More Things To Do With Your Financial Aid Refund

   So we've had one blog about things you can do with your University of Texas at Tyler Financial Aid refund so why not another!

   I advocate using money like the Financial Aid refund to do things like clear things off you Life's To Do List. So, what kinds of things are that?

   1 ) Set aside the money or put up the $$$ directly to pay your phone bill for the semester ... or two. If you are like me then you don't like being without a phone or your ability to text. If your phone bill has a flat rate then just multiply the bill by however many months you don't want to worry about it!

   2) Paying your rent ahead of time ... and then some. So I know plenty of people who use their Financial Aid for rent, however a trend pops up from time to time ( one even I am guilty of ) - poor planning. If you're staying here for a 4 month semester then I'd say set aside two extra months worth of rent if you can spare it. Here is why ~ Summer courses and financial buffers. Basically, there are a plethora of reasons why you might wind up not having Financial Aid for Summer if you need the courses. Now, the issue is - how do you KNOW if you'll need them? Well ... you probably don't. Things come up, life happens, and sometimes you need a summer class to graduate on time. But if you don't get enough financial to cover school AND your housing? If you have some $$$ set aside NOW then you will be OK in the future.

 If you are in the Fall semester then you saved money now will add to your coffers in Spring!

3) Use the money to experiment with setting up a good cooking/shopping plan now. This one is something I never did until recently but I am glad I did. There were always dishes and things I wanted to cook and try but sometimes buying the foundation ingredients to test/try some dishes is not economically feasible. BUT, when Financial Aid refunds hit? Use the time now while you can to test new foods, see what you might be able to add to your diet later when things get sparse, etc...

4) Save your money and do some research into building a new PC instead of buying one direct. So, this needs a lot of homework and research. You might need a friend of family member to help with this ( however having your friends help you with this project is tremendous fun ) but you can wind up saving a LOT of money.

   Now, I say this as somebody who likes and has owned many, many Apple products. You do not need a 1,500 laptop for school if all you want to do is write papers, Skype, and use Facebook. Arguably gaming can be be done on laptops but for half of that 1,500 dollars you can build a desktop that will rip apart any game on the market. Period.

5) Save up a little money for a road trip of some kind! This one will need you to save up a various amount depending on what you want to do, however if you can afford it? Go see somewhere neat in your state! See your capital, visit a museum somewhere other than where you live! Maybe even pool in $$$ with friends and go somewhere together?