College Savings

Hey guys, not very many here today.  How are you all saving or planning to start saving for college for the little ones?

[blondie72]

I think my DH has something through work.  He has a certain amt taken out of his check every 2 weeks.  Just try starting a savings in the bank for him and try NOT to touch it.  Then when they turn 18 turn the money over to them (only if they decide to go to college of course LOL)

[gonza]

We have a savings, but I want something that will grow, our savings doesnt grow that much.  Also, when we have another in a few years, we will have to set aside for 2 and it will get really expensive.  I am just panicking about future stuff I have no control over.  I swear I think these generic birth contol pills have made me neurotic.

[cinnamonheart]

I have bank accounts for all three started
But this year for christmas I am suggesting to the grandparents on both sides to start a ESP--educational savings plan
instead of toys ..They get so much stuff at christmas or even put money in their banks for them.
only down side to a Esp is you do have to go to school to use it up..The government of Canada matches your contribution into the ESP..by a certain percentage.

[cinnamonheart]

see my question below on open forum about natural path
Sorry for budding in gonza --Just wanted to know what you girls thought before I spent any more money on it!!

As for not many people on ...Hey the important ones are!!!!..lol..

[Still a mom]

I would like to try, because I know that it may make a difference in whether Alex goes to college or not. But I do not want to pay for it all. Dh and I had to pay for ours and since we got married so young we stopped going. (I graduated for high school at 16, went to college for a year, then got married and continued school for a year) Dh and I are putting money aside for Alex(though lately we have been dipping into which we will pay it all back) We want to encourage family to put money into his savings for presents if they want to give money. We will turn it over to him when he is 18 probably. Hopefully there will be a good chunk by then.
Mandi

[gonza]

Well, there is always financial aid.  There are also minority scholarships and grants (I am not a minority, but AJ is) and I intend to take full advantage of that for him.  If that pisses anyone off, well, it just pisses them off, I wont apologize for it.  :)  Anyway, I dont want him to have to worry about paying back a bunch of loans when he graduates.  I am sure college will cost $200,000 if not more in 18 years.

[jluhart]

Check out www.upromise.com.

[shubunkin]

cinn.......i do beleive in alot of natural way  of healing. but when it comes to alot of things like magnetic waves and electric currents i tend to not beleive as much and think it is a scam.......but hey......who knows! there is a wonderful book called prescription for nutritional healing. it is sooooooooworth the money and i do beleive it addresses some of those healing practices. i have worn mine out. i think doctors shove way too much medicine down peoples throats these days.

gonza....... you do what ya got to do for your kids education. i would be proud to know that my tax dollars help put a child through school rather than pay for a woman to have 10 kids!

[boycrazy]

Good lord, $600 a pay check?  That is ridiculous.  I would strongly consider changing jobs if that happened to us.  Don't know what your dh does or where you live, but nowadays, the bigger companies are better for benefits or the government (city, county, state). You could always drop the insurance, put half that in savings each month for dr. appts, etc and pick up just a major medical plan just in case of high dollar items. I wish you well.  As for me with college, I plan to work for the college when my kids need to go, I don't care if I have to make sandwiches or clean toilets.  At our university if you work there, your family goes for $50 a credit hour (practically free).  That is my plan.  Good luck to you.

[blondie72]

Hell at this rate my kids will NEVER GO!!!!!!!!!  My DH just informed me that he is going to be paying $600.00 freakin' a paycheck for insurance.  Between that and the price of gas noone in this dang family can afford to do anything.  I think we are going to shop around for insurance.  That is just absolutely ridiculous.  If they are going to charge that damn much then they need to take away ALL of our co-pays and cover EVERYTHING 100%.  It won't be worth my DH time to go to work because he will be working just to pay for health insurance.  People need to quit suing these doctors.  NOONE is perfect ppl make mistakes and that includes dr's.  I am ticked so thanks for letting me vent for a while.

[cinnamonheart]

Im not sure whether to believe it or not!
Dont want to waste money , maybe its mind over matter. Thought maybe someone out there in forum land had it done.
I dont believe it unless I see it sort of thing.
Part of it made sense and another i thought ya right! I think he knew it before I had left since I had one hundred questions for him. He was probably glad to see me go.

[shubunkin]

i wanted to address your post about bleeding. mine is very heavy also but no cramps. i have to wear a tampon and pad the first couple of days. of course what i have found out is that our entryways(lol) change after we push a bowling ball through them and tampons do not fit quite the same. sorry tmi

[mgi]

In my state we have a great college savings plan.  YOu buy vouchers and they are state tax deductible so it helps at the end of the year.
It is so expensive so good luck
I tell my son he can go whereever he gets a scholarship.  Same is true for high school - I have him taking the practice tests for HS now  Because HS costs around ten grand a year so he NEEDS a scholarship.  Then college
I am with Boycdrazy though.  I'd like to work at a college so he cango for free.
I have my PhD  so I intend to look for college teaching jobs when he is in HS  (I couldn't stand the hours now)

[blondie72]

Where do you live???  Or shall I say which college is it.  I would do that too.  Of course we want our kids to go to Michigan State Univ.  So far my 7 yr old has wanted to be a veteranarian for the past 2 years and if she sticks with that they say MSU has one of the best vet schools.  We'll see.  I know I about dropped to the floor when he told me $600.   We live in Indiana and he is a High School band director and he is VERY happy in this school system.  O well.  Like I said we are shopping around for something cheaper.

[boycrazy]

I live in Arizona. Unless my kids get scholarships, it's University of Arizona (I went there) or Arizona State, or Northern AZ.  I paid for my schooling and it was not so bad, despite the fact that it took me 7 years to get a 4 year degree.  You do what you got to do.  Plus, as far as saving goes for school, my dh's parents saved for him, and he never went.  Then my best friend has 5 sibs and 5 out of the six of all of them have degrees from U of A and they each paid their own way.  The way I see it, if I can put something away I will, but if I can't I will cross that bridge when it comes my way.  Good luck searching for insurance.

[catvet]

I live in NC and we have a state savings plan.  I would think most states should have one if you do an online search that are tax defered if the money is used for college.  ours has a $2000/year max input. Since Lexi was born we increased our tax withholding and as soon as we get the tax refund check the whole $2000 gets sent in.  That way we don't spend it and we don't miss the little extra out in each check.

[gonza]

I work for a Technical college now, and my family gets fifty percent off the cost of tuition.  The problem is, it is about three times the cost to go here than at state school.  When I interviewed at UAB (which offered me ALOT less than I make now), if you work there, the family goes fifty off as  well.  We'll see.  Maybe he will get a scholarship.