I had a huge scholarship of about 70% that I was incredibly proud of. I STILL came out with debt about 670% more than my father without any assistance at all. And that’s adjusted for inflation too! I’m ancient now so the price I paid is way cheaper than the poor bastards now. It’s insanity.
Another laziness by the professors is using book questions instead of just writing their own.
When I taught I told my students that the book was a resource for studying the material from a different perspective than the one I gave in lectures. Not actually required for the course even though I didn’t have control over it being listed as required on the course listing. And I told them if they wanted to get it, they should find the cheapest copy they could.
It is funny to see the questions you write end up on Chegg though.
I pirated old editions of most textbooks but I had a few professors that required a textbook that came with a code that you’d need to register for online quizzes. Answering these online quizzes was 30% of your grade in the course, so not buying the textbook was essentially taking a -30% penalty to your grade. If that wasn’t bad enough, one of the textbooks like that was solely written by the professor teaching the course. It was around 100 pages of basic facts and then a code for online quizzes and sold for $200. This guy taught a class of 400 first year students. What a racket.
During my first two semesters i’ve genuinely had to buy 300$+ bundles of books, literally only because the online single-use code was conveniently placed under the wrapper, with no other way to obtain one
I would simply work a part time job that pays three times as much as what my parents’ made when they were in college. And then I’d live in housing that’s one third the price. And then I’d graduate into a profession that pays three times as much so I can pay down the debt faster.
My grandparents died a couple years back, and the city said their in town land was worth almost a hundred thousand dollars. The house itself would have to be torn down, which makes me think it could only be negatively affecting the value of the land.
There’s a sinkhole forming in the back yard from a pool that someone filled with sand ~70 years ago. Idk if that appraisal was just uninformed or if the housing market has really gotten that bad
Don’t know if this applies here, but some old houses are built out of old growth lumber that’s hard to buy at any price. There’s an small industry of people who buy up these old houses saying “we’ll just have to tear it down”, but the scrap value is actually quite a bit.
Or … don’t bother going to school and just work in construction and manual labor in your own small business.
It’s what I did for myself and now I own four properties and several vehicles without any debt. It’s all remote properties and all my vehicles are all old used and well worn … but at least I own everything outright.
Alright, we all stopped going to college and all of us started our own construction business. How do I get laborers? Everyone is just trying to get me to work at their construction company.
Or … don’t bother going to school and just work in construction and manual labor in your own small business.
Just Become a Small Business Tyrant is an excellent way to get rich quick… assuming you’ve got friends and family who can give you the inside contractor route.
Hell, that’s how Bill Gates made it big. His mom, a Board Member at IBM, handed her son the contract to design a novel OS. And now he’s a billionaire 80 times over! No student debt to speak of, because he Learnt 2 Code.
but at least I own everything outright.
I mean, I’d rather be paying a 2% note on debt when my equities are doing 30% in a year. But I’m not really a business guy.
My story didn’t mean to imply how to become a millionaire … it’s a story of how to live within your means
All my property value is probably less than one small urban apartment and all my old vehicles are worth less than one brand new car.
I work for myself and don’t bother expanding. It all just means that the money I make was only for myself and only within my means. My house would probably be looked at like a country bumpkin but I’m not a right wing libertarian … I’m actually a liberal supporting socially minded leftist who also supports minorities and LGBT and women’s rights.
I’m indigenous Canadian and from the very start of my life I knew I was on my own so I had to live that way … but it didn’t mean that I gave up supporting others around me who were dealing with the same issues.
When cost of living outpaces working income, the only way to live within your means is to speculate on the future price of those means. Investment is effectively a hedge against inflation.
I work for myself and don’t bother expanding. It all just means that the money I make was only for myself and only within my means.
That works so long as you don’t encounter a tail-risk that blows up your budget. A big medical bill or a major housing repair or some other unexpected liability can immediately threaten all your accrued wealth. Alternatively, a state agency may decide your property is more valuable in the hands of a better-politically-connected business interest and seize it at “fair” market value via eminent domain.
I’m in Texas, and I’ve heard more than a few stories of folks with multi-generational family property on the receiving end of a cattle rancher or an oil tycoon who can just snatch up adjacent real estate.
I’m indigenous Canadian and from the very start of my life I knew I was on my own
That’s a rough way to live. It leaves you vulnerable to the slings and arrows of misfortune and the whims of more powerful neighbors. At some point, you need to be part of a larger community as insulation against long-term risks and regional conflicts.
Otherwise living within your means just means living by the skin of your teeth. It works until it doesn’t.
A considerable majority of gen-x people I know have higher no education, just because throwing themselves into the workforce was easier for them. If they do have any, it was practically free too. So realistically, no surprise there