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On I Chose the Expensive Private University — And Got the Debt to Go With It
@@fo Hah, that's my fault. I took the "principal is your PAL" mnemonic too literally, I think.
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On I Chose the Expensive Private University — And Got the Debt to Go With It
@Jon I think your point is valid, but the market is teenagers, who are often extra susceptible to marketing and status, and who have less (or no) experience making the kind of financial decisions that come with college choice, and the loans companies make those choices seem reasonable or appealing. I really couldn't afford to go to NYU by any stretch, but Sallie Mae was ready and willing to give me a mortgage-worth of money, which made it seem feasible. Many kids have no framework for what reasonable student loans are, and there is virtually no cap on what lenders will give out. NYU and Sallie Mae absolutely know they're putting kids in over their heads, which is where fault lies.
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On I Chose the Expensive Private University — And Got the Debt to Go With It
@ThatJenn Thank you!
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On I Chose the Expensive Private University — And Got the Debt to Go With It
@questingbeast Yeah, he is from the UK, so the interest rates were lower, but the amount was so manageable that it wasn't a big deal to just take a couple months to aggressively pay that down. He'd also been deferring payments for awhile, and the loans company was just really difficult to deal with, so it was also kind of a mental health decision, just to get them out of the way.
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On I Chose the Expensive Private University — And Got the Debt to Go With It
@aetataureate The author, here- I did attend Tisch's film program. It was a good experience, and I learned a lot, but since graduating I've worked with lots of people who went to less expensive schools who gained a similar, practical education, or people who are largely self-taught who have the same opportunities in the field that I do. NYU is not a bad school, and has some very good programs, but it is absolutely not worth the sticker price.
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On On Leaving Too Much
@ghechr Because as pandaonaplane said, most servers are paid the minimum wage for service workers who receive tips, which is only $2.13 an hour. Making up the rest of that depends entirely on tips, whereas the sales associate will be making standard min. wage, at least.
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On My Last Hundred Bucks: One Donut Only (Okay, Two)
@cherrispryte Yeah it's everywhere on subways and bus stops. It's pretty awful.
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On Calls from Prison
In Ohio, at least at the county level, it costs $9.99, plus a $5 connection fee, for a five minute call that can't be extended. Verizon adds a charge of a couple dollars on top of that, too. You can set up a debit account that gives you a lower per-minute rate, but they charge a $5 processing fee every time you add money to the account, so you lose a lot if you can't afford to put a large lump sum on the account at once.
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On Figuring out Fares
@Poppy This site will also help you figure out how much you need to put on a card in order for the bonus to come out evenly, and avoid those random small amounts: http://www.metrocardbonuscalculator.com/
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On How Much Do You Spend on Groceries Every Week?
My husband and I budget $330/month on Mint for groceries, and we usually come in under that. Looking at the last few months we average about $300/month, or $75/week for two people in Brooklyn. We cook our meals almost every night and tend towards mostly vegetarian meals, only having meat a couple times a week and as a main course only once a week, which keeps costs down. However, we also buy our lunches for work almost every day, which is often another $50/week. Generally being able to go out of the office for lunch plus the convenience makes it worth it, though we're trying to pack lunches/take leftovers more frequently.