Five Ways to Reduce College Debt

Five Ways to Reduce College Debt

For a majority of students, going to college and accumulating debt goes hand in hand. That is, if you don’t have a family who can afford your education or you are not eligible for a full scholarship.  You have no choice but to figure out ways to reduce college debt.

Delay starting college

You can wait a few years before going to college and get a job.  If you can still live at home, you should be able to save for all or at least part of your tuition fees.  You might not get your dream job with only a high school diploma, but you will earn income.

Compare colleges

One of the ways to reduce college debt is to pick a local college versus a more expensive one out-of-state.  By picking a local college, you’ll save on boarding and the cost of living.  This decision alone can save you thousands of dollars each year.

If you have no choice in the matter, and you need to live away from home, get a dormitory room on campus or share an apartment off campus with other students to save money.

When considering local colleges, compare their course structure and how much they charge for each credit.  One college may be cheaper than the other with little difference in course quality.  If you have your heart set on graduating from a particular college, start your studies in a less expensive college and after one or two years have your credits transferred to the other one.

Explore your options

Before you talk to a bank about a loan, talk to the college administrator about their grants program.  Some grants amount to several thousand dollars and don’t need to be paid back.

If you do need to take out a loan, don’t wait until you graduate to start making payments.  Loans accrue interest. Even if you can only manage to pay off the interest, you’ll avoid having the loan snowball into a giant amount when you graduate.

Textbooks and materials

Give preference to used textbooks, keep them in good condition and sell them when you’re done with them.  If you’re planning on majoring in history, you might want to keep those books.  But why save books and materials from other courses if you won’t be using them.

Alternatively, you can try shopping online or get electronic textbooks when available.

After Graduation

If you don’t have a job already, get one as soon as possible.  Don’t hold out for a career in your degreed field.  Even if a potential job is not what you studied for, a salary earned as soon as possible will enable you to pay off your loans. 

If you have a job, but you’re not used to handling money, get someone to help you budget.  It’s easy to be tempted into having fun after studying for four years.  You can still make paying off your college debt a priority and enjoy your life as well.  It’s a good idea to talk to someone who can help you plan a budget and give you the benefit of their financial guidance.

If you have multiple loans, talk to your bank about consolidating your debt.  With all of your financial eggs in one basket, they might be willing to negotiate a better interest rate.

One of the smart ways to reduce college debt is by paying your loans on time, and if possible, paying more than the required amount.  If nothing else, seeing the amount of your loan go down will motivate you to keep making those payments.

Interesting Facts About Cats

Interesting Facts about Cats

Responsible cat owners spay/neuter their pets

Kittens are adorable and have a way of stealing someone’s heart merely by being cute. When kittens grow up and turn into cats, some of that cuteness disappears and personality takes its place. People who love their pets, want to know more about them and wonder about interesting facts about cats.

https://medium.com/writers-blokke/interesting-facts-about-cats-6594010e3fe9

How to Install Hardwood Flooring

How to Install Hardwood Flooring

It’s not as easy as you think

Dull, downtrodden flooring can ruin the look of your house or condo. When considering a facelift for your home, hardwoods or laminate flooring is the perfect solution. Wood offers a warmer aesthetic than ceramic tiles and they are relatively easy to keep clean. Before installing hardwoods or laminate, familiarize yourself with the various types of lumber and tips for installation.

https://medium.com/writers-blokke/installing-hardwood-floors-yourself-fd8017f44220

Are Humans Superior to Animals

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Are Humans Superior to Animals

Take A Look at the Facts

Humans like to consider themselves superior to animals, but are they? The following comparison is certainly food for thought.

While circling in the air, eagles and falcons can spot a small animal from 2 miles (3.2 km) away. While their flying speed is about 30 mph (49 km) while diving for their prey they reach up to 100 mph (160 km). If you think that’s fast, the peregrine falcon puts them both to shame. This bird clocks a diving speed of 242 mph (389 km). Can you see that well or move that fast?

When observing the cheetah in the wild, this large cat has somewhat of a lazy walk. That is until he’s hungry and spots his prey. In hot pursuit of an animal, he reaches up to 68 mph (120 km). Once again, humans fail in comparison.

Ducks, geese, and swans are just three birds that can fly, swim and walk. While all abled-bodied humans can walk, not all can swim, and certainly, none can fly.

The whale song can be heard by other whales between 1,000 and 10,000 miles (1,609 km — 16,093 km) away. When the breeding time comes around, whales will travel 3,100 miles (5,000 km) to find their perfect mate. Some humans can’t be bothered to travel to the next town.

Where it comes to building, the beaver is considered the king of architecture. He’s not the only talented builder though. Spiders curl leaves to protect their young, termites not only build mounds but add air-conditioning, while birds build nests with only their beaks. If humans want to build a house, a bridge or a dam, they need computers, architects, engineers and a team of construction workers.

As for the common snails, these creatures carry their entire house on their back, while ants can carry ten times their own weight. You trying doing that.

Penguins on the south pole live happily in freezing temperatures. In summer the average temperature is -18 deg F (-28.2 C) while in winter the temperature reaches -76 deg F (-60 deg C). If humans were exposed to these weather conditions they would need a padded coat, a scarf, a hat or gloves.

Apart from their amazing abilities, animals are more beautiful than humans. Have a look at a sunset moth, a kingfisher, a tiger, an owl, and especially a peacock. Even the most stunning beauty queen can’t compete with them.

Now tell me, are humans really superior to animals?

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Day 92: Stop volunteering

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 92: Stop volunteering

Few things get me more worked up than when I see a notice asking for volunteers. With the exception of animal shelters, I am 100% against volunteer work. If an organization wants work done, pay those who put their time and effort into it.

One of the reasons unemployment is so high is because any number of organizations use volunteers to do their work. If there were no more volunteers, those organizations would have to pay for the required labor and the unemployment rate would go down.

Take the Cancer Society for instance, they rake in BILLIONS of dollars, but they are too stingy to pay those who hassle people for donations, sell the daffodils or do other work.

The same with environmental groups. They want people to clean up the parks and streets, but they are not willing to pay. Other than the unemployed, there are any number of students all too willing to earn some money to pay for their student loans. If you want parks and streets cleaned up, pay the people.

Hospitals also make use of volunteers. People who read to patients, run errands for them, push wheelchairs, give directions, bring cups of coffee and tea, put flowers in water, etc. Do these people get paid, no, not a cent. Hospitals are government-funded (from our tax dollars) or receive millions in donations, so why can’t they pay those who help patients?

If all volunteers were to refuse to pay for nothing, organizations who want their help would have to start paying them.

Some think that, if they start in an organization they will eventually get hired as paid employees. In most cases, that is a pipe dream. Why would an organization start paying them? There are enough fools willing to volunteer with the same pipe dream. 

The same applies to co-op work, apprentices and interns. Most of them put up with the ridiculously low pay in the hope that it will lead to a full-time job. That almost never happens. One apprentice leaves, another takes its place.

As mentioned earlier, I am not against volunteering for animal shelters. Animal shelters are not government funded and rely on private donations. What little money they have should all go to the animals.

  

Day 91: Don’t be too quick to flush

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 91: Don’t be too quick to flush

Earlier this week we noticed that one of our goldfish wasn't doing well. We have six in a tank, four gold, and two white ones, and for some reason, three of the gold ones were attacking the fourth one.

For almost three years or so everything went fine and now suddenly they were ganging up on this fish. Maybe the gold ones were all males and she was the only golden female, maybe the gold ones were all female and he was the only male, maybe he/she had done something to upset the others, who know, either way, there was an upset in the tank.

We decided to separate them. Dieter got a pot, scooped some water out of the tank and then removed the unfortunate fish from the tank and deposited him in the pot. He lay on his side and it looked like the end was near. I didn’t think he would make it through the night.

Fishy proved me wrong. When I went to check on him the next morning, not only was he still alive but he moved a little bit. We decided to move him to another tank. We have a second tank in the kitchen with four goldfish in it.

After putting the fish in that tank, he promptly sank to the bottom. And there he lay, on his side, on the smooth white and blue glass stones. Poor thing, he looked so miserable. The other fish left him alone though, so it was decided to leave the fish there. Let him die among friends.

During the day I kept an eye on him and it didn’t look good. If he was to die, he put up one hell of a fight. At dinnertime I sprinkled some food in the tank, and would you believe it, the fish actually straightened up to eat a little.

The next morning I once again checked if he had given up the fight, but no, he was still alive. He lay in a corner behind some bushes, but he was still breathing.

“Shall I flush him? Put him out of his misery,” Dieter wondered.

“Of course not,” I said, “he’s alive. You can’t flush a live fish!”

And it’s a good thing we didn’t. Today, that fish is alive and well.

So, the next time one of your fish looks a bit off-color, don’t be so quick to flush him. A change of environment might be all that’s needed.

Day 88: Cats or ghosts?

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 88: Cats or ghosts?

I want to tell you a story. Actually, it’s not a story, it’s actual events, not a word of a lie, no embellishments. In short, strange things are happening at my place.

This morning I got out of bed and the first thing I noticed was that a book was lying face down on the bottom shelf. The book, ‘Stolen Beginnings’ by Susan Lewis. It’s an old book, dating back to 1990.

On the shelf next to it, I noticed this ... a book partially pulled out.

In this case the name of the book ‘Name Dropping’ by Jane Heller, published in 2000.

I haven’t looked at either of those books in years and years. So why was one lying face down on the shelf and was the other one was partially pulled out? Am I to assume that my cats have suddenly developed an interest in reading? Or is it something more sinister?

Where it comes to weird things happening, this is not the first time. There have been other incidents. Long-time readers may recognize the story, but for the sake of new readers let me tell it again.

I was alone at home (Dieter was on vacation in Belgium), had gone to bed around 11:00 p.m. and before going to sleep I was reading a few pages of a book. Pitoe and Floppy were sleeping at the foot end of my bed.

Suddenly the kitchen window rattled violently like someone got hold of it and shook it with all their might. The cats lifted their head and I stopped reading. What was that?

When all remained quiet, I relaxed somewhat, but suddenly there it was again, that violent rattle of the kitchen window. I dove under the duvet up to my eyeballs, glaring at the cats who also seemed alarmed. And I thought to myself … if this happens again, I’m outa here.

Five or ten minutes passed and then … the violent rattling happened again. I didn’t think twice. I got out of bed, slipped on my peignoir, grabbed my car keys and drove to my friend’s house. Joan laughed when I told her what happened, said that my imagination was running away with me, but agreed that I could sleep in her spare bedroom.

To cut a long story short, I slept at Joan's house for two nights, but when I saw a neighbor peeking from behind her curtain, seeing me come home at 6:00 in the morning, I realized that this couldn’t go on. I would have to brave it.

To celebrate Dieter’s homecoming, I invited Joan and her son Brendan for coffee and cake. I was in the kitchen when the window once again rattled violently. Joan, Dieter, and Brendan came flying into the kitchen. 

“What was that?” they said in unison. “That,” I said, “was what I heard that night.”

All of them were suitably shocked. 

“No wonder you were scared,” Joan stated. 

“Hm, now imagine this happening in the middle of the night,” I said. 

Joan wasn’t laughing anymore.

Now to go back in time a little bit … while all the creepy stuff was happening, another friend, Cheryl, invited me to her house for a long weekend. Eager to get away from my creepy house, I accepted.

After dinner and a movie, Cheryl, her mother and I retired to our bedrooms. Being out in the country my bedroom was pitch dark.

Shortly after I turned off the light, I heard the bedroom door opening and closing. Next, I heard cabinet doors softly being opened and closed and drawers equally softly being opened and closed. Whether it was Cheryl or her mother, one of them was obviously looking for something but didn’t want to wake me.

Suddenly, I felt someone sitting down next to me on the bed. I became alarmed, Cheryl was a good friend, but she wasn’t that good a friend – if you know what I mean. So I reached over and switched on the light … there was nobody in my room. I left the light on for the remainder of the night.

The next morning at breakfast I told Cheryl and her mother of what happened. “Oh dear,” her mother said, “not again.” Over coffee and croissants, they told me that strange things had been happening in that room. 

“And you put me there!” I said. 

“What else could we do?” Cheryl said. “We couldn’t very well put you in the blue room.” 

“The blue room?” I questioned. 

“Oh that room is definitely out of bounds,” her mother said. “That room is constantly ice-cold even now in the middle of summer.”

They showed me the room, and while I didn’t go inside, they were right … ice-cold air met me in the hallway.

Even though I had initially agreed to stay three days, I made a swift exit never to return to Cheryl’s house again.

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Day 87: Who would join me?

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 87: Who would join me?

Would anyone join me at this cottage? I'll get to the why later.

We’re halfway through the NaNoWriMo challenge and for several people, it’s going really well. Every day I read about people who write 3,000 – 5,000 or even 7,000 words per day. I sit and wonder … where do these people find the time?

Don’t any of these writers have jobs? And if they are stay-at-home people, don’t they have work to do around the house? There’s always something to do: 

making/changing the beds, dusting, vacuuming, sweeping, polishing, laundry, ironing, washing the bathroom, washing the kitchen, washing windows, washing floors, cleaning the deck, shopping, tending to the garden, cleaning gutters, cleaning the car, cooking, doing dishes, and more. Am I to assume that these writers neglect their homes for the sake of writing?

I also wonder what these people write about. I know from experience that the first couple of chapters flow easily. Chapters one to three or five practically write themselves, but then the trouble starts … how to continue. 

Inspiration doesn’t come on command, plenty of good writers sit at their computer, staring at the screen, their fingers motionless on the keyboard. Eventually, they write something, only to delete it. They write something else and that too gets rejected.

In between, there are a ton of distractions: the cat needs petting, the dog needs walking, cups of coffee or tea are made, emails need answering, friends drop by for a chat, Facebook games need playing, etc. etc. etc.

Few will be willing to admit it, but writers are notorious procrastinators. They will start writing tomorrow, or they will start writing after … well, any excuse will do.

A friend of mine took a writing course and while it made her a better writer, it also made her a slower writer. She once told me that, in order to create the perfect sentence, she often plays with the words for 10 or even 20 minutes. Safe to say, my friend won’t write 3,000 words per day. Which begs the question, what is the quality of some writers’ work?

As for NaNoWriMo, it’s a nice incentive for writers to get their bud in gear, but what happens at the end of November. From what I’ve been told … nothing. There are no prices to be won and nobody looks at the manuscripts.

If writers can produce the required 50,000 words in November, why can’t they do the same in any other month? Do writers really need an incentive? Ask most writers why they write and they will say … because I have to. A day without writing is a day wasted.

That’s how I feel. Every morning I wake up with plans to write, but as I mentioned earlier … any number of things get in the way. 

Ideally, I need to hole up in a cottage somewhere, with no WiFi. So, I wonder, when looking at the cottage above, how many writers would join me for a writing getaway. 

Day 85: NaNoWriMo Project

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 85: NaNoWriMo Project

Anyone doing the NaNoWriMo project? It’s my first time and I’m not sure how I feel about it. Not only do I find it difficult to write on command but writing 50,000 words in one month seems like a daunting task.

We’re eleven days into the project and after a little over 22,000 words, my inspiration is failing me. As I said, I don’t do well writing on command.

When I sit down to write, I stare at my laptop screen and wonder what to say. I type a sentence and delete it. I write another and that one too gets rejected. However, let me start house chores, take a walk, sit in a coffee shop or lie in bed and the ideas come storming into my head.

I remember the day when I started my first novel ‘Waiting for Silverbird’.

I was at work, typing a manual for a military tank when I suddenly got this idea for a story. I started writing and the words flowed effortlessly onto the electronic paper. By the end of the day, the first chapter was completed.

Another thing that I don’t particularly like about the NaNoWriMo project is that at the end of November, writers are supposed to put their work online. This makes me wonder … what if someone sees my work and thinks … that’s a good idea. I can make it my own and make it better.

From what I understand, publishers don’t necessarily have to like a manuscript (they have editors to make the story better), but they have to like the idea, something original and that will sell.

Coming up with something original isn’t easy, it’s almost impossible. Look around at the local library, thousands of books about love, war, aliens, monsters, vampires, murderers, etc.

I can’t be sure, but I think for my new novel I have come up with something original. I’ve never read anything like it before, but then, I haven’t read every book that’s out there. Still, I feel confident about the story and as such, I feel a little hesitant putting it on NaNoWriMo for all to see.

Of course, everyone thinks that their story is the best, that they have a fish on the line that will mean their breakthrough into the publishing world. But what if that doesn’t happen? What if nobody wants to publish the book?

Those who have been published by respected publishing houses will say to keep going, to never give up. Every single one of them will tell you how they contacted literary agents and publishers and received one rejection letter after the other. But eventually found success.

I’ve been through the process a few times myself and I can tell you, it’s hard keeping your spirits up when one rejection letter follows another. For starters, it takes time and effort to contact literary agents. Then, there’s a waiting period. Some take only a matter of days to get back to a writer, others take a few weeks. 

Whenever I saw a reply from an agent in my inbox, I got my hopes up. Was this it? Did I finally find someone who was willing to take a chance on me? It never was. Eventually, I gave up.

Now it’s the NaNoWriMo project. Me, along with a few thousand others, are thinking and typing as if our lives depended on it. From what I understand a few writers have been discovered through the NaNoWriMo project. This time, I’m not giving up.