This is a guest post from Studenomist over at the rapidly growing Studenomics. If you enjoy what you read below then please subscribe to his feed.
You are near the end of your post secondary studies and you have one important decision to make; should you travel down south or to Europe?
Yes I know that not many young people will have the option of traveling once they complete their studies because their energy will be focused on trying to pay down that ridiculous student debt that has been piling up for years.
If you are in a similar position to me then you will be completing college soon with no debt and money saved in the bank to spend however you wish. If you are a student debating whether you should work part time while in college then this article is for you too. This article is for anybody that dreams of living a debt free life. This article highlights the benefits of completing college debt free, which you can easily do by reading my blog or Good Financial Cents:
1. Travel the world.
So if you have no student loan debt and a job offer lined up, why not spend a few weeks or even a month traveling? You could backpack across Europe, go on an adventure trip to Asia, or go down south to relax. Whatever travels you have been dreaming of the last few years could be done now before you enter the real world. There are even ways frugal ways to travel for those not wanting to get too crazy on their spending.
2. Start saving for a down payment.
You have the opportunity to work a few years while saving your money so that you have a decent down payment for a home or condo before you even turn 30. You would be surprised how much you could sock away in a few short years of serious saving.
3. Focus on your retirement savings.
It is important to start saving for your retirement even when you are in you are 18, but once you enter the real world and start earning a decent wage you could get more aggressive with your retirement planning. Consider opening a Roth IRA or taking the match of your 401k.
4. Live a stress free life.
You can go to sleep at night and wake up every morning without the stress of having to pay down $30,000 in student debt. Granted your life won’t be completely stress free because life itself is fairly stressful, but you will have a lot less stress than your friends that are always worrying about their debt and the amount of money they are spending on interest alone.
5. Buy that dream car.
Yes this is not frugal at all but you have been working hard for so many years so why not reward yourself? This is also the only chance in life you will be able to spend money on a new car because chances are when you have a family and a mortgage you will be fairly reluctant to be spending over $20,000 on a vehicle.
I would like to thank Jeff for allowing me to be apart of this up and coming blog. I strongly believe that this will be one of the top pf (personal finance) blogs out there in a year or so. This is why I am honored to be guest posting on this blog, one day readers will be going through the archives and they will see that I was one of the first people to guest post here.
Also check out: My Two Dollars: 10 Tips for New College Graduates
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I recently ran into a former student- I taught her in the 7th & 8th grade. Her mom was bragging about her being a National Merit Scholar. She of course tried to brush it off like it was no big deal. But I really stressed to her that having a paid tuition scholarship like that was huge. Truly life changing. I happened to marry someone with out school debt for either of us, and our lives will always be different from our friends. We drive paid for cars, we live in a paid for house, and I can stay at home with our kids, because we are not ruled by that second salary. Debt free college is Major!
I was fortunate to graduate from college debt free. I did travel the Middle East a bit afterwards for a few weeks, an experience I loved and recommend to anyone. After that I don’t recommend buying the new car, etc. Especially if you don’t have a job upon graduation. It may take months, and even with living at home as I did, you still have expenses. Save the money, don’t spend.
Your wife’s blog is fabulous! However, yours seem to have alot of wonderful information, too!
Great advice J!! As I was reading your post it made me think of a better blog than yours that I think you would really enjoy its call “House of Rose” if you haven’t heard of it you should check it out!!
sorry i really wanna win the GIVEAWAY!!
Nicole’s last blog post..Almost Ready
First I just want to start off by thanking Jeff again for allowing me this guest post opportunity. I just threw the new car thing in there to show the many possibilities of how you could reward yourself for working hard for the past 4 years. Whatever you decide to do with YOUR money is up to you and this article was only meant to deal with the benefits of completing college debt free.
The most common thing students tell themselves is that there’s nothing wrong with student loans because they will simply make so much money after college that they will pay the loan off no problem. Unfortunately this is not true and students must understand the importance of trying to pay down student debt as soon as possible!
Studenomics’s last blog post..How the Weekends Could Make You Rich
This is a good article and I think I’ll send it to my son who is graduating from university this year. Oh, and I’m not just saying this because I want another chance to win a giveaway or anything, but I think your wife’s blog is far better than yours..Hee, hee.
Beth’s last blog post..One Week Remaining before the Kids head back to College, but Who’s Counting?
I wish that I would have found this information about 4 years ago. I recently graduated with a ton of debt and would have loved to have done it this way instead. I will be sure to share this blog with friends and family who can still benefit from the advice.
Thanks for stopping by and the kind words. I look forward seeing more of your comments in the future.
Hello Jeff,
It’s funny, but I just posted two long blog posts on the very same topic of student loans and student loan debt (check http://www.yourmoneyanddebt.com/graduationand-debt/). What students don’t seem to realize is that one does not have to go into debt to get a decent education. I got through a BS and a PhD program and actually had money when I finally graduated- enough to put a down-payment on a house! But the trick was to do the paid education on the cheap: I first went to a community college (at $25/credit), then to a state school (which required about $3K/semester). Grad school was a free ride, and I never even had to teach or do a research assistantship like many of my other colleagues. Once I graduated, I bought a house just 5 months later. It was a great feeling to not be saddled with student loan debt.
HallyZ
These are exactly all the things I can not do now. *Tears* Oh well. I will have to deal with it.
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Finishing college with no debt is the ideal life after college because you know that you own every you get and not that company that gave you the loan.
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