lived at home for your entire post-secondary career, and your folks are now kicking you out, then obviously you’ve got some pretty substantial changes to consider.  If on the other hand, you were living by yourself or with roommates and were working your way through school, then you might be pretty well prepared for what’s about to come.  Regardless of the specifics of your situation, there are a few universal lessons or choices that the vast majority of graduates encounter when adjusting their finances to go from student to “bread-winner.”

The Evil Lifestyle Inflation

The great temptation that I’ve seen for recent graduates is to look at their first paycheque and let loose on all the consumer spending they deprived themselves of as students.  This can get expensive in a hurry.  See the thing about material possessions is that you can never have enough of them.  Especially when your neighbour has more.  This has been especially tough for me the last couple years as many of my buddies randomly came from the Faculty of Geology.  Guess who is making more money, the guys taking oil and gold out of the ground, or the public school teacher?!  If I tried to keep up with these “Joneses” I would be several thousand dollars in debt before you could say “Two Degrees and a 150 credit hours.”  Think about what you’re doing and if you really need these consumer items before you give your credit cards a workout.  Consumer debt usually carries crazy interest rates and can hamstring your budget before you really develop the financial survival skills you’ll need going forward.

I’m Special Because The Nike Commercial Says So

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Okay so maybe I’m not really starving, but I do like the alliteration.

As our Shaw Plan Personalizer deal that was in place for six months came to an end (it was $62 including tax for some HD channels, selected channels, and extreme internet), I started practicing my negotiation skills in front of the mirror (no, not really) to see if I could get the discounted rate extended or see if I could get some other promotion. If I didn’t figure something out, we would be paying $120 a month for cable and internet.

I called Shaw (after waiting for 20 minutes, no doubt) and asked to speak to one of their customer service representatives.  Because I practiced negotiating for my cell phone contract last year, I thought I had the upper hand.

I even tried to see if I could downgrade the extreme internet to “just” high speed internet and see if that would take the sting away.  It took the sting away by a  measly $10.  The cable and internet bill would still come to $120 or so a month.

I asked the representative if there were any promotions available.

Negative.

“Miss, we often have free television channel promos that we give to our customers for free, right now, you can watch MTV Canada for free”

(my inside voice: I DON’T CARE ABOUT MTV CANADA! It sucks anyways and the last time I’ve watched that was 2 years ago when “The City” was on! I just want to pay less!)

I even threatened to leave Shaw and go to Telus.

This didn’t phase the customer service rep.  I guess it doesn’t help that I wasn’t on a contract, ha!

I then politely hung up and started brainstorming.

I thought that students must get some sort of a break on cable, seeing as students have no income and yet need some sort of distraction from studying.  Students also need internet.  They must give students a break.

I then called back and asked if there were any student discounts.

Jackpot.

So for classic cable (which includes more channels than we were getting on our Shaw Plan Personalizer) and extreme internet, the bill would total $63 or so just because I was a post secondary student.  Regular price would be $130 a month.

And how long does this goodness last?  I thought it would be for another six months or something, but noooooo…

It lasts as long as I am a student! So for two more years, I will get cheap cable and internet.

That alone makes my miserable part time work and full time student life worthwhile!  Oh, and it’s not me who is addicted to cable, it’s my boyfriend.  Him and his Walking Dead episodes *sigh*.

Here’s what you have to do to get in on this deal:

• First of all, Shaw said you can’t be a full time student (I believe it was only full time students who are eligible) and live in your parents home or even in their basement… because that would mean your parents are getting cheap cable.
• Print out a copy of your tuition statement to prove to them you’re legit and in school
• Print out a copy of your enrollment or acceptance letter or other proof to say that you are in post-secondary school (My program is online and it was still fine!)
• Bring your student ID
• Find the Shaw customer service centre (for me it is in the lovely Shaw tower in Coal Harbor- pretty fancy!)
• Bring your student ID and your copies of tuition and enrollment to the Shaw Customer Service Centre
• Speedwalk/race to the customer service line up alongside a mid-forties male who sees you in his peripheral vision and obviously doesn’t care that you are female and wanting to get in the line up too (hey, what about ladies first? Maybe I didn’t look like a lady that day?? lol)
• Wait in line for 20-30 minutes with other people who look disgruntled
• Show them the goods and they will look at you and make sure your ID is real and then give you the discount!

Et Voila!  $750+ annually saved on cable.

This alone makes me want to be a perpetual student.  Perhaps Million Dollar Journey should go to MBA school so he can get this deal too?

Readers, are there any other “WOW” discounts you know of that gives students an advantage?

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Teenagers are infamous for wanting their independence but few realize just how much responsibility comes with being an adult, especially where finances are concerned. There is little in the way of financial education within the Canadian school system although measures are being taken to change that. Personal finance education is for the most part left up to the parents to handle. Without the guidance and money lessons from a young age, children may have a harder time understanding and adapting to a life where they focus on saving rather than spending.

Here are 6 of the biggest money misconceptions teenagers tend to have:

1. Mom Will Pay For It

Parents who give in to their children’s wants are not doing anyone a favor. Kids as young as five years old can learn basic money lessons, which will make a difference in their adult lives. Children who have things handed to them may tend to carry the belief that even when they are older their parents will handle their money needs. This may perpetuate the belief that teens do not need an education on personal finance matters since mom and dad always come to the rescue.

Possible Solution: Parents should discuss financial boundaries with their teens such as committing to finance basic needs but insisting teens pay for things outside of that realm. Older teens can be encouraged to seek part time employment or odd jobs to earn the money they need.

2. I Don’t Need Good Credit

Teenagers that have not learned basic lessons about credit scores and why they are important to one’s financial life will likely have no interest in maintaining them. There are still some adults that spend reckless and overextend their credit without much thought to the long-term consequences. Kids tend to mimic how their parents handle money matters and if they see their parents not managing their credit, they likely will see little benefit in doing it for themselves.

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Hello fellow personal finance readers. I go by the pen name “Teacher Man” due to the fact that I recently graduated from university and am in my second year of teaching high school. About 9 months ago my partner and I started a website called My University Money. It is aimed at helping young people (with a specific focus on post-secondary students) and just talking about financial and student lifestyle issues in general. Young & Thrifty was one of the first bloggers to really reach out to us and give us a little recognition when we were just starting off. When I read that Y & T was hitting a busy patch in life I offered to do a little staff writing for her, and she graciously accepted. Hopefully you readers don’t notice THAT much of a drop-off from the typical high quality posts you’ve come to enjoy here!

Y&T’s Note:  Thanks Teacher Man!  Haha, are you being sarcastic about the high quality posts? LOL.  Hey, when I first noticed your site, I was blown away by the amazing content.  Thanks for being my new staff writer as I plug away at post-grad university life My dear readers, you’ll probably see Teacher Man here on Y&T.ca a few times a month- I’m looking forward to reading more of his great writing.

There are few bigger decisions for prospective post-secondary students than choosing where they will live while they attend school. Will you live on campus or off? Will you find an apartment with a friend, or search for a house to rent with buddies? Are your
parents going to be able to help you financially? What can you afford, and what is the cheapest option? These are all questions that swirl around the head of many high school graduates, and people returning to school from the workforce every year.

For individuals that are focused on doing the economically responsible thing, there is little doubt that going to the local school and living at home is by far the best route.  Even if your parents ask you to pay rent (entirely reasonable) I can almost guarantee that
you will save bucket loads of money on everything from toilet paper, to internet bills.  For the many students that live far away from a post-secondary institution, this option does not exist. Many other students feel the social need to “branch out” a little and live
independently, while still others wish to travel to go to school. How you approach this task can greatly determine what path your life will take within the realm of post-secondary education.

Advantages of On Campus Life

For the majority of students who decide for one reason or another to leave the nest and live away from their parents while going to school, the main choice becomes to live on campus or off. There are certainly arguments to be made for both. I personally would
strongly recommend living on campus for a year or two to begin your post-secondary career. The social advantage alone is a strong enough factor that it almost outweighs any other considerations. Living on campus is simply the best way to meet new people,
get involved with a nearly infinite amount of groups activities, grow comfortable with the campus, and build an endless network (both social and professional) that will be invaluable to you for the rest of your life. Being close to your classes and all the resources that are centered on campus are also a key consideration.

Off Campus Options

Some students decide that on campus life is not for them. There are a few different options for students that live off campus. Some key considerations include how many roommates (if any) you would like to live with, how far away from campus you wish
to live (generally rental units close the university are fairly pricey), whether you would like to move into an apartment or a house, and whether you will own a vehicle or not.  The ability to customize your living arrangement to a more personal level comes with
the added pressure of making the right choices. One interesting strategy I have seen successfully pursued is for the parents of a student to purchase a house close to a post-secondary area, and then have their child and their friends rent it from them. The rent provides a nice income stream (more than enough to offset the mortgage) and when the post-secondary career wraps up the parents can choose to sell it (houses close to schools are always in demand) for a healthy profit, or continue the arrangement with their child if they want to keep the house.

Isn’t On Campus Living More Expensive?

For a lot of students choosing where to live will come to down to a matter of cost. While we established that living at home is probably more economical by a wide margin, things get a little more grey when we compare on campus housing options to those available off campus. In my experience, most people believe that living off campus is substantially cheaper; however, when I crunched the numbers I found them very comparable. It is very difficult to do a direct comparison because housing costs and on campus living expenses vary from region to region. When I looked at all the major universities across Canada, on campus housing ranged from $4,5000-$9,000, with of an average of around $7,000 when meal plans were included (this includes extra costs of internet hook-up etc, that were standard at some places, but not others). This comes out to $875 per-month.  When I calculated out my rent, hydro, water, internet, TV, and grocery bills, and then added in the extra gas I burned going to and from university everyday, it came out to about $800 a month. I’m a big guy who eats a lot of groceries, but Winnipeg was also a
fairly cheap place to rent in, so I figured it balanced out. In any case, I’m fairly certain the per-month premium you would pay for living on campus is between $50-$100 in the majority of cases. For people that move for a summer job, or back home for the summer, this is easily cancelled out by the fact that most rentals require you to sign leases for 12 months at a time, whereas the on campus housing is usually purchased in 4-month terms.

What Option Is Right For Me?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question of where a specific person should live while going to school. For students who have families, or want to live at home, the decision is fairly straight forward. I would definitely recommend paying the small premium to live on campus for young students as I believe the incalculable hidden benefits are well worth the price tag. I met my significant other while living in residence though, as well as nearly all of my best friends, so I am definitely quite bias!

What were your top priorities when looking for housing accommodations while attending post-secondary education? When I moved off campus with a couple of friends, our house was 20 feet from a beer vendor… can you say, “Location, Location, Location!”

Readers, what would differently you do if you could re-live your college accommodation experience?

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