Back to School (Monetary Nightmare)

by bigcajunman on August 16, 2012

Yes, it is that magical time of the year, when my wife and I must haemorrhage money at a ferocious rate.

For those of you who are worried about buying pens, pencils, binders and such, allow me to say, “You have no idea of what is coming down the tracks at you”. As your child moves up the academic levels, it all starts getting much more expensive, and it does so at a higher rate than you might guess.

So far this summer we have already paid for:

Four months rent on an apartment that no one has lived in. To be fair no one lived in it for 3 months, someone has now moved into it.
A new computer for school, because you can’t go to school without one now.
Back to school supplies on steroids, allow me to share a photo of the stash so far (this is only for 1 child):

A Back to School Heap: Note the telescope is not part of the haul

Tuition for 1 child, however, since she is attending two different schools (effectively), I still have to pay the other school’s fees. That is for one child, then I have the other child’s fees still to pay.
A new student orientation weekend, which sounded like fun, but sure wasn’t cheap.
Oh and I have paid for a car trip to and from Nova Scotia, and will have to pay for at least two trips to Peterborough in the very near future.
Did I mention my son’s tuition costs? No, don’t worry you will hear about that one soon.

Does this sound like me whingeing and moaning? Spot on, is anybody else living through this, or have you lived through it and now are enjoying having disposable income again? Feel free to reply with “suck it up butter cup” as well, I look forward to the “why are you paying for your kids post-secondary education” comments too.

{ 9 comments }

{ 9 comments… add one }

Denis August 17, 2012 at 2:10 am edit
I am going thru this myself, only, I am the student. Buying all the nessessary crap was actually lower in cost for me, as I had a lot of paper and pens and notebooks and I ended up freecycling a bunch of binders from someone who needed to get rid of about 50 binders. (SWEET!!!) They are decent enough condition that I have enough to last me for the 4 semesters and summer classes I need for the pre-reqs for one of the classes. With all the stuff I have collected over the years for various times I have been in school, I barely had to buy anything and might have gone thru about 100 bucks.

I feel for the parents with multible kids though…

For anyone reading this who’s kids are still in diapers, put money aside in a good RESP, and not the one by that baby food company. There is crap out there in the RESP industry just like there is in anything else. Do your research and don’t just plug into the first one that comes by. But do it!!!! When your kids start college/university, you won’t regret having done it!

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- bigcajunman August 17, 2012 at 5:51 am edit
  Excellent advice, from someone living the life.
  
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- Sudip Adhikari August 19, 2012 at 4:20 pm edit
  Nice advice.
  Yes, I do wait and put it in something of low risk (if I can really understand the risk).
  
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Greg August 16, 2012 at 9:36 am edit
@Money and Earth my daughter and her friends found it quite hard to sublet their 4 bed house for 4 months. Lots of work and stress during exam studying showing to prospects (many who didn’t show up for appointments) and in the end they were only able to sublet 3 rooms at less than what they had to pay in rent. The plan is to be the subletter from now on.

I’ve commented before, co-op programs, especially Waterloo’s, are the best financially. After $18k RESP money to get through the first two school semesters, co-op work has more than covered all tuition and living expenses for a frugal kid. A pleasant surprise for me.

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- bigcajunman August 16, 2012 at 9:41 am edit
  @Greg great point, in fact I graduated with a CO-OP degree (from Waterloo) and those experiences still serve me well now.
  
  I rant like this (on occasion) just so some newer parents might be reminded (or jolted) into figuring out a plan for their children’s futures.
  
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Earth and Money August 16, 2012 at 8:48 am edit
On behalf of students everywhere who got help from their parents to pay for University (myself included), we thank you!
Why are you paying for an empty apartment instead of subletting it to someone else over the summer? I made it a little easier on my parents by going to a University that was only an hour’s drive from our home, and I worked part-time during 2 of my 4 years. You should encourage your kids to get an on-campus job. Its not that much extra work (I guarantee they can spare 10 hours a week), and the on-campus jobs usually pay a decent wage that will really help with covering monthly expenses.

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- bigcajunman August 16, 2012 at 9:00 am edit
  And on behalf of those parents who do help out, we say “Your Welcome”. We also apologize for bitching and complaining about it sometimes, but hey, we are human and need at times to vent. You have some good ideas here, I will pass them on!
  
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Michael James August 16, 2012 at 7:59 am edit
I’m happy to say that both my kids were able to pay for their own tuition for the upcoming term. Summer jobs are a wonderful thing.

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- bigcajunman August 16, 2012 at 8:09 am edit
  Now if you could just figure out why your Rum, Scotch and Beer supply keep evaporating so quickly, you’d be set. Maybe you have your thermostat set to high (couldn’t be dead beat friends who mooch off you)?
  
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