How are you Going to Pay for College?

Thanks to ScholarShare for sponsoring this post. As always, all opinions are my own.

I have 6 kids and one of the questions I field a lot when people find out that I have a big family is, “how in the world are you going to pay for college for all those kids?”.

Truthfully, I’m still working that out, but fortunately there are some great resources out there to help me start saving.

One of the options I’m looking into is ScholarShare. ScholarShare is a California’s 529 College Savings Plan, a state-sponsored, tax-advantaged investment vehicle designed to help and encourage families to save for future qualified higher education expenses. If you haven’t heard of a 529 plan before, it’s like a 401(k) plan for higher education and it’s a great option to help your kids save for college.

ScholarShare gives parents a lot of options to save with 19 investment portfolios so you can adjust things based on your savings goals and how much of a risk you want to take. With 6 kids I’ll probably need to get a bit aggressive to meet my savings goals but you may want to take a bit more of a conservative approach, especially if you have an older child who will need to use their college savings money in the relatively near future.

My oldest child turns 12 this summer and I have no idea where all the time went. He was a baby, like yesterday, wasn’t he? My little preemie who used to fit in the palm of my hand is now almost taller than me and, even though he’s still young, he’s starting to look at his college options. I don’t want to let him down so I want to make sure money isn’t a deciding factor when he goes to decide where he wants to go to school. The money from a ScholarShare account can be used for any qualified higher education expenses, like tuition and fees, books, or even some room and board costs.

ScholarShare helped California families pay for nearly $300 million in higher education costs in 2014. I love that this program makes tuition more attainable for so many families! Any U.S. citizen can open an account (or resident alien with a valid Social Security Number or Taxpayer Identification Number).

All you need to open an account is $25! I’m terrible about putting off things that I think I don’t need to worry about for a while but opening an account is a great way to take a step towards our college savings goals!

Make Use of that Birthday Money!

ScholarShare has a “give a gift” option if grandparents, aunts, uncles or friends want to open an account or contribute to an existing one. My kids often get cash gifts for birthday and holidays from friends and family who aren’t local to us. I love the idea of encouraging gifts to help pay for college. I try and go easy on the physical gifts for my kids because they already have so much stuff and we just don’t need more clutter. Adding to a 529 plan is a gift that can really help kids get the education they need and one that they’ll definitely appreciate when they are older.

ScholarShare’s 529 Day Matching Promotion

The best way to pay for college is to use someone else’s money! ScholarShare is celebrating National 529 Day on May 29, 2015 with their 529 Day matching promotion, “You Start It, We Match It.”

I know when I start a new savings goal (or really any goal) it’s always nice to see some progress to get me motivated. ScholarShare is going to help you get started on your savings goals by matching a $50 deposit. All you have to do to get the matching deposit is open a ScholarShare 529 with an initial deposit of at least $50 on Friday, May 29, 2015 before 11:59 PT and enroll in the automatic contribution plan for the new account with at least a $25 monthly contribution. ScholarShare will match the deposit by December 15, 2015.

Saving for college is something that most parents are worried about. I know I am. Taking the first step and opening up a ScholarShare 529 plan and then committing to setting aside a little bit of money every month is a great way to make saving for college a reachable goal.

Here are a few more ideas to save for your child’s college education:

• Set a monthly savings goal. Even small steps towards your savings goal count as progress. You’ll probably be surprised at how the small amounts add up.
• Have your kids help save. I’m definitely not opposed to teaching kids to work. Kids can get invested in their own higher education by putting a portion of money they earn or receive as gifts towards their college savings.
• Cut out extra costs. I’m always surprised when I take a good look at my monthly expenses and realize how many things I can cut out. If you want to find an extra $25-$50 (or more) to put towards your child’s college savings try lowering your TV package (or getting rid of it entirely), focus on saving energy around the house to lower your utility bills, or commit to eating out one less time a month.
• Add money to your child’s account for birthday and holidays. We’ve made it a habit to add money to each child’s college savings for each birthday or holiday as a gift. My kids get excited seeing their savings grow and all we are doing is taking the cost of one toy and putting that money in savings. My kids don’t miss the extra gift and we definitely don’t need the extra clutter.

Sign up for a ScholarShare 529 account here. 

Are you worried about saving for college? What are you doing to save for your child’s higher education?