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No, not holiday season but scholarship season! UW Whitewater’s scholarships for 2024-2025 school year will open on December 1, 2023. The scholarships are now viewable in the students WINS account and can be searched by the students college (Letters & Sciences) or non applicable. We suggest students search in both areas to maximize their opportunity for scholarships and apply for all they can. Scholarships are free money and who wouldn’t want free money to go to school! PLUS the more scholarships awarded the less student loans a student will need.

But…don’t stop the search there! Students check with your family members to see if the company they work for has any scholarships available. Check with in your home town to see if any business’s, local Moose Lodge, VFW Hall etc. are awarding scholarships.

Lastly don’t forget to search for scholarships this spring online. UWW’s financial aid office as a list of safe scholarship websites. For more information on scholarship scams go to: https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-avoid-scholarship-financial-aid-scams

Good Luck!

In a recent survey Sarah O’Brien a Personal finance reporter found that 45% of the respondents know they are overspending since last reported in April 2021.  Credit card debit is at nearly $1 trillion in 2021 and is climbing.  Below are some tips to help/curb the overspending urges:

1. Start a budget or if you already have a budget it is time to re-evaluate your current budget.

2. Think about your goals: to be debt-free, go on vacation, buy a home and write them down and before you act on your spending look over your goals.

3. Leave the item in your shopping cart for at least 24 hours.  Do you have the strong need for the item or have you forgotten about it?

4. Unsubscribe from marketing emails.

5. Take your credit cards off of your apps on your cell phone.

Pick one, two or all of the above tips and implement a plan to work towards your goals and improve your overall financial wellness.  Take charge of your finances now to set yourself up for future success and freedom.  For more information or to set up a financial coaching session, contact the UWW Financial Literacy Center.

The recent release of the Higher Education Relief Grant, which will hopefully help students truly in need of financial support, the application deadline is March 15th. This grant is meant to assist students in need of money for costs such as tuition, housing, food, health care, child care, and any type of emergency costs.

When applying for the grant, which is the student’s responsibility and has been emailed to all students, make sure you follow the guidelines provided, and are in need of the money. Everyone who applies may not receive the grant as it will be based on the student’s FAFSA. Although, if you do not apply and believe you are in need you will not receive the grant. When receiving this grant, first make sure you accept the offer, then when the check is sent your way make sure you deposit it as soon as possible!

As a grant, it is not money that you will need to pay back. With this in mind, many may think it will cover the costs for a vacation, clothes, accessories, and whatever non-essential costs that may arise. Instead, this is an opportunity to pay off current expenses, costs, and future debt. It may seem very enticing to take that trip, but this could cause for future stress and create a financial burden that will hurt in the long run.

If you are in need of assistance as to how to allocate this money with your expenses, need help building a budget, or even want overall guidance financially, I urge you to visit the Financial Literacy Center.

As leases are signed for next academic year, there comes a time when you need to sit down and think about what you will need in order to move from the dorms into your own place. While getting out of the dorms may be a nice reprieve, there are some “behind the scenes” costs and ideas that you need to consider before making the decision as to where to live and with whom to live.

The biggest thing to consider whether or not you are prepared to handle a multitude of new responsibilities by yourself. No one is going to be there to clean up after you anymore, which means that you need to start doing it yourself. While cleaning the bathroom is not the most fun task in the world, it is a necessary step to help ensure your own personal hygiene.

Another major thing to know/consider is the structure of your lease. If your lease states that you and your roommate(s) are in a separate tenancy agreement, that means that each of you signs a contract with the landlord so if one person needs to move out or does not pay rent on time, the others are not effected. The other way that your lease can be structured is as a joint tenancy agreement. If someone is late on rent or wants to move out, all those listed on the lease can be affected.

A final thing to consider is an agreement with your roommates. It doesn’t have to be anything too fancy, but write up a set of rules and have all people living with you sign it with someone not on the lease as a witness. This way, if someone is not pulling their weight, or refuses to pay rent, you can have some legal recourse against them. This is especially important if you have a lease with joint tenancy. You do not want to be on the hook for your roommate’s part of the rent if they are delinquent in their payment, and a signed agreement with your roommates might help to alleviate your potential financial burden.

All of these things are ideas to consider before deciding where to move to and who you want to live with. You will have to deal with those other students every single day, so make sure you choose wisely. Moving off campus can be an excellent experience, just make sure that you have all of your ducks in a row so you can enjoy your time as much as possible.

Many students do not know where to go to access their student loans, or how to find who their lender is. Here at the Financial Literacy Center, we want to assist you in all your personal finance needs, including loans.

To see your loans, go to https://studentaid.gov/ and click on the “Repayment” tab. This will give you a list of tools available to you. You can find out how to make a payment, use a repayment estimator, and more to help you better understand your loans.

If you click on the “Find out how to make a payment” link, it will take you to the list of current lenders. If you know who your lender is you can visit their site and it will tell you how to pay off your loans through them. Otherwise, their is a link for if you don’t know your provider, and that will walk you through how to find information on your loans and how to make a payment.

If you have any money-related questions, set up an appointment today!! We are always happy to help students with any questions they have!

As spring break approaches (it’ll be here before you think), students from all over the country are looking for a warm destination to get away from their school work for a week. Most students are on a tight budget and only have a certain amount of money set aside for the week. Obviously, you are going to want to make your dollar go as far as you possibly can, and here are a few ideas on how you can get the most bang for your buck.

The biggest cost saver is to plan ahead, and if you are reading this and haven’t started planning yet, you might be in a little bit of trouble. Planning ahead helps you to avoid peak time pricing, and also relieves stress as the big week approaches. Another thing to consider before you head out is where you are going to be staying. Certain locations might have hostiles which can be rented for a cheap rate per night. Another possibility would be to go to a location with a family member or friend and bunk up with them for the week.

Once you are at your destination, there are a couple more tips to help you save a dollar here and there. The first tip is to bring your student ID and see if restaurants and shops offer student discounts. Not all places offer a discount, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. Another way to avoid unnecessary costs is to avoid buying silly souvenirs. While a refrigerator magnet might not break the bank, how many t-shirts or other silly merchandise do you really need? Finally, look for deals whenever possible. Most places have tourist booklets with coupons in them for free. Check out the offers in those booklets and plan some meals or excursions around what is discounted.

Spring break can be an exciting time to relieve the stresses of school as well as get away to a warm destination for a week. However, going far away doesn’t mean that you have to break the bank in order to enjoy your time. Create a budget and do your absolute best to stick to it. Look for local deals and bring as much food and drink with you as you can to limit the amounts you have to buy at your destination. Spring break should be a week full of fun, and there are many ways to do it without breaking the bank.