I paid more for textbooks than my dad paid for tuition and textbooks
I paid more in lab fees than tuition and textbooks
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.
Seems simple enough.
Not a bad plan, but it’s way easier to be born into an emerald mining fortune.
Most debauched party-thrower at Stanford University.
Don’t forget investing in a house that’s 3-5x (if your lucky) more than that same house was worth when your parents bought their first home.
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
$100k is cheap for a lot these days.
So you’re saying it’s not a lot for a lot?
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.
People will pay a lot for just the land, even if there’s shit on it that needs to get removed.
https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/27326600/8-dalkeith-avenue-hamilton
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.
it’s a story of how to live within your means
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.
This isn’t a solution because if everyone did this then those trades would be oversaturated and not worth as much anymore. We need institutional solutions that benefit everyone like making school cheaper.
Every textbook today comes with a goddamn one-use code, and they’re made in such a way that they’re useless without it.
It’s theft and extortion. But what are we going to do about it?
Yeah, thought so.
Pirate last year’s edition. Works unless you have one of those DB professors that checks what edition you have.
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 $200. This guy taught a class of 400 first year students. What a racket.
Pirating the book won’t help if you need proof of purchase to turn in your homework via a single-use authorization code.
Another laziness by the professors is using book questions instead of just writing their own.
When I taught I told my students that the book was a resource for studying the material from a different perspective than the one I gave in lectures. Not actually required for the course even though I didn’t have control over it being listed as required on the course listing. And I told them if they wanted to get it, they should find the cheapest copy they could. I’ve heard you can sometimes find very cheap electronic copies (wink wink).
It is funny to see the questions you write end up on Chegg though.
During my first two semesters i’ve genuinely had to buy 300$+ 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 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.
It’s capitalism in the education sector.
Exactly what the GOP wants to do to grade school.
deleted by creator
Agreed, though GenX and Boomers aren’t eating any billionaires either. Which they should.
deleted by creator
It was all the Starbucks and avocado toast they bought at the Student Union.
—boomers.
Avocado toast costs less than a bowl of cheerios where I live 😭
Student debt, lol. laughs in European free education
I’m gonna pay 85€ per semester while studying. And that goes to the student organization and not the university.
Hey buddy, fuck you!
I will. After my yearly two month vacation.
Is this a BYOC (bring your own condoms) situation, or will the EU supply them for free?
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
Supposedly 29% of GenX have college degrees, and 39% OF millenials do.
Practically free is pretty relative. There were plenty of people in the 90s and 2000s crazily paying 30, 40, 50k a year. Or more. But not nearly as many.
How does one even eat that much avocado toast ? Its not humanly possible.
*in this US (with pay-walled references)
Only 300% more? Things are looking up!
Right, that seems really low
Pretty surprised that it’s 300% since the cost of tuition has gone up at least 600% just since I was in school, and I’m not a boomer.
When everything is a commodity. Sometimes, things are just good to do. Our priorities are fucked
Yay!! For the economy and investors!!!
Right!!?
Right?
Oof. Even investors (who aren’t billionaires) are getting shafted by the current deal.
Stock performance has been utter shit, because the SEC (and equivalents) aren’t blocking illegal company mergers and acquisitions.
Makes sense. Most of the millennial grads I know, are bartending or waiting tables. I know I did till I learned to code.
I learned code and I clean toilets and empty garbage cans.
~$120,000 for a BS in Game Programming
To be fair, many of my colleagues got jobs. I just suck I guess.
Video games industry is garbage.
Where do you suggest I look then?
Non gaming software jobs. The only positive experiences I’ve ever heard about people having in the game industry is from indie developers and I don’t believe that’s a good path to pursue unless you already have some cash in the bank.
