(Photo courtesy of Joe Goodz, Flickr)
Getting ready for enrollment should have been done at least six months ago.
Not today, not in May, and certainly not a week before school starts.
A couple I interviewed once said enrollment time is their most stressful season of the year. Christmas spending may put them in debt, but the warm, fuzzy feelings ease the pain. What the heck, it’s Christmas! they say. No such thing for enrollment days. It’s just pure financial pain.
Alex C. wrote:
It’s enrollment time again for my three children in grade school. Every year, I get so depressed during this season. Everything I save whole year round disappears at this time. Then I start at zero again, saving for next year’s round of tuition fees. Can you give me advice on how I can manage this time better? How can I prepare the needed funds adequately in time for next year? — Alex C.
There’s a trick called “sinking fund” that I learned when I was a beat reporter many years ago. You may tell the kids it’s a wormhole that will bring them to a great place across the galaxy. We drop an amount monthly into the wormhole to let it grow big enough to pay all our tuition for the year. How much to feed the wormhole exactly? Divide all tuition expenses by how many months you want to save up for it.
So, when the kids are hankering for their third serving of Dairy Queen Blizzard, suggest feeding the Blizzard instead to the wormhole — the wormhole that can send them to college and a good education. Let them decide. You’re giving them a stake in their own education and an unforgettable lesson delivered without words. Great for teenagers and children.
Enrollment blues, our personal finance article, talks about this tip and many others. Check out the entire article here.
Make a date to start your wormhole. Don’t just file this tip away for future use.
For those whose wormholes have already started growing, don’t stop at next year’s tuition. Go for high school. Go for college. Go for your own post-graduate degrees in Oxford. Sky’s the limit.
April 16th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
To Salve, Re: Child Benefit/Allowance (current)
> euros 166/mo (~PhP10k) for 1st 2 child upto 16yrs (a little bit less for the 3rd child onwards)
> plus euro 1000/yr (euro 250/qtr) child supplement for every child upto 6 yrs of age.
not sure about the benefits amount in other countries though…
April 16th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
logan, i have a related post on “Migrate versus stay” that you might want to check out. Readers are divided on this one. Regards.
http://blogs.inquirer.net/moneysmarts/2008/02/05/migrate-vs-stay/
April 16th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
hachiko, when my daughter got accepted to UPIS, I felt like I won the lottery for 15 years! imagine i pay more for the school bus every month than for tuition for one whole semester. but, as they say, tuition is just one part of the problem. you have baon, shoes, lunch money, projects, and that exasperating liquid eraser pen that costs P150 a pop. that wasn’t necessary when I was in school hehe. (rolling my eyes here). at least, though, the tuition is out of the way, eh?
April 16th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
C_A, I am not familiar with the benefits in the part of the world where you live. How much do they give per month? Is this benefit only in cash? Sounds very accommodating of the Irish government.
April 16th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
femaad, good point! the mindset and discipline is the key. =)