The Smart Money series that will be hosted by the Financial Aid Office has something to offer for every college student at TWU. The series is a highly interactive workshop that will offer advising to college students on how to be smart with their money. Part one of the Smart Money series will take place at 4:00 p.m. in ACT room 501 from Sept. 28 through Oct. 1.
Week one of the Smart Money workshops will cover Budgeting (Sept. 28), Good Credit (Sept. 29), Intro to Financial Aid (Sept. 30) and Understanding Financial Aid (Oct. 1). The second week will begin on Oct. 19 and wrap up on Oct. 22. The Oct. 19 session will be specifically geared toward seniors concerned about dealing with repayment and consolidation for their student loans. The rest of the week two series will be a recap of the first series.
The Smart Money series opener will discuss budgets – the process of making one and shedding light on the misconceptions of having a budget. When students are setting up their budgets they need to identify their necessities and priorities first. Once they know how much money they absolutely have to spend on those things, they can plan to spend money on leisure activities.
According to financial aid advisor Julia Brumbaugh, the main agenda for teaching students how to make a budget is to help them space out their student loan checks or income and prevent students from spending more money than needed.
Brumbaugh said: “One of our goals is to get students through school with as little debt as possible. A budget isn’t a negative thing.” Brumbaugh explained that a budget is not set in stone and can be very fluid; it is a means to help students have a record of where their money is going.
Another important topic that will be covered in the Smart Money series is good credit. Often students are bombarded with credit card offers and blindly take many of them. This can lead them down a destructive road for credit scores. The meeting on good credit will give tips on how to manage credit cards and explain the differences between good and bad debt.
A few examples that Brumbaugh shed light to in an interview include using credit cards for small amounts rather than amounts you cannot pay off, and when considering getting a credit card, be sure to compare interest rates and research any rewards programs.
Another key topic that will be covered is an introduction to financial aid. The presentations shown will look at the different types of financial aid, how to receive them, shed light on some confusing information and advise students on how to use their student loans wisely. There are many things to consider when dealing with financial aid, and these workshops should help shed some light on the confusing rules.
For more information about the Smart Money series, the Office of Student Financial Aid can be reached at 940-898-3064. There will also be a Smart Money series available to the Dallas and Houston campuses, pending specific dates and times.
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