Hmmm...It is hard for me to accept this statement personally since I have never been wasteful with my debt. When I was in university, I never viewed the loan I received from the government as MY money. I seperated my loan money from money I earned. I think that really puts into perspective of how much money is techincally mine. It felt amazing when I paid off all my student loan, with my own money at 21. Being debt free at that age was what made me feel confident.
Did it bother anyone when they read this comment "Young adults are infamously uneducated when it comes to personal finance.
"? =I
I remember reading your article on using your RRSPs for your first home. I wish I read something like that a few years ago. When I was done school, I was hesitant to open up an RRSP account. I had a lot of unused tuition money and I wasn't making enough to owe the government money so I decided to stash it away in a savings account and then moved it to TFSA when it was launched. It wasn't until I became serious about buying my first home that I started putting money away in a RRSP. That was only 6 months ago. I'm planning to purchase by the end of this year so I probably won't have enough in there to max out the $25,000. But my boyfriend and I should be able to put down the 20% as we planned. Good luck with your home purchase. I look forward to reading more about your home buying journey!
That's great news! I'm in about the same boat as you. My boyfriend and I are looking for a condo/townhouse in downtown Toronto. We have about the same amount saved and are looking to buy within a few months (hopefully before the summer ends). We've gone to a few open houses to get a feel of the different types of condos/townhouses we can afford. One tip I would give you is to wear shoes that are easy to put on. I saw this one girl wear laced up heels going to the same open houses that we were going to. Let's just say it does not look fun.
The same thing happened to me back in November! My bf and I got off our flight and because it was 3 in the morning we were just anxious to hop in a cab and go home. This guys was yelling "last call for a taxi" so we decided to take it and followed him out to his car. But when we got there, we realized that it was just a regular mini van and started to really doubt taking the ride. We decided to take it since we were so exhausted and everything turned out ok. It was a flat rate, tip included.
Not sure if this is an option, but you could bring a pair of nice black heels and just change into it when you get to the building. I have every possible pair of black work shoes (pointy high heels, pointy low heel, knee high pointy boot, ankle boot, round pumps). If you are in downtown Toronto and trying to get around the financial district, you will most likely want to wear something flat until you get to the building. I have learned my lessons being in the subway and streetcars. You get stepped on constantly.
If you spent your summers wisely earning money, got a part time job during the school year and just saved whatever you could, you could reduce your debt before the interest kicks in. That's another thing, if you're doing a 4 year program, that's 4 years of free money invested in you for 0 interest until you graduate. On top of that, there are tons of busaries that you can apply for. You just have to make the choice to do all of them. As you said, it all comes down to comfort level. If you want to go to University/College, you better be prepared to take the financial risk that comes with. This is an individual choice. Tax payers should not be paying for that.
I am just loving your blog! I read your post on car options from The Star and luckily it led me here. Now back to this post. I completely agree with you. The government student loans in Canada are a real benefit. First of all, Canadian undergrad tuitions are generally lower and relatively more afforable than the States. I mean, I was probably paying at the highest tuition rate (around 40K for 4 years) given that I went to a pretty well known Canadian University studing Business (no tuition cap for us). But yet, it was not impossible to pay off.
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