Monthly Archives: April 2015

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THE FREE RIDE: 10 Elite Universities Where Middle Class Kids Don’t Pay Any Tuition

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Every year I have parents tell me:  “I’m not letting my kid apply THERE.  Do you have any idea how much that school costs?!?!”

OK: let’s all just calm down a minute.  I know what the elite school sticker price appears to be, but I also know this:  that sometimes, the most elite schools are so generous with need-based financial aid that attending one of them can end up to be cheaper than attending a local state university.  For this reason, I always recommend that students apply to at least one college or university they believe they could never get into.  Students, you never know whether you could get in until you try.

betterstanfordbuilding

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“We Can’t Save Any Money for College. Are We Doomed?” 7 Clever Strategies That’ll Make You Feel Better Immediately

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You know that it’s a good idea to start early to save for your kids’ college, but what if your budget just doesn’t allow for that right now? Are there other things you can do so that you’re ready when dormitory move-in day comes?  Yes.

This week I’m hugely honored to be guest posting on the blog of Toni Schutta M.A. L.P., a Twin Cities based author, speaker, licensed psychologist, and parenting coach who’s been repeatedly featured in national parenting magazines and on TV news.   A large portion of her audience at getparentinghelpnow.com is parents of children birth through middle school – and some of those parents are feeling nervous because they’re not yet saving for college. Here’s what I told her audience to help them feel better.manwithlaptop

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Put Down the Scholarship Applications; Let’s Jump Up and Help the Children in the Nepal Earthquake First.

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A devastating earthquake slammed into Nepal on Saturday, killing over 4,000 people.  That’s hard to wrap your head around I know.  It’s such devastation, it’s such tragedy — it’s overwhelming.  We want to close our eyes.  We want to look the other way.  We want to busy ourselves with first world distractions so that we won’t feel the horror of the loss of so many.

But what if, just today, we don’t close our eyes. 

What if — just this once — we leave our hearts open to sorrow and compassion, and actively look for ways to help.

Nepal lower words help

At the bottom of this post you’ll find ways you can give financially to help families in Nepal.  But before you click there, I want to challenge you to consider doing something bigger and far more magnificent to help salve the wounds of international tragedy.

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Want Great Material for a Scholarship Application Essay? Host a Japanese Student in Your Home for 3 Weeks!

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Imagine your child writing a scholarship application essay where she writes in detail about what it was like to have a Japanese college student living in her home for three weeks.

There are so many interesting ways to go with this kind of material — I can’t even begin to list them all.

If you’d like to host a Japanese college student in your Minneapolis/St. Paul area home for three weeks this August, here’s some information on a great program you can be a part of.

japanesegirls

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Education and Career? Fine; OK. But Here’s the REAL ROUTE to Building Long Term Financial Security

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When I was a child, my mother said to me:  “Jeannie, do you know why many old people have barely enough to get by, but Grandma and Grandpa have enough money to take nice trips?  It’s because Grandma reuses her aluminum foil.”

I laughed at the time, but it was true.  My grandparents never went to college, and they never had fancy jobs with important sounding titles.  Yet they lived beautifully, never went hungry, gave generously to their church, and had a lot of money left over for fun.  Why?  Because they enjoyed and celebrated the virtue of frugality.

walletofmoney

Many parents mistakenly believe that high-priced education and “great careers” will lead their children straight to the bullseye goal of financial security after college.  Even though I work right smack in the middle of the college education industry, I don’t actually believe that education is the answer to this.  It’s my belief that joyful frugality will get children to the goal of financial security faster and more surely than expensive education ever will.

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Today is the LAST DAY to get my April 11th classes at a reduced cost. PLEASE SHARE.

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My classes cost only $39 each, but that’s still unaffordable for some families.

Families who desperately need help getting their kids through college debt free.

Here’s help.  Families with documented financial need can get reduced rates on my classes.  But they have to call the school district that is sponsoring my classes today.  The number to call is . . .

cameragradsmorehands

 

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