Local Educator

So you’re ready to earn that degree now, right? Even if it’s an online degree, you’re still going to be living the life of a student and trying to keep costs manageable. Whether you’re attending an on-site school, or an online college, you’re still going to have to live somewhere and it is possible to save money without having to live in a dive. Enter the college roommate. Splitting your accommodation costs in half can mean the difference between being able to successfully finish your degree or living off of instant noodles in misery.

There is an endless stream of roommate resources available online and some are of course better than others. A few of the more popular sites are;
RoommateNation.com
Roommates.com
Roommate Express
Roommate Locator

Just because you have the resources you need, don’t think your work is done. You are looking to potentially share your personal space with a stranger so you’ll need to do a little homework to choose which site is going to work best for you. Try them out; see what questions they ask in order to make up your profile. Does it give you sufficient room to clearly state what you are looking for? The more information that they require to complete your profile means that you are far more likely to find a compatible roommate while you are getting your degree. The main things to keep in mind when looking for a roommate are;

-Use common sense when meeting anyone in person and if possible, speak to other clients from the site to see what their experience was like.

-Make sure that your new roommate’s lifestyle is compatible to yours.

-Whether you’re looking to fill a vacancy in your place or looking for a room elsewhere, be sure that you are very clear about your expectations. Shared chores, bills or household responsibilities need to be clearly laid out and mutually agreed upon.

A roommate can be a great experience if you put some effort into finding the right one for you.

Let’s face the facts, college isn’t cheap. Granted, attending an online school or online college can take some of the bite out of the cost, but even an online degree can set you back more than a few of the old green bucks. No fear though future professionals, your dorm room can still look swanky, even on a student budget. Less money just means that you need to be more creative. Don’t panic if you’re not a crafty sort of person because here are a couple of room changing ideas using nothing more than bed sheets and pillow cases. No sewing skill required!

Photo Credit

The quickest way to brighten, freshen, or change a room is color. Painting the walls a fun shade seems obvious but if you’re living in a dorm, chances are that painting walls is off limits. There are other ways to infuse color into your room though, and all relatively cheap and easy. Instead of spending fifty or more dollars on a brightly printed duvet cover, check out the store’s selection of sheets. Most often you can buy flat sheets by themselves rather than as part of a set and if you get it one size larger than you need you have just created an inexpensive bedspread. Sheets also tend to come in a wider selection of patterns, colors, and styles than actual duvet covers, and at a fraction of the cost. Add a couple of bright pillow cases and you’ve already given your room a whole new vibe.

Photo Credit

Pillow cases can also be used to create bright cushions for your couch or chairs. Just fold the excess material inside, and as they are also most often sold as separates, you can mix and match the colors and patterns. Bed sheets can also make excellent window coverings without that tacky “towel pinned to the wall” look. If your window doesn’t have a curtain rod, you will need to buy and install one. They are very inexpensive, easy to install and can be picked up at any hardware or department store. Bed sheets of course only come in predetermined sizes whereas windows do not. Take the wide hem (the one that would be at the head of the bed) and cut just enough of the stitches along the side of the hemmed part to fit the curtain rod through. If they are too long for the window, simply let them drop as it will give your windows the appearance of being larger than they are. Getting two smaller sheets to cover a window is a far better idea than a single large one as you will have a part in the middle like regular drapes that you can open or pin back. They will have the neatly hemmed and finished look of drapes but again, at only a couple of bucks each!

Color is an excellent way to jazz up a plain room, and at only the cost of a couple of bed sheets, why wouldn’t you?

Once you’ve finally earned that online degree, what do you do with all of your textbooks? Think about it, if your degree took a couple of years, that’s going to equate to an awful lot of books, and a stroll around any book store will quickly tell you that they are anything but cheap. The important thing to remember is that your textbooks become outdated relatively quickly therefore if you’ve made the decision to sell them sooner is better than later. If you’ve got textbooks sitting around from 5 years ago, you’re going to be out of luck however, if you just finished your degree at an on-site or online college then chances are there is a market for your books. If you’ve managed to keep them in good shape, used paper rather than scribbling in the margins, all the pages are intact, etc, reselling your used textbooks can net you a decent amount of money.

There are several routes available, all with their own pros & cons, and checking out your local used bookstore is an excellent place to start. Campus bookstores or free local classified like kijiji or Craigslist are also a good bet. Though they may not have quite as large a volume of traffic as some of the larger book selling sites, you will be saving the re-sellers cut of the profit. The big site’s of course offer sheer volume which will increase your chances of a quick sale and may be worth getting a slightly lower price after their cut. Some of the big sites include;

Barnes & Noble
Amazon
SellMyTextbooks.org
BooksIntoCash.com
Campus Book Swap

These sites let you input your text ISBN number and you know almost immediately whether or not they are interested in that text and how much they will pay you for it. Most sites will then forward a shipping label to you and you receive the cash once they have received the textbook(s). An alternate to selling your book, particularly if you have more schooling ahead of you, is trading. Sites like Bookswap.com let you off load the textbooks that you no longer need, while picking out a few that you do. The market for used textbooks for on-site or online degree programs is huge and definitely something worth checking out. Unless of course you intend to just make a coffee table out of them.