by Hope
I was so proud to be prepared for Princess college tuition this month. It is due at the end of this week, January 14th to be exact. Since I knew what last semester cost (almost $4,000), I saved all last fall to be ready for this semester. Go me! I am ready.
Then she mentioned, “oh, mom, for this class, they give us first day access for my online access for this cost? should i just take that or do you still want me to check the bookstore and amazon?” Ugh! I completely forgot to add some extra for the cost of books. And she’s taking 16 hours again so the price of books will probably be about the same as last semester…several hundred dollars.
Can’t believe I forgot about this expense. *slaps forehead
Anyways, we are going to pursue renting the textbooks again from Amazon which saved us a ton of money for books she wouldn’t need again. But it’s going to throw off my plan for this month by a few hundred dollars. And took my pride down a notch or two at being so prepared. But thankfully, unlike past times, it doesn’t cause a financial scramble and anxiety because I can cover it.
I guess I needed this lesson to remind me of how far I’ve come and also how the details matter.
If her dad kicks in for tuition, it might alleviate this mishap. He did pay $700 toward that semester’s tuition. But he’s been silent and inactive in contributing for this semester thusfar. But I’m prepared either way. Thank God!
Hope is a creative, solutions-focused business manager helping clients grow their business and work more efficiently by leveraging expertise in project management, digital marketing, & tech solutions. She’s recently become an empty nester as her 5 foster/adoptive kids have spread their wings. She lives with her 5 dogs in a small town in NE Georgia and prefers the mountains to the beaches any day. She struggles with the travel bug and is doing her best to help each of her kids as their finish schooling and become independent (but it’s hard!) She has run her own consulting company for almost twenty years! Hope began sharing her journey with the BAD community in the Spring of 2015 and feels like she has finally in a place to really focus on making wise financial decisions.
At this point you should have a line item called “unexpected expenses” Hope. *sigh*
You have $100 buffer to use, cancel the gym membership since you’re already considering it and any extra comes from the $300 savings line item.
$300 a month and Princess can’t cover textbooks? Unless she’s a STEM major and/or needs every book on the first day of class, that should go a long way.