Book Review - 25 Money Strategies Your Teacher Forgot to Tell You About

Hello Folks! It's been awhile but it's nice to have something to share with you which I hope will be helpful.

I have had the opportunity recently to be introduced to an author by the name of Richard Pan. A native of Latvia, Richard has a Master's in Education, speaks four languages and, most importantly for these purposes, has written a couple of books about money aimed at young people.

His most recent endeavor is entitled '25 Money Strategies Your Teacher Forgot  to Tell You About." I read it recently, and here's what I think....

I like the book. Now - right off the bat - remember Richard's native language is not English - keep that in mind as you read through the book. It's funny how a number of Richard's strategies (from half a world away) are very similar in nature to those in my own book...staying healthy to reduce health care expenses as one example. He does a good job of explaining all of his strategies in detail and offers some unique thoughts. My favorite quote is "Expensive 'stuff' doesn't make you cool - it makes you poor!" - buy your clothes at Thrift Shops!

I'm not sure how parents will react to the idea of young people staying at home as long as possible (at least age 25 or so) to save on expenses!! My 18 year old just moved out to go to college an hour away and the house is a whole lot quieter. The money saving logic behind the idea is great...but....

The strategy I like the most is 'Zero Dollar Day'. Pick one day a week where you force yourself to NOT spend any cash, or use debit or credit. Richard explains it in detail and it sounds like it would work. Read the book and give it a try.

Truthfully - I like any money book which gets young people thinking about how they spend their money and what they can do to spend less and save more. "25 Money Strategies Your Teacher Forgot  to Tell You About" will do that. Check it out for yourself by clicking on the cover below. Cheers!

Scholarship Season Is In Full Swing!

In today's post for Financial Literacy Awareness Month, I thought I would talk a little bit about something near and dear to every student's heart - or bank account - Scholarships!
'Tis the season to ramp up the applications and really try to get every possible scholarship, bursary or grant that you can find. There are numerous scholarships which have their deadlines either this month or before Christmas, so it's important to find the ones with the soonest cutoffs and get moving on them first.
I found a great article written today by my friend Jodi Okun. She is a professional Financial Aid Advisor. Her entire business is to help families get through the paperwork and preparations necessary to get financial aid for college. Jodi's article is entitled  '10 Ways to Make Scholarship Sponsors Love You'. It gives some terrific information to increase your odds of being awarded money to continue your education just for filling out some forms.
I have a couple more resources available on the sidebar which will lead you straight to scholarship search sites - and Jodi has many links on her site as well for you to check out. Don't delay! Now is the time to get those scholarship apps in the mail - or the email! Your bank account will thank you in the end. Cheers!

Another Great Site - For Students

Continuing with the theme for Financial Literacy Awareness Month - I wanted to introduce the younger readers (and by 'younger' I mean those in their early 20's) to a great personal finance website. The site is called Studenomics.com. The sub-title of the blog describes what readers can do if they read it - 'Kill Debt. Have More Money Now. Enjoy Life.' It is written by a young man by the name of Martin whom I had the pleasure of meeting recently at the Canadian Personal Finance Conference in Toronto. Martin is a very funny guy (both in person and in his writing) - and he's also very wise beyond his years when it comes to thoughts on personal finance. The combination of humour and wisdom comes through in his blog in some great posts which will have you laughing one second and taking notes the next.
Studenomics was recently selected the best PF blog for young people at the Plutus Awards handed out at FinCon12 in Denver. Martin does a great job of supplying his readers with useful tools while making it fun to read at the same time. Go ahead and click on over to take a look! Cheers!

Studenomics.com

An Online Financial Literacy Community

I'd like to begin Financial Literacy Awareness Month by introducing you to a very useful resource available online. There are numerous places on the internet where you can get your questions answered about personal finance. One that I have recently found, which runs the gamut from saving and budgeting to investing, is the TD Helps forum. It's hosted by the TD Bank - but that's where the branding ends. None of the information is given with a sales pitch trying to get you to buy TD products or services. It is strictly a forum for Canadians to ask their money questions and get straight up answers from people who know what they are talking about. Straight up - I'm not getting paid to endorse this site - I just think it can be added to all your other tools when it comes to being smart about your money.
Here's a little blurb from the company regarding TD Helps...
A first among major banks, TD Bank Group has launched a community where people can ask the questions that are keeping them up at night and receive a tailored answer within hours, from an expert and sometimes from someone in the community who’s been there. No strings attached – just personal, expert advice available to anyone with a question. The TD Helps community was originally launched in the spring as an online home financing advice forum. Canadians were so receptive to the “virtual face-to-face” interaction that it has expanded to include a broader range of financial advice, including investing and planning for retirement, saving and managing your money, and borrowing and managing credit. You won’t find a sales push anywhere on the site, the goal is simply to build a community that will help Canadians make better financial decisions. In addition to Canadians asking specific questions to experts who are on-call to answer questions, high-traffic to the site shows Canadians are visiting the forum and using it as a resource, asking for info and reading answers to questions others have submitted. To date, thousands of personal finance questions have been answered on TD Helps.
Give it a look. See if any questions you might be thinking about have been answered. Some of the questions people have asked are specific to TD - but there are a lot of great answers to general financial questions broken down by category. I like the site as a reference tool - plain and simple.
Happy November (WOW time flies!) and Happy Financial Literacy Awareness Month! Cheers!

November is Financial Literacy Awareness Month!

As we regroup here at Money Smart Students, what better way to get back into it than to focus on Canadian Financial Literacy Awareness Month throughout November. For the next four weeks I'll be providing information and links to resources which - though not necessarily all geared toward students - will come in very handy for people of all ages looking to take better control of their finances.

Then - on November 15th - I'll be joining with many other Canadian PF bloggers for a special 'Blog for Financial Literacy' day. We will all be posting about our one best financial tip. It should make for some very enlightening and informative reading. LifeInsuranceCanada.com, Myfindependenceday.com, and Canadian Capitalist will all be listing the participating blogs. I am happy to be taking part and look forward to all the great information to come for my own educational purposes as well.
If you have any specific area of personal finance you would like me to touch on this month, by all means please leave a comment and I'll do what I can. If I can't answer your question - I will connect with one of my PF blogging friends who can!
Finally - just because it's Canadian Financial Literacy Month, I will make sure to post links and articles which can be useful to readers on both sides of the border. I hope you will use the next 30 days to increase your PF IQ! Cheers!

FAFSA - Step by Step Help!

I've mentioned numerous times here, and elsewhere, that there are so many resources available online for students and parents when it comes to finances. One of my online friends - Jodi Okun - the founder of College Financial Aid Advisors, has just created a resource which is a must-see for EVERY student and parent getting ready for college in the United States.

Jodi has taken the time to create a video in which she walks you through, step by step, the entire process of filling out your FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) forms online. By doing this, Jodi is going to potentially save you hours of trying to figure out exactly what to do, and what information you need to fill out.

The link to the video is found on Jodi's latest blog post - but she's sort of hidden it a little. Click here to go to Jodi's blog - after you read it through, look for the blue words 'FAFSA 2012-2013' in the second paragraph. Clicking on the blue words will take you directly to the video. Again - for those of you who have never filled out the FAFSA forms before - watching this video through before attempting the process will be invaluable to you timewise and sanity-wise!

To my Canadian readers - thank your lucky stars you don't have to worry about this!

Now is the time to get your FAFSA forms filled out and filed. I hope Jodi's video helps you make it through the process a little easier. I'll keep bringing you any other resources I can find. Cheers!