Archive for May, 2008
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For those of you who will be still in school next year, or will be returning to school, 2008-2009 could prove to be a difficult year to get student loans. With the credit bubble bursting many loan providers are closing their doors or doing some belt tightening, which can mean you are left searching for a new loan provider.
According to Mark Kantrowitz of Finaid.org, “Pennsylvania’s higher-ed agency last month suspended their student lending. Numerous other private sources have exited as well, due to a profit squeeze.”
While not every lender is bailing out of the student loan game (for example Federal Stafford and PLUS loans will still be available), many are tightening their standards. Where in previous years a credit score of 620 for the student or cosigner was needed, that may be getting raised to 650 this coming year. What does this mean for you then?
As reported in a recent Newsweek article “Sallie Mae, the nation’s largest lender, might turn you down if you have a high debt load or your school has a high dropout rate. [Families] should call your school right now and see if your usual lender is providing funds. If not, start the hunt for other sources. You don’t want to be scrounging during the week before tuition is due.”
There are some other options as well, and as with all money matters it pays to shop around and see what kind of rates you can get elsewhere. Stafford loans carry a maximum percentage of 6.8%, which will be reduced by law for subsidized loans to 6% on July 1. You can find some better rates out there though, such as from MyRichUncle.com, which offers a 5.8% rate and may be cutting rates to stay ahead of the Stafford rates.
The major lenders out there are Sallie Mae, Citibank, Bank of America and Wells Fargo so get in touch with your school and check on your loan status for next year now. If you have to look around for a new lender, make sure to do your homework and try to negotiate the best rate possible. Just because the market is squeezing out some of the lenders doesn’t mean you have to accept whatever offer your lender gives you. In cases like these, it pays to do your homework.
In case you missed it, Jeremy over at Generation X Finance wrote a post today full of job hunting tips for the new college grad (how fitting, right?). It’s definitely a great read (as most of the stuff at Gen X Finance is) worth the time it takes to check it out. He breaks the job hunting tips down into three super categories:
1. Experience Matters:
Those with real-world work experience in their field will have a significant edge over those without such experience. If you have done any work in your field while in school, either through an internship, summer job, or work-study program, this will be a great asset.
Even if your friends and classmates haven’t begun searching for jobs yet, don’t delay. You’ll want to begin looking for opportunities as soon as possible. Not only will this give you a head-start, but it may provide flexibility. Getting an early start will put you in the position of being able to turn down jobs without the potential you’re looking for and holding out for a job with more promise.
3. Networking
Networking is one of the most powerful methods of finding a great job. Make a list of your contacts and how they might be able to help you. Talk to people who are working in the field you’re interested in and in the companies you’d like to work for. Don’t limit yourself to newspaper help wanted ads or online job postings. This is where it can be a good idea to begin building a LinkedIn profile so that you can begin to network with others in your field. There are also a lot of recruiters and HR personnel who use the service to find talent.
Definitely all good things to think about - especially as graduation looms (and thus so do millions of recent grads across the country descending on an ever-tightening job market). For more tips, check out the rest of Jeremy’s post here or read some of the “getting a job” tips & tricks we’ve covered here at Real World Really.
Messages have been circulating this week through text message, email and social networking sites about an organized gas strike for today, May 2nd. I myself have gotten several texts and a forwarded email about it in recent days. The premise of the strike is for everyone to avoid purchasing gas today to show our displeasure with the ever-escalating cost of fuel. Personally, I am all for any type of organized efforts to lower the price of gasoline and if you feel that not purchasing gas today is a way to achieve that, then by all means participate.
My issue with this tactic is that it doesn’t really effect the overall consumption of gasoline at all; since most people will get the gas they need before or after the strike. The key to making a statement (and affecting the bottom line of the oil companies) is not using any gasoline for a day or a weekend. That way, with reduced consumption, comes reduced need and hopefully lower prices. For instance, I won’t be doing any driving today and plan on walking anywhere I need to go; something I need to incorporate more into my daily life anyway. Since this strike was going on today I thought you all might like to hear about it, and act accordingly if it’s something you see as worthwhile.
On the subject of gas prices, I know we’ve mentioned ways to find the cheapest gas around to save money at the pumps, but I’ve recently discovered some additional ways that you can make your money work for you and show savings filling up your tank. Numerous grocery stores run programs where for every $X amount you spend using your store card, you will save 10 cents per gallon at participating gas stations on your next fill up. Both the Price Chopper and Stop & Shop have these programs down where I live, and are interesting options to consider.
Smarter grocery shopping is a great way to save money, but it may also make sense to find which of these (or other) stores has the best prices on the merchandise you want to buy and shop there exclusively. As you spend more at one store, your savings at the pump will increase. Over the course of a month, you could easily save upwards of 50 cents per gallon just by doing your shopping at one particular store. Something you should consider, at the very least - I know I am.
(image courtesy of planebuzz.com)
As April winds down, we here at Real World Really would like to thank all of the readers who check out the site daily (either by the RSS feed, or directly); this month saw our best numbers yet. It was also the first month that Nate was a full time contributor and believe me, it wouldn’t be possible without him! Thanks to his joining the Real World Really team, we’ll be able to bring you all the great content you’d come to expect for a long time to come. Now, without further adieu, the top 10 posts (by popularity) for the month of April, 2008:
- Carnival of Debt Reduction #134 [April 7th] - Luke hosted the first ever blog carnival here at Real World Really with a few Debt Reduction Haiku
- Finding Money in your Mailbox [April 1st] - Nate reminded us not to forget that coupons are a great way to save money on the things that you frequently buy.
- SmartyPig: Smart Financial Saving With a Twist [April 3rd] - Luke told us about a new financial website taking the Interwebs by storm: SmartyPig.
- Smarter Grocery Shopping [April 3rd] - Nate lists 5 easy tips you can follow to not only make your grocery shopping experience faster, but also less costly.
- The Dollar Menu Drain: Making Smarter Lunch Choices [April 4th] - Nate examines just how much money you can save every month by packing your own lunch. I bet you’d be surprised!
- 10 Cheap & Easy Ways to Save on Your Bills (and Save the World) [April 5th] - Luke lists 10 easy steps you can take right now to lower your electric bill and “go green”.
- Do Your Taxes for Free (Sometimes it Pays to Wait) [April 12th] - Although it’s a little late now, Luke reminded everyone that H&R Block offered the basic version of their TaxCut software free on their website for anyone who waited until the last minute to file their taxes. Maybe you can hop on board next year…
- 5 Apartment Hunting Tips [April 11th] - Nate explains that anyone looking for housing for the summer or next fall can utilize these few tips to make the apartment hunting process all the easier.
- Jobs on and for the Web [April 16th] - a guest post by the folks at slickricky.com, this one outlined their top freelance job board picks, based on number of projects available, pay scale and quality of jobs. If you would like to write a guest post for Real World Really, email Luke at luke-at-realworldreally.com with your idea!
- Having Trouble Transitioning? You’re Not Alone [April 16th] - Nate reminds us all (including both of your authors) that you shouldn’t worry if you’re having a hard time making the transition from college to the “real world”. As tough as it is, at least we’re all going through it together!
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