Getting a Job After University: Where to Begin

Feeling overwhelmed by the thought of graduation? Check out this blog post where Cheap Students covers how to beef up your resume, and better prepare yourself for graduation.

Grocery Shopping Basics

An introduction on how to grocery shop better, save money and cut down on grocery bills in the future. Contains links to Canadian grocery flyers as well as prices to look for.

Textbooks: A How to Guide

A post covering how to purchase and sell textbooks at the beginning of each semester. Textbooks often cost quite a lot purchased brand new, use these tips to save money on your next textbook purchases.

Learning Tab

Check out the learning tab to view free online resources where you can learn new languages, develop your computer skills and find ways to further develop your resume.

Job Hunting

Check out the job hunting section, filled with resume, cover letter and job interview tips and resources all to help throughout the job hunting process.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Crock Pot Meals-Mac and Cheese

So I recently became obsessed with crock pot recipes. I'm sure you're wondering, what does this have to do with Cheap Students? And it's one of those things that indirectly relates to the theme here, which is, making food in a crock pot is easy, and can be made in large quantities which will lead to you spending less at fast-food restaurants and the meals can be frozen and heated up another day. What could students not like about cheap and easy meals?

Pinterest has been the source of most of my inspiration when it comes to interesting food ideas. Some looked absolutely disgusting and I stayed far far away from those.

Here's the first recipe I tried. It was actually pretty good, I'm not usually a fan of homemade mac and cheese but this one was good.

Crock Pot Mac and Cheese
Makes 4-6 Servings
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
4 tablespoons butter
2 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
3 eggs (I omitted the eggs)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can condensed cheddar cheese soup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Directions:

Boil the macaroni in water for six minutes. Drain.
In a medium saucepan, mix butter and cheese. Stir until the cheese melts.
In slow cooker, combine cheese mixture and add the eggs (I omitted the eggs), sour cream, soup, salt, milk, mustard and pepper. Add the drained macaroni and stir again.
Cook on low for 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

 So I mostly followed this recipe except for a few things
  • Cooked noodles (I used rice pasta instead) for 6minutes and then drained
  • Sprayed the pot lightly with spray oil
  • Turned my 3-qt Crock Pot on High & melted the butter &cheese 
  • Was not completely melted when other ingredients were added
  • Turned the pot to Low. 
  • Whisked all the other ingredients in a separate bowl first before adding them to the pot. 
  • In this order: 1 beaten egg, sour cream, spices (mustard, salt, pepper), cheddar soup, 1% milk. 
  • Added the noodles last.
  • Was definitely ready to eat in 1 1/2 hours. 
  • Stirred it often. 


Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Free Starbucks Blonde Roast

So I'm sure a lot of you are Starbucks fans.
Check out this link and "name" the Starbucks Blonde roast.
http://blonde.starbucks.ca/en-ca/
Print out the coupon and you receive a FREE Tall Blonde Roast from Starbucks.


*Note-The coupon expires next day so make sure to redeem it quick!


Check out my article on how to make your own Greek yogurt. Save on something else that's overpriced. 


Monday, January 28, 2013

The Cost of A Failed Course

When you think of budgeting, and saving money (I hope you do anyways) the first thing that comes to mind is not whether or not you successfully pass all of your courses at school. Unfortunately though it is something to consider when picking elective's (those can be killers sometimes), and your course load for the semester. Tuition is normally considered a fixed cost that doesn't change dramatically over the 4 years (or 5 or 6..) that you are completing your undergrad. But if you fail a course or take a lighter course load there may be a bigger hit on your budget than you would have thought.

These examples use the Ontario averages for tuition across all majors from 2009-2013
(4-year undergraduate degree)

An individual who takes a full course load every semester and passes all of their classes.

2009/2010-$5,985 per year (10 courses)
2010/2011-$6,316 per year (10 courses)
2011/2012-$6,815 per year (10 courses)
2012/2013-$7,180 per year (10 courses)

In tuition alone this student would pay about $26,296.

An individual who takes a full course load each semester but failed 1 course in first year

Based on the first calculation lets just assume that 1 course costs about $600 by dividing the total tuition for year 1 by 10.

2009/2010-$5,985 per year (10 courses) Add failed course here= extra $600. $6,585
2010/2011-$6,316 per year (10 courses)
2011/2012-$6,815 per year (10 courses)
2012/2013-$7,180 per year (10 courses)

Ideally the student would take the course during the summer to avoid pushing graduation further and would pay an extra $600 over the course of their undergraduate degree. Totally approximately $26,896
Essentially paying for the course twice to pass it once.

You can see how this can start to add up especially if the student fails more than 4 courses. That's an extra $2,400 and not a single summer free of school.

If you don't take a full course load

In addition if you don't take a full course load, say 4 courses a semester most schools will charge you the full tuition rate. The breakdown would be as follows if you took 4 courses a semester instead of 5.

2009/2010-$5,985 per year (8 courses)
2010/2011-$6,316 per year (8 courses)
2011/2012-$6,815 per year (8 courses)
2012/2013-$7,180 per year (8 courses)
2013/2014-$7,180 per year (i'll be kind and assume that tuition didn't rise but I'm sure it will)

By not taking a full course load you essentially have to pay a full years tuition or about $7,180 and you also run the risk of further extending your undergrad or taking summer courses for another $600 a course if you don't pass all of your courses.

Do you see where this all starts adding up?

A 4-year undergraduate program with all courses passed would cost around $26,296 (if they started in the 2009/2010 school year)

A 4-year undergraduate program where a student failed 1 course would cost around $26,896 (if they started in the 2009/2010 school year)

Technically a 5-year undergraduate stay where a student took 4 courses a semester would cost over $34,000 (if they started in the 2009/2010 school year)

I believe some schools as least only charge you on a per course basis when you are taking 3 courses and under (this makes you a part-times student. Thus it will save you some money here and there.

It's important to be careful when you pick courses and keep track of the courses you failed. It may make more sense for you take a full course load especially if money is tight. I believe it's something that most people don't think about so I hope this post has opened some eyes.

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Saturday, January 26, 2013

Buy Online to Save: Books

If you are actually willing to purchase books at all, the best way to do so is by buying online. There are a few online retailers out there that offer prices here and there as well as different perks in terms of shipping, rewards points etc.


Rewards program: Plum Rewards 
Shipping: Free Shipping on orders $25 or more
Pricing: Reasonable (compared to the cover prices they charge in store anyways)
Tips: Make sure to check out the bargain books section on the site as well as in-store and online deals.
Verdict: Use plum rewards for the discount and the free wi-fi, unless you buy a lot of books the accumulated points system really isn't work your time. Returns are easier since you can return products in store anywhere in Canada. 

Rewards program: Rewards Visa (I'm not even going provide a link, you don't need an Amazon Visa)
Shipping: Free Shipping on orders $25 or more (can't be from a seller on Amazon, must be a product sold directly from Amazon Canada)
Pricing: For books, usually a bit better than Chapters
Tips: Check out the Bestseller deals here
Verdict: Amazon provides a lot of selection (aside from books as well) and slightly better prices than Chapters. They don't offer a rewards program but the discounts themselves are worth it to go shop online. Better/more reviews are on Amazon simply because there are more users. 

Overall:
Both websites are great in terms of well priced books compared to buying in-store where you often will pay full price for books (unless they are best sellers). The Plum rewards program often has offers and deals and once you gather at least 2,500 points you can get $5 off (you have to be buying a lot of books). Both work well and often for books you are highly unlikely to return them so return policies aren't as vital.