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3 Ways to Help Your University Student Manage Their Student Debt

Aug 21, 2018 | 12:29 PM

For many young adults, the post-secondary years signal the beginning of financial independence. While that can be exciting, it can also be a little overwhelming. The cost of living is high, money is often tight and tuition is continuously rising; which means that debt can add up quickly.

Here are three tips to help you as a parent get your university student off on the right foot, and stay in control of their finances throughout their university years:

Help them follow a budget

Budgeting is now easier than ever as there are many different ways to do it. Whether simply putting pen to paper, using an app, or using the jar and envelope method, there are options to choose from. If you help your child find the budgeting method that works for them and suits their lifestyle, they’ll be more likely to follow it.   

For an easy and mobile way to budget, the Mint app could be a great fit.

It can take a bit of time to get into the routine of tracking spending, but encourage your child to stick to it. Budgeting is not only an important financial skill, it can help them reduce the risk of taking on debt. Hopefully, with your encouragement, following a budget will become second nature to your child.

Help them save money

If your kids are still in high school encourage them to work part-time during the school year or to get a summer job. The more money they can put towards their education fund, the better. This will reduce the need to borrow and reinforce the good habit of putting money aside for important things.

For university students who can’t work part-time or at all during school, saving money while in school becomes increasingly important, so that they can make their money stretch further.

Help them find scholarships, bursaries and loans

You may be surprised at the number of scholarships, bursaries and grants available to university students. It can be easy to get overwhelmed applying for them, and some amounts of $100 – $500 may seem small at first, but every little bit helps.

If your child will need to borrow money to help pay for school, spend some time together researching the different options. The process of applying for private and government student loans can be confusing. Help them shop around for the best rates for bank loans and make sure they understand the repayment plans for both private and government loans.

Sending your child off to college or university will be full of its own challenges. But knowing that you’re helping them keep debt at bay can help you sleep better at night and will serve them well in the future.

Have you had the debt talk with your kids? For more tips and #DebtSolutions keep an eye out for my next column.