Saving Money for Nontraditional Students

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How to save money while you are going back to school...
Truthfully, I didn't think I would find much on this subject online, but voila! I am finding a lot.
If you are in school, you probably already know a lot about saving money, just because experience is such a good teacher. But there may be some hints in the articles here that can help even more. Here are three terrific articles about saving money at school.
#1. 118 Ways to Save Money at College
This article gives beaucoup ways to save money, including on your bank, your credit cards, alcohol, food, computers, entertainment and more.
#2. Saving Money from the Campus Grotto site. This list includes taking courses at community college, then transferring your credits to a 4-year one. Note: make sure they WILL transfer first. Here is that link: Saving Money: 50 Tips for College Students.
#3. Article Cat has a good article about saving money while going back for your GED. If you are taking online classes, you can always save on gas, of course, and can sometimes get more than one thing done at home. The part about being able to babysit your kids while you are studying does not always work though. It helps if they are asleep! :-) Here is that article: Get Your GED.
More ideas:
Some money-saving ideas I have used in the past include riding the school bus, buying course books used or online, walking places, taking snacks or lunch to school, shopping at thrift stores, re-using scrap paper for notes and for printouts on my computer,  cooking casseroles and soups at home, and cutting back on movies and eating out.
What are your money-saving ideas? List them in the comments section. Thanks ahead of time!
-Betsyanne
The piggy bank art is from the great, free site Clkr.com at http://www.clkr.com. 
Some Nontrad links: The Nontrad site and blog Join Nontrads on Facebook Nontrads on Yahoo Nontrads on Twitter

Surviving your first semester back at school - 10 tips

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Image by betsyanne via Flickr

10 Tips to do well back at school.

OK - you did it. You signed up for school, and you are going back.
Whether you just signed up for one class, or are taking more, now is the time to take out some insurance on finishing with a good grade.
Here are some hints to help you succeed.
 #1. Keep a positive attitude. Visualizing success can be a great help to success. Get motivated with 10 Motivational Tips.
#2. Get organized. Keep a notebook and a planner. Try these tips on organization to help you:  Get Organized for Finals.
#3. Use your highlighter. Some classes with reading assignments do use these on tests. So, though it may go against every lecture by a librarian, you may want to take out that highlighter and use it for important points you read.
#4. Reach out. Start connecting with other students, whether you are in an online class or an in-person one. Here are some ways to do that: Get to know your college professors,  form a study group, and maybe even start a Nontraditional Student group at your school.
#5.  Take care of yourself. This means getting plenty of sleep (I know, this is hard sometimes...), pampering yourself, and being kind to yourself. Avail yourself of the often-free counseling services your school offers if you need them.
#6. Enlist your family's help. They may need to pitch in on family chores, and your regular, used-to-do duties. Your focus will be on your class or classes right now.
#7. Consider dropping a class. If you are overwhelmed right now at the beginning of the semester, it will only get worse later. Make sure to know your school's policy now on dropping and adding classes without penalty. Consult your advising office if you don't know, and mark the date, just in case.
#8. Use your school's services. Many schools have study labs complete with tutors that are totally free. See if your school offers these. Use them if you need them.
#9. Let your instructor help. If you know that you are not doing well in a class, and you can't drop the class, then definitely go and talk to your instructor. Sometimes he or she can help. In the worst-case scenario, you can sometimes work out an incomplete and finish your work within a prescribed time if you have a family emergency or illness. It doesn't hurt to find out about that.
#10. Try your best. This means going to every class (even if you are tired that day), turning in assignments on time, following directions, and listening. You may want to invest in a digital recorder for class to make sure you get every point your instructor wants you to know.
Here are some more tips:
11 more tips for success
10 Study Tips for Nontrads
I hope these tips are useful. And add some as comments. I would love that!!
Nontraditionally Yours,
-Betsyanne
And come join us other places...
The Nontrad site and blog
Join Nontrads on Facebook
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Want a new career? Try doing something you love, full time or part time.

Are you in a career rut? Only you can know that.

So. You have worked in the same industry for a long time. You feel like you might be in a rut. Every day is the same. You are SO used to what you are doing.

You might have a dream that some day you might be able to do something else. But is it worth going back to school and incurring so much debt on the way?

Not everyone has the money set aside to allow them to go back to school with no student debt. But for some, it is worth trying out their dream job, even if that means going back to school to get the training for it, debt or not. But for some people, it just is not worth it. That is why going back to school can be a very personal choice.

The first thing I think people need to think about is, what do you love? If you are doing a job and get "into the zone" while you are working, and the day goes by fast, the job you are doing just may be a good fit for you.

Some other questions you can ask yourself are: Do you enjoy the people you work with? Do you feel like you are doing something worthwhile? Then maybe your job is one that you can continue with your entire life. But you don't have to give up on your dreams. Maybe each thing you dream about can be a hobby for you. You can work at your same job, and explore your other interests on the side.

Will you want to go to school to learn more about your dream? Maybe. Maybe not!

Maybe you can look things up on the internet or at the library to find out more about it in your free time first. Perhaps full-time school is not for you right now. Maybe part-time school (outside of work) just may be. There are so many options today.

Many people just accept what happens to them, and never go past that. I think I myself used to be that way. I think asking myself some questions helped me. One question I asked that you can ask yourself is this: Have you explored what you really want from life? Are you fulfilled in your job?

Do you feel like there might be something different that you would enjoy doing with your life? If you answer yes to any of these questions, the next step might be taking a free aptitude test online.
Here are just a few I have found:

FunEducation has some neat quizzes and tests that you may like. They also have an IQ test there that they say is PhD. certified. This sounds a lot like the old Tickle tests. I had fun with the Tickle tests. Their site is no longer around, I am sad to say.

But the website points to:
TestQ, which also has IQ and interest tests.

The Career Zone is an interesting test page linked to from Columbus State Community College.
Then you can go from there and decide whether or not you want to learn more about your dream job or even your dream hobby.

Do you know of some good and free sites that help people learn more about themselves and what they may love to do with their job or life? I would love it if you would list those sites after this posting.

Have you thought about exploring other options in your work life? Do you think about doing other things in your spare time? Talk about it in your comment. I look forward to reading about it.

Nontraditionally yours,
-Betsyanne

Here are some other postings you may like:

Nontraditional student information from Twitter

The Good Stuff - - the nontraditional student page at the Federal Aid Page

Going back to school - should you? 

Some Nontrad links:  
The Nontrad site and blog 
Join Nontrads on Facebook Nontrads on Yahoo 
Nontrads on Twitter 

 

 

 

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Is your school a member of TRiO?

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TRiO - - something about three? Some kind of helping service? I saw this name at Western Kentucky University while I was there, but I didn't know what it was until today.

What is TRiO?

TRiO is a no-traditional support service for nontraditional students. It is also known as SSS/Trio. It is under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Education. It supplies help for people getting their GED and people in college.

Some of the services they provide include free help with FAFSA applications, career counseling and information, advising, and more, all for free.

Some programs TRiO is involved with include Veterans Upward Bound, Upward Bound Math-Science, The Child Care Access Means Parents in School program (CCAMPIS), Talent Search, and Educational Opportunity Centers.

Is your school a member of TRiO? You can call the your local school and find out. Some places that offer TRiO services are called Educational Opportunity Centers.

Here are some websites that tell more about the TRiO program:



Federal Trio Programs - Home Page

The TRiO Clearinghouse Page 

 Other links you may like:
The Find Scholarships and Grants blog
Textbook Options 2010 include renting, ebooks, more
A Report on NPR's recent broadcast on Talk of the Nation

Some Nontrad links: The Nontrad site and blog Join Nontrads on Facebook Nontrads on Yahoo Nontrads on Twitter

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Textbook options include renting, ebooks, more

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Textbooks and Options!

I have been looking around on the internet to check out options for students to buy textbooks. The prices on textbooks can be high... so students are starting to explore other options besides buying new.
Some things you can do today are:

#1. Rent your textbook or get an e-book version (some of these are available for a limited amount of time, others you can buy outright).
#2. Check out online stores or sites.
#3. Get a used textbook from a University or College store. This can have advantages - you can trade them back in easier than some places, plus they know exactly what each instructor needs.
#4. Get a textbook from another student, using bulletin boards, school book exchanges, Craigslist, or word of mouth...
#5. Go online and read your textbook from an online area.
#6 (added later - thanks, TRR!)  Go to your school library - - they may have copies of textbooks you can use there.
Of course, you can still find your textbook new, which might be what you choose to do, depending on when you start looking for your textbook. Some schools let you know a long time ahead of time what your book is, your ISBN number, etc. and some schools do not.
I have listed some good links to explore. Some are online stores, some will rent or sell
books, and some will take your book back when you are done with it.

Websites and Ideas:

FlatWorld – free course books, customizable by teachers, available online.

http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/

Chegg.com offers textbooks for rent - very popular

http://www.chegg.com

ECampus

(also has rentals)

http://www.ecampus.com/

Valore Books

(also has rentals)

http://www.valorebooks.com/

Barnes and Noble’s new textbook section online

(includes rentals)

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/textbooks/index.asp

10 Ways to save on college textbooks

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26161407

How to buy used college textbooks (at EHow)

http://www.ehow.com/how_5234466_buy-used-college-textbooks.html

Best Places to Save Money onTextbooks (from LifeHacker)

http://lifehacker.com/5043180/best-places-to-save-money-on-textbooks

Half.com on Ebay

http://www.half.ebay.com/

Amazon

http://www.amazon.com

Alibris

http://www.alibris.com

Ebay

http://www.ebay.com

A Yahoo Answers question: I need to buy college textbooks, where is the best place to go online?

Free online textbooks: http://textbookrevolution.org/

Textbook 411, a textbook price comparison site: http://www.textbook411.com

Do you know of other options? Please list them here as part of your comments. Thanks.
And be sure to say hi at the bottom under "comments."
Nontraditionally Yours,
-Betsyanne
Some Nontrad links: The Nontrad site and blog Join Nontrads on Facebook Nontrads on Yahoo Nontrads on Twitter 

 

 

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