College Savings

1.  Don’t waste money on bank fees. Find a bank or credit union that offers free checking to college students. Be sure your account includes free online banking and debit card transactions. Free checks are nice too, but in today’s electronic age most people don’t write many checks.
2. If you opt for a credit card, get one with no annual fees and the lowest interest rate you can find. Stick to your card limit, pay your credit card bills on time so there are no late charges, and pay more than the minimum so you can minimize interest charges.
3. Reduce food and beverage expenses. Eat in or grab fast food instead of eating out, and when you do eat out order the less expensive items or split something with a friend. Drink good ol’ American beer rather than expensive foreign brews, or gather with your friends for a party with a six-pack at home rather than expensive beer, wine, and set-ups in a restaurant or bar.
4. Buy used textbooks if you can. There are several online textbook comparison sites where you can shop for the best prices. And when you are done with the book, if you don’t need it in your permanent library, sell your used textbooks online.
5. Splurge on a good coffee maker – and use it. Drinking quality coffee at home is much cheaper than buying expensive lattes at your local coffee house. Tuck a thermos full of coffee into your backpack and use it to refill your to-go cup. If you do this stealthily enough, no one will even peg you for a geek.
6. Stock up on snack foods. I know you are pressed for time and need to eat on the go a lot, but crackers, string cheese, cookies, and donuts brought from home are all much cheaper than buying them in coffee shops, and they are just as portable.
7. Skip the bottled water. Get yourself an inexpensive bottle, fill it with tap water, and guess what – you now have bottled water at almost no cost. If the water in your area is crappy, invest in a filter to improve the quality and taste.
8. Look for student discounts. Many retailers and service providers offer student discounts. If you don’t see a discount advertised, ask. The worst they can do is say no, and you may be able to snag a discount that isn’t widely advertised.
9. Buy used if possible. Shop for computers and other electronics at ebay or on Craigslist and you’ll get much more for your money. It may be lightly used, refurbished or last month’s model, but it will still be functional.  And let’s face it, if you bought and used a computer, it would then be a used computer, so why not start there and save some bucks?
10. Free entertainment is, well, free. Watch television through your computer, gather with your friends at free movie screenings on campus, join in a game of touch football or tennis, or go for a swim at the Y. Get creative, get moving, and get involved. There are lots of ways to entertain yourself on the cheap.

The good news is that there is more than $100 billion in financial aid available to students and their families to help pay for college.  FAFSA is the application used by the government and nearly all colleges and universities to determine eligibility for federal, state, and college-sponsored financial aid, including grants, educational loans, and work-study programs.

Completing your FAFSA correctly and on time gives you the best chance to get funding. That’s where TurboTax FAFSA comes in.  It is a new, simple online option for families to complete the FAFSA, helping put them one step closer to achieving their dreams of college.

When you use TurboTax to complete your 2009 tax return, TurboTax can automatically transfer up to fifty percent of the required tax information directly onto your FAFSA form for you, saving you time and helping with accuracy.

And the best part, TurboTax FAFSA is completely free.  All you have to do is follow TurboTax’s famous step-by-step guidance to answer all the questions, then print and mail your application to complete the process.

So if you are applying for college in the near future, don’t delay, it’s better to apply early and state deadline vary.  Be sure to put “complete FAFSA” top of your “to-do” list and check out TurboTax FAFSA for help to get started.