Black Sheep Tips: Secret to Saving Money

Tip 2: How to save money on an education

Hello Ladies & Gents! I hope you had a safe and excellent Labor Day weekend! For many of you, I know this was a weekend surely needed to recharge the mind and body from your daily lives. I know I did haha. Now, this week I wanted to talk about something I do not hear very often. Throughout my day to day conversations with friends, colleagues, and family who are college students or are returning to school, I have yet to find a single individual bring up what I am about to talk about. This folks, is my second secret to saving money. If you would like to read my first, please click here.

Now, many of you have already returned to school, but do not worry this may still work IF you do your due diligence and do the work. Today, you’ll be surprised to hear that I take many of my courses FOR FREE and no I am not on scholarship or a PHD student. Unfortunately, I am a bachelors, an MBA, and halfway through a second master’s too late. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that is a pretty hefty bill. I’m sure you’re asking yourself, “E, if its not paid education through scholarship, or paid research, then what other way is there?” Well let me tell you.

The Secret to Saving Money is…Simple.

Originally, I made this for those in the workforce returning to school but found this works just as well for new college students, it just requires some work on your part. So here’s my secret to saving money in college, its auditing. You might be thinking, “Auditing?” or “Why didn’t I think of that?” Now I’m not going to yank your chain and say this will cut your tuition in half (it may for some individuals). Unfortunately, this is not true. This is a simple trick that I used to save anywhere from 300-500 dollars a semester, which I don’t know about you, but that’s gas money, food, date night, party night…etc.

So how does this work?

It’s simple, the sole purpose for you to be an auditor is to add value, very much like a TA (teachers assistant). Not all universities or courses offer this position, but I always try to ask or do my due diligence to at least get one class. Second, if you cannot be an auditor go after being a TA. Think of being a TA as receiving a return on your investment while taking the course. As I said previously, you must do your due diligence and offer value! You do not have to be the smartest guy or gal in the room, but you can offer some intellect, expertise or work ethic. Remember, you are there to help the professor and/or the students.

Next,

As you may or may not know, auditing is a great way for those wanting to get their feet wet as well. This can work for those who are not sure if college is for them or for those returning to college after a long break. As I said, this depends on the university. However, there are other platforms, such as Coursera, that will allow you take a university level course for FREE as long you give them a return on their investment by being an auditor.

IF you happen to find that college is no longer for you, well then you need not worry, you are given the opportunity to disenroll for FREE. NO PENALTY!

With given time of course.

Well, that pretty much wraps this up. The secret to saving money is auditing. It wont fix all of your financial problems, however if you start saving here and there by using the tips I give you, trust me when I say your dollar will last a lot longer thus putting you in a much better situation. Remember it is all dependent on the University. Some will not allow you to get a grade of may give you a discounted rate of the class, it just depends. If you have anything further to add, please feel free to comment down below or email us. If you would like to support the Black Sheep movement, feel free to visit our shop or subscribe to our mailing list. Best of luck!