Survival Preparedness for a Broke College Grad?
September 18, 2011, Submitted by: Ken Tweet
Maybe you’ve taken out a college tuition load (or maybe you haven’t), you’ve completed four years of college, have a Bachelors degree, and can’t find a job that pays anywhere near what you expected. Or maybe you can’t find a job at all?
You have come to realize the state of the world that we’re in, that is, the horrible economic outlook with mounds upon mounds of debt to be paid, is in dire straits and may be headed towards the rocks. You are nervous about the future, and wonder how you will be able to pay off the already burdensome college loan, as well as your mounting credit card debt. Maybe you have a car loan too. You want to change things and prepare somehow, but you don’t know what to do.
Here are a few ideas about what you may consider doing to position yourself in a financially crumbling world.
You must realize that the world we live in is no longer the one where the prospects keep going up and up, one where people can keep on leveraging higher – taking on more debt – buying a newer car – a newer apartment, condo, or house – living the high life because your house just went up 100K in value last year…
You must realize that the entire period of time where this phenomenon took hold was simply by design of the elites to allow easy money to flow in the streets (for a variety of very greedy reasons). It unfortunately captured many of the dummies who know no better and even those who should’ve known better. It grew into an enormous bubble, one that will, and is, still bursting.
Your response to this realization should be to stay away from any and all debt, whenever possible. IMO, a home mortgage is OK, IF it is well within your means. Don’t count on the value of your home going up any time soon though. Consider renting.
If you have built up any credit card debt, even if you don’t think you can pay it off very soon, at least stop spending on your card. Stop the hemorrhaging if there is any…
OK, so you need income. We all need income in varying degrees of necessity. You have your degree but you can’t find a job where you are. So, face the likelihood that you may have to move away to find a paying job. This is the key to your current situation if you are looking for a job and cannot find one. Even today, there are jobs out there, but you will probably have to move in order to find one that meets your needs.
If you do not wish to move, then, you will have to live with someone who will take you in. Maybe it’s your family (there’s a lot of that going on these days). Maybe it’s a close friend. You will still need to provide worth to whomever you’ve moved in with, so, you may very well have to accept a minimum wage type job for starters – or, perhaps you have skills which will benefit whom you’re living with.
If you are concerned about being prepared, survival preparedness, economic collapse, hard times, or the next great depression, then I would advise learning as many practical skills that you can. I mean, ‘hands-on’ skills. During a severe economic downturn, many people will be on their own, fending for themselves. Your expertise in creating an Excel pivot table may not cut it when you’re bartering for food or supplies.
Preparedness starts with your current financial situation. How much debt do you have? How much income do you have?
Trim your expenditures to become frugal. Pay down debt and save cash whenever possible.
Once you’ve managed to change your lifestyle to enable a positive cash flow, then and only then, can you start the process of becoming truly liberated and free. Begin by buying extra food supplies (this always the first basic step). Learn how to supplement the food you buy with food you grow yourself. Learn how to preserve food. You would be surprised how much free food you could get from the excesses of your neighbors gardens – but you need to know how to preserve it for later.
Learn how to make things, how to do things with your hands. In a way, it’s like re-learning what our ancestors had to do to survive. Making do with what you have. Learning multiple uses for single supplies.
If you really want to prepare, then it is this mindset and way of life that needs to mingle or take over your current way. It can blend… you don’t need to go all the way. In fact, so long as the world doesn’t crash down around us – blending that old way of life with the modern way of life, is a nice compromise. One that will keep you ahead of the pack in many ways…
In summary, be willing to change your ways. Be willing to learn new things. Get out of debt. Get income wherever you can. You don’t need to make a zillion dollars a year to be successful and free. In fact, although you may disagree at your current stage of life, you will find out one day that it is not about money at all. Life, survival, and happiness is about other things altogether. The survival preparedness mindset, I believe, will head you in the right direction.
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One course that should be taught in college, and someone should be required to take it to graduate is financial responsibility. People have to understand compound interest and how a credit card can sift the life out of so many people. People do need to know that they can life a simple life out of college and get themselves out of any debt by simple being careful and not buying unnecessary garbage that does not benefit them. Everyone knows what garbage that is to. It is called in two words, SELF INDULGENCE. People have been conditioned to feel that if they do not live life to the fullest then they are depriving themselves of life itself.
List of helpful little things to reduce college debt:
Instead of going out to eat, make yourself something to eat. Learn to cook and your body will be happier than eating restaurant and fast food crap.
Use coupons to purcahse everything you can, IT ADDS UP BIG TIME.
Don’t buy what you do not need, junk. Coastal crabs hoard junk from beaches and have nests that filled full of worthless trash that the crab does not use for anything other than to look at. Be smarter than this.
Use other means of travel that are cheaper, public transporation sometimes or all the times until the debt is reduced a lot or gone.
When you have a little extra, pay it towards the debt. The lower that you can get the principle, the lower the compound interest, save more in the long run.
Don’t add to the debt, only buy what you can with cash or debit card.
Never get another credit card or get higher limits for the cards you have.
Don’t take your college days habits with you of spending too much with you after graduation.
Make itemized list of every single thing you spend money on. Having a list in front of you gives you an visual idea where you need to cut.
Have a set goal, a time in which you plan to be out of debt. This is a positive thought put into your brain that you will be out of of debt and this will be a time to celebrate. Know this will happen.
@college students at large; I have a very pointed opinion of education and how piss poor it is. First is the selection of majors. If the word “interdisciplinary” is located anywhere in the degree name you aren’t taking anything that will do you any good. If some derivative of the words “business, social, psychology, art(s), history, music, human, communications or any ology that does not involve a hard science is in the degree title then change majors (sorry Ken, not personal, it is a blanket statement). I remember 20-25 years ago there was an article, written by educators, I read that said that it would be foolish to learn welding. If you are a highly skilled welder, today $30 an hour is poor pay and $50 and hour is not uncommon. The Japanese have a joke. If someone speaks 3 or more languages, they are poly linguual, if they speak two languages they are bilingual, if they speak one language they are American. Now trust me when I say I AM ENGLISH ONLY, I mean it. The joke just shows how lazy college students are. Every student that graduates from HS should have a working knowledge of a foreign language (as long as it isn’t F&#@*^ French). If they graduate from college they should be required to have working knowledge of another foreign language. And if the gubment just has to be involved, then offer rewards TO GRADUATES with technical or science degrees, but I mean real degrees. Engineering, IT, Computer Sci., Biology, Chemistry, Geology, Math, Nursing, MDs, etc. If none of these then get a certification in welding, technology, electrician, H/VAC, car mechanic, MC mechanic etc. If nothing else get a waitperson job and be good at it. In the right location you can make a killing. An offspring makes $600-900 a weekend doing that and working 3-4 days a week and taking care of kids the rest of the time, that’s pretty good. Be willing to work. If you are a chemistry major get a job with a pharmacy, in the oil field with an environmental clean up firm…it is experience. It may get you your dream job, they often show up when you least expect it. With sincerity, good luck.
Some good advice here. I would like to add a couple thoughts related to prepping cheaply. First, if I’d known how much moving around I’d do in my lifetime I would have just LIVED out of suitcases and trunks. Seriously, you can get good, near new suitcases, sports bags and trunks at the 2nd hand stores for $5 or $10. Inside you can store 2 litre pop bottles of beans, pasta, rice, sugar, etc. Squirrel away a dozen tins of stew or chili, stock up on coffee, tea, etc. It’ll make moving easier, and it’s good opsec. (don’t tell your drinking buddies what’s in them when they’re helping you move. lol.)
This was a good article though I thought it should be out in general circulation rather than a survival blog. (It might receive some real attention if it were in Forbes, Time or Newsweek magazines) This article gave wonderful advice to the college student as I think it is too late for the college grad to do something about with their freshly minted degree.
For the New Graduate, (oh by the way, congratulations) I would consider several options.
Option # 1: Did you work your way through school? If you did, is this a field that you could turn into a viable career? If your field of study is not hiring, your previous trade will at least put food on the table in the meantime.
Option #2: Have you considered going back to school in a highly valued trade? A 4 year college degree tells me that you are able to learn things quickly and retain information for future use. You are smart. even if you majored in a “softer field” (ie. Liberal Arts Major, Art History, Social Sciences)
Option #3: By all means, Go to where the jobs are. I grew up in a resort community where I saw many Fine Arts or Philosophy majors flipping burgers and wiping down tables. In this same area I saw over 70% of the restaurants fail within 5 years of opening doors. As a child, I rode my bicycle past a storefront that we jokingly referred to as the “Repo Depot” It led to a very cynical outlook on life. It also led me to a 4 year degree in Economics at a Cal State University.
Option #4: The school of Hard Knocks. Learn from my mistakes and at least go home and think about what I have said. Do not make the same mistakes I have made. Do not waste time waiting for the Perfect Career (aint no such thing). If an agency or company is not hiring, go out and look for something/somebody that IS hiring and will put you to work right away. Employers will ask about extended gaps in your employment history. This is the one area in life that you simply must never quit or give up on. a good job can turn into a great career. Keep the faith New Grad.
At the risk of sharing too much background info, I majored in an area that is tough to find a job in (4 yr degree in Economics). One of the jobs I did to work my way through school was driving ambulance and fighting fires. When I saw the abysmal pay scale of schoolteachers in CA, (I laughed out loud to the Superintendent of a school district) I stayed in emergency services. I eventually got tired of playing on the freeway so I decided to go into Nursing so I could treat patients without dodging drunk drivers and getting rained on in January. (I hate being cold and hungry. IT SUCKS!) My cousin was gainfully employed after she got an RN after her last name. She was my inspiration for a career change.