Tag Archives: education

Hunting for College Scholarships

 

The spring semester is quickly approaching, and with the impending holiday break what better way to spend your time than searching for scholarships? While it may not be on the top of your to do list over your break to take the time to find and apply for scholarships, taking this initiative can pay off in the long run. Most college graduates leave with a diploma in one hand and $27,857, on average of student loan debt in the other. Help yourself reduce that amount with these scholarship hunting tips.

1. Scour the internet: The internet will be your best friend when looking for scholarships. One place to start searching for scholarships is looking for those that are tied to your major or interest. Check with your college, department and university websites for opportunities. Read emails professor send out, since they can contain scholarships that can randomly come across their desks. Try searching for fun scholarships for things like being over six feet tall, being left-handed, or other unique characteristics. You’d be surprised what you’d be able to find!

2. Shop Local: Most community organizations have a scholarship program. This an easy opportunity to connect with members of your community to find out more. Check with your high school counselor who probably has a list of local organization that offer scholarships. Check with your local Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis, churches, your parent’s employer and other businesses within the area for more opportunities.

3. Resources: Use your resources! Outside of using search engines and local scholarship opportunities, you can search for scholarships on databases dedicated to helping students find scholarships. Below are website resources you should enlist during your search:

a.       College Board’s Scholarship Search

b.       FastWeb

c.       Scholarships.com

If you’re looking for more tips or solutions to help fund your higher education, our team of professionals are ready to assist you today. We’d love to help you set up a savings plan or loan option to help meet your needs. Contact us or stop by today!

How-To Give Your Child a Financial Education with Their Allowance

Financial Literacy

Allowance, when treated as an educational opportunity, gives your child hands-on experience in budgeting, saving, spending, and tracking their money. With these tactics, you and your child can make the most of their allowance while growing their financial literacy.

  • Shy away from weekly allowance. A bi-weekly or monthly allowance better reflects a real-world payment schedule than a weekly handout. Additionally, staggered money instead of a steady cash flow opens opportunities to practice budgeting for both spending and savings goals.
  • Pay financial, not household, chores. Paying your children for completing basic household duties can shift their helpfulness from intrinsic to monetary. Instead, link their allowance to financial chores, or spending responsibilities that they take off your hands. While you cover school lunch and back-to-school clothes, vacation souvenirs or sporting event concessions are up to their discretion, allowing them to make financial decisions from a young age.
  • Open a savings account. It’s never too early to start saving. Open a saving’s account with your child and explain the power of compound interest. Establish that they pull 10% of their total monthly allowance to funnel into savings, enabling them to budget the remaining 90% while teaching the discipline and value of saving.
  • Show them the options for their funds. Teach your children the potential their money has by creating four labeled jars for spending, saving, giving, investing. Each time your kids are given money via chores or other revenue sources, have them choose which jar to put the funds in. The spending jar can be used on small purchases like candy bars or little toys, and the saving jar can be put towards larger items that take more time to save.

With each dollar your children learn to save, they will continue to propel their education forward. If you’d like to get your little one’s financial education off to the right start stop by Timberwood Bank today and enroll them in their very own savings account.