Web Site Pick of the Week: Mint by Elizabeth Kolles* (Guest contributor)

Web Site:     Mint     (https://www.mint.com)

CORRESPONDING POST:  How to Save Money While Going to College

REASON:

Wouldn’t it be nice to actually see all your accounts in one place, set financial goals, have a budget, and find the best ways to save all in one place?  Fortunately, there is actually a Web site that offers all this and more. The best part: It's FREE!  

As stressed before in How to Save Money While Going to College , higher education is expensive and paying for financial advice is the last thing broke college students need. Mint.com actually provides you with the virtual tools needed to be financially savvy. 

Upon registering for Mint.com, you must simply provide your banking username and password.  Be sure to use a secure internet connection (while the site is secured and encrypted, your connection may not be). Within minutes your whole financial profile is displayed before you: your cash, credit cards, loans, investments, property, upcoming bills, etc.  You can view all your previous transactions, create a budget, and set financial goals for your future… all things necessary for students to keep track of.  

Another benefit is the “Trends” tab, which includes extremely helpful charts and graphs that illustrate your expenditures overtime, so you can see where your money goes. In addition, the web site actually sends automatic reminder alerts to your mobile phone or email, which can be useful for those individuals who must pay their rent, utility expenses, cell phone bill, car payment, etc.  

TRY ME:  Go to www.mint.com and sign up for FREE.  Make a budget, chart your spending, and see where your money goes.

Leave us a comment and let us know if you see any interesting spending trends!

 * Elizabeth Kolles is an undergraduate student with UK Department of Family Sciences

 

References

"What is Mint?" (2012). Mint.com. Intuit Inc. Retrieved September 2012, from  https://www.mint.com/what-is-mint/.

Video Post: Attend College for Free by Mariah Hosey* (Guest contributor)

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Why pay for college when you can go for free? It seems like only the straight A, All- American students get scholarships these days, but really they aren’t the only ones who have been given free money. College is so expensive, sometimes costing up to $100,000 over a four-year process; and there are some accessible ways around those costs.

Good Morning America shows us how to work the financial systems for cheap higher education. Fanoush, who is a financial expert, explains that the difference between debt and surplus is a little digging and planning ahead. She tells the watchers that

1) Some select colleges have free tuition

2) Scholarships aren’t just for the elite

3) Serving your country can lead to some pretty good perks

Quick Thought:

As a young adult, the lack of money is such a scary thought. Sometimes it seems easier to just get a job right after high school to avoid having loads of debt the second you graduate. It is important to know your options when it comes to college so that we may think ahead to the future with hope and not fear. I think going to college is a very tangible thing with a little bit of work. I wish I had spent a little more time researching available scholarships earlier in my life, because it would have been a tremendous help during my undergrad years. Fortunately, I now know the tricks to free school and will be able to use this knowledge for graduate school.

It's never too late to start looking into saving money and finding scholarships, even if college is a few years away. Every dollar helps, and very small scholarships and grants will add up over time. Take the time to do a little research, and apply for as much financial aid as possible.

READERS, what do you think?

•  Is higher education a tangible idea? What if it were for free? 
•  Would you ever want to dedicate a couple years after school to the military or a humanitarian organization?

 Tell us your thoughts!

*Mariah Hosey is an undergraduate student with UK Department of Family Sciences

References:

Cibrowski, Tom. (Producer). (2012, September 12). Good Morning America (Television Broadcast). New York, NY.

App Pick of the Week: Super PAC App!

 [App Web Video] 

 Reason:

As mentioned in our previous blog post on political fact checking, sometimes groups known as Super PACs will fund campaign ads full of erroneous information. 

This Super PAC App allows you to identify ads created by these special interest groups.

Just hold your phone up to the television as a campaign ad appears, and the app will pick up the sound and give you information. It will tell you what organization made the ad, how accurate its statements are, and user ratings of the ad's message. You can also get information on ads being run in other states. So if you are curious of what ads are being shown in Charlotte, NC, the app will tell you.

TRY ME!

The Super Pac App is only for the iPhone and is free in the Apple app store.

References:

Fitzpatrick, A. (2012, August 22). "Who's behind that political ad? This app tells you." Mashable. Retrieved September 6, 2012, from http://mashable.com/2012/08/22/superpac-app/.

WPTV news. (2012, August 25). "Super Pac iPhone app." [Web Video]. Retrieved September 7, 2012, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JH0uIAhmRY.

High Unemployment and Job Skills by Mariah Hosey* (Guest author)

“Record-breaking unemployment rate” could be the scariest thought for young people these days. Why does the unemployment rate affect young people, though? Aren’t overqualified and overpaid old guys the ones who should be worried? In some cases this is true, but the unemployment rate includes young people and it affects us, as well.

We have spent our entire lives preparing to do one thing: to work. We go through 12 years of schooling, try to get into good colleges, and boost our resumes. We plan on graduating college with a job already lined up. Unfortunately though, many recent grads cannot find good jobs and are moving back in with their parents. And it’s not always their fault. Many of them have prepared well and are still not reaping the expected rewards.

So what’s the problem in the job market? Many companies have cut costs, and more and more of them have been outsourcing jobs. Some experts say there is a mismatch in what skills are needed and who is available to do the jobs. So why not train people in the areas that are needed? We need to be doing that for available jobs that are going unfilled. However, other experts say that there isn’t enough demand to hire more people. And, if there is no demand, there will be no jobs.

Matthew Yglesias, in a recent article about the mismatch in job skills, says that the mismatch phenomenon is widely misunderstood. It’s not necessarily that people aren’t qualified for available jobs; it’s that other factors often keep people from gaining the necessary skills.

Take surgeons, for example. Yglesias points out that we never hear about an unemployed surgeon. In fact, there is a heavy demand for more surgeons. How can this be? Congress controls the supply of physicians by controlling the federal funding for medical residencies — the graduate training required of all doctors. The funding hasn’t grown for the last 30 years! Current studies show that we need more surgeons and primary family physicians. Congress will need to act to create more residency opportunities in this highly skilled area to meet the growing demand.

Quick Thought:  There have not always been smartphones but, nevertheless, there are well-trained people available to sell smartphones. People had to be trained from scratch on how to sell these newer products. GO, SEEK, and CHECK OUT those new industries where companies are willing to train their employees from the ground up!

READERS, what do you think?

• What do you think you could do to improve your chances of finding the job you want?
• If you looked for a job while in high school, or during a summer or holiday, were you able to find what you wanted?
• What do you think the educational system could do better to prepare the workers of the future?
• What do you think is the government’s responsibility to improve the employment situation?

 

Let us know by leaving your comments!

 

*Mariah Hosey is an undergraduate student with UK Department of Family Sciences

 

Reference:

Yglesias, Matthew. (2012, September 6). On skills-mismatch: If we all got taller, that wouldn't turn us all into NBA players. Slate. Retrieved September 7, 2012, from http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/09/06/the_skills_mismatch_fallacy.html.