Fresh out of high school I had no idea what I wanted to do when I grew up. I just knew I didn’t want to be stuck digging a ditch or flipping burgers the rest of my life.  The general sentiment at the time was if you want to make real money, and not end up working in a fast food joint, you need to get a college degree. So in May of 2005 I graduated high school with an honorable 2.5 GPA, a head full of confidence, and skipped off to college.

Even being a dumb 18-year-old kid, I knew I didn’t want to rack up a bunch of student loan debt.  Somehow I didn’t get a lot of scholarships.  It turns out having a 2.5 GPA, and being mediocre at sports, isn’t considered a recipe for success. Also, I didn’t get around to applying for a lot of scholarships.  It was a real perfect storm scenario.

Because of my lack of scholarships, the fact that I was paying for my own college education, and my desire to not be in massive debt, I had to get strategic.

Here are six heroic ways I lowered my student loan burden while in college

1. I Went to a community college

I was lucky enough to live within 10 miles of a community college.  In Montana, that’s not always a given.  Instead of running off to an expensive university, I spent my first year getting basic classes at a fraction of the cost.

The first semester of my sophomore year I transferred to Mid-America Christian University, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  Once there, I realized many of my freshmen classes wouldn’t transfer.  If I had a full associates degree, they’d all transfer.  For the spring semester I transferred back to the community college in Montana and got my associates degree.

I was able to transfer BACK to the University in Oklahoma, this time as a junior with an AA degree. Rating: 10/10 would recommend going to a community college.

2. I earned money by working the night shift at a Love’s gas station

This job was as awful as it sounds.  I would have to work from 11pm-7am several nights per week.  Having one foot in the day shift world and one foot in the night shift world wrecked my body and brain.

One night I actually gave a guy $60 out of the till because he said he didn’t have time to wait for the ATM machine.  He left me with a bunch of fake jewelry as collateral.  At 3am, when you haven’t slept in 20 hours, weird business deals make sense. Suffice to say I basically worked for free that night.

I was a zombie.  It was no good.  Getting a part-time job in college is a great idea, just don’t get a night shift job. Rating: 0/10 would not recommend working the night shift, 10/10 would recommend getting a part-time job

3.  I saved money by living in my truck

I’ve always had a fascination with living in vehicles and not paying rent.  I lived in my truck partly to see if I could do it.  Mostly though, I didn’t want to pay for the ridiculous meal plan, which was required if you lived in the dorms.  My friends let me crash on the couches when it was too hot outside, and keep some extra clothes and food in their dorm rooms.

My friends were awesome. One night we had a big ice storm and, unbeknownst to me, my truck topper had become an actual ice cube.  They broke me out before I suffocated and/or froze to death.  It really wasn’t a traumatic experience for me because I was still asleep and had no idea I was in a frozen death trap.

It had to be a real pain in the ass having me take up space and basically living with them other than the sleeping portion.  Most of them thought my frugality was entertaining.  I hated the idea of the meal plan so much that I lived in my truck to avoid paying for it. They supported me in any way they could.  I probably should have swung for a camper-van of some type, though. Rating: 9/10 would recommend finding a way to lower dorm and meal plan cost.

4. I saved money by not purchasing any textbooks

“Wow, how smart of Mr. Burrito Bowl to use the library books instead of paying for his own,” you might be thinking.  Nah, I just opted to not really study, instead.

College books are a joke.  They are so expensive.  The powers that be update the books by adding a comma every few years so you have to get the new versions.  What a racket.  I wasn’t going to fall for that old dog and pony show so instead I opted to not buy any books.

After working the night shift and sleeping in my truck my brain was operating at about 30%, on a good day, so studying wasn’t really in the cards.

I graduated college in the spring of 2009 with a GPA that was about as impressive as my high school GPA but I retained even less of the information. You’d assume a guy who didn’t study and lived in a vehicle would retain almost everything but sadly that wasn’t the case.  I also knew I didn’t want to go to graduate school so I figured my GPA wasn’t that important.  “C’s get degrees” was like a war cry for me.

If I was smarter I would have used the library books to study more.  I still think it was smart to not purchase my own personal books, but that was more dumb luck.  If you take this approach you should for sure obtain books somehow, just don’t buy them brand new.

This approach could potentially backfire if lots of students have the same idea and the library is out of whatever book you need.  You can always borrow the books you need from one of your non-frugal friends who bought their own.  Rating: 8/10 would recommend using the library over purchasing personal textbooks.

5. I earned money by playing music gigs and working at a coffee shop

I enjoy playing music.  My capabilities are very average, so I don’t fancy myself a potential rockstar.  Because of this I never put all my eggs in the music basket.  Truth be told I didn’t put very many eggs at all in the music basket.  I did really enjoy playing, especially if it earned me some ramen noodle money.

At one point I had a very lucrative job making $125/week leading worship at a church that was an hour away.  I drove my gas guzzling truck the two-hour round trip once per week.  I don’t want to do the math on how much I actually profited, after expenses. Overall it was a huge step up from the gas station.  I would not recommend getting a part-time job that far away.

A slightly more lucrative part-time job I had was working at a local coffee shop.  It was only 5-minutes away from the school so the profits were much higher than the worship leader position.  This part-time job was also much better than the gas station gig because it happened during daylight hours. Rating: 9/10 would recommend getting a part-time job doing something you love.

6. I stuck to one degree path

There were many times during my college career that I second guessed getting a made up degree.  My degree, for those wondering, is a Bachelors in Business and Music.  Not a double major, mind you.  Not even a major and a minor.  My degree is just a made up thing, sort of business and sort of music. You can do that kind of thing when you’re a small Christian University.

Even still, I’m glad I stuck to one path.  So many of my friends changed degrees two or three times.  Each degree change left them with fewer credits.  I knew I didn’t want to be taking classes for nothing so I stuck to one degree. Rating: 9/10 would recommend finding a path and sticking to it.

Caveat: If you are majoring in a field that you know you don't want to work in, get out.  For me, I didn't have a calling one way or the other so sticking with a degree that had the word 'business' in it was the best choice for my future and my finances.

Mr. Burrito Bowl, the College Graduate

Despite my best efforts I made a few savvy life decisions.  I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I’m grateful to my past self that I at least had the foresight to get a business degree.  There were certainly other degrees that would have been more fun and netted me far less job options after graduation.

I’m not singling out any particular degrees. I’m not even thinking about an art degree or a liberal arts degree or a basket weaving degree or any such thing while I’m writing this.  All degrees are special in their own way.

I am extremely happy with my past self that I worked so hard to lower my student debt before graduation.  Although, it would have been nice if I had spent more time actually learning college type stuff. On the plus side, I left with around only $30,000 in student loans.  That seems like a lot but it was far less than most of my friends. Many of my friends had racked up six-figures of debt before they even stepped a foot into the working world.

If you aren’t sure if college is right for you, consider taking a year or two off and learning a trade.  If you plan on jumping straight into college consider using some of my tips to lower your student loan burden.  Your future self will thank you.

You might also enjoy one or more of these semi-related articles.

1. Why You Should Consider College and What to do Instead
2. How to Prepare for a Job Loss
3. How to be the CEO of YOU, INC.

 

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