by Marie Bywater

Created on: August 28, 2010

Attending college is an enormous expense, but one that is justified. The bulk of college expenses are tuition and dorm fees. Besides this there is always the pressure to buy every college textbook on the reading lists and attend the latest parties. Many students leave college with a massive student loan debt as a result of all these expenses. If you start saving money early for college it can become that bit more affordable and will help your offspring leave college with as small as debt as possible.

Open a bank account  specially for college savings

Instead of opening one bank account for your child, open two. You can save into this second bank account and keep it solely for college. There are many bank accounts which will pay a higher rate of interest if money is kept in them for several years without withdrawing. Speak to your local bank for the best available interest rate. If you have a lump sum of money you would like to use as college savings then you could maybe put it in a fixed account for several years until it is needed.

Save on a regular basis

When your child is at high school you could be making regular savings for their college degree. Every month you could be setting aside $100; in one year this will amount to $1200. Six years of savings will mean you will have $7200 plus interest, which will be a nice college nest egg for your child.

Ask for money in place of gifts

If your child receives many Birthday and Christmas presents each year from relatives consider asking for money in place of some of the gifts. This money can then be saved for college.

Open an Upromise account

Upromise is free to join and lets you help save money towards your child’s college degree. You can also invite your friends and family to the Upromise program helping you save even more money for your child’s college degree. There are many places you can use your Upromise card including over 700 online stores, 8000 restaurants and over 22000 grocery and drug stores.  Spending $150 at Gap.com will earn you $4.50 in Upromise earnings. This money can be transferred from your Upromise account into a 529 tax deferred plan and then used when your child starts college.

These are just some money saving tips for college which will help you prepare your son or daughter in the best way possible financially. The sooner you start saving the more money you will have in the college nest egg for your offspring.

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