Your Questions About Ways To Make Money Fast For College Students

Nancy asks…

What kind of diet works well with a busy schedule and little money?

I am a college student and I am on campus most of the time. What kind of diet would work well with eathing from candy machines and fast food places. By the way I am payign for my own school so i have little money.

Nagesh answers:

My psychology teacher once said to eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full. Best advice I ever got.

Joseph asks…

How do we handle our college freshman daughter who was caught drinking?

Our daughter is a Freshman in college and she has just been caught drinking. She was caught by the RA who wrote her up. We were then contacted by someone higher up in the campus housing department. We were told that she was intoxicated to the point of vomiting. And this was on a Wednesday night. There will be no legal ramifications, but if she is caught again (in the dorms), she will not be allowed to live on campus next year.

Our family is a no-alcohol family. Neither myself nor my wife drink. We expect the same out of our children. Yes, I am aware that social life in college is often centered around alcohol, but these days, colleges offer sober ways of having fun too. Bottom line: Alcohol is NOT needed in order for one to have a good time. There are MANY other, healthier, safer, and cheaper ways to have fun.

Our daughter depends on us financially. We did not want her starting her life off in debt, so we are paying for college. She does not have a job, and we pay all her expenses. But in return, we expected her to uphold our family values. Yes, she is an adult and must make her own decisions, but if she is adult enough to make such decisions, then she should be adult enough to pay her own way.

So here’s what we are going to do:

1) Starting in summer when she comes home, she will find a job or full time internship. She will also take a part time job in her Sophomore year to pay her social expenses. We will not question what this money is spent on. Most college students have to do this even when they haven’t broken a rule…

2) When she gets home she will have a physical exam with blood work to make sure that her drinking is not harming her liver (yes, weekend binging can harm your liver, even in the short term). She was going to have a physical exam anyway, so this condition isn’t anything additional.

3) We will continue to give her money for essentials, but we will ask her to send us the receipts, which we will check against bank statements that we receive.

4) She will not have a car on campus next year, like originally planned.

She has agreed to all of these.

Are we doing the right thing here?
Alison, let me remind you that the drinking age is 21 years in this country. She is only 19. So no, it is not ok for her to drink alcohol. And if she is old enough to make her own decisions, then she should be old enough to make her own money or pay her own way. I already explained this.

And to the person who told me I have issues. No, I really don’t. We DID teach her the right values earlier on….that’s why we’re disappointed.
Some of you have clearly failed to understand what I am trying to say, despite how simple I made it. I am NOT forcing her into ANYTHING. A physical exam with blood work is NOT a punishment. It is something we all have to do, and it is NOT a big deal. And I did not force her into it, so you’d better stop saying that I did. And your highness, clearly I AM doing what your dad did not do, which is meet in the middle. I AM making her get a part time job. After she turns 21, she can drink if she wants, but right now she is most emphatically NOT 21.

Nagesh answers:

You actually have some of the best parenting skills I have ever seen when it comes to parenting. How much better off would this world be if everyone had parents like you. I cannot imagine. You actually have a lot of common sense and set down with your child and kind of made out a contract of sorts. You certainly are very supportive of her going to school, but let her know you expect her to follow the rules as long as you are paying the bill. You even say that the money she earns can be spent on whatever she wants, but the money you give has to be accounted for. You actually stood your ground and expects your child to do the right thing and let’s her know it and put into a plan a way to accomplish that. Brilliant! You aren’t too strict. That’s the problem with a lot of parents. A friend of ours had a son in college for 2 years now and ignored his drinking off and on at college and getting into trouble about it from time to time. The parents had the mentality of “They are just college kids letting off steam. No big deal, ” or “Better be careful son and watch it.” The parents did nothing else to stop the behavior. Now their kid has failed and was tossed out and now he is back at home living with mom and dad with a job at a fast food restaurant. How different it could have turned out if he had parents like you.

The physical exam is nothing. She should have one anyway. Everyone should. I’m sure you have brought her up with the same common sense you are using now that she is older. I have a feeling it is going to pay off. Lack of disipline and not taking responsibility for bad behavior is one of the biggest problems in too many homes and the parents do nothing about it. That’s the problem. I think it’s great that you are paying for her college since so many kids end up with huge loans to pay back. You are being very generous with her and you have every right to expect her to not break the law and follow your rules while you are paying. Like you explained, if she wants to act up and break the rules, then she can pay her own way. It’s an easy choice to make and very simple to understand. I give you 5 stars on parenting and lots of people should follow your logic and parenting style and their kids would be a lot better off.

Steven asks…

What are inexpensive foods that are still good for you?

I’m not your average college student; I don’t drink, I don’t eat fast food, I don’t like partying. However, like most college students, I don’t have much money. I really love eating salads and fruits and good meats, but they are generally too expensive. Additionally, I’m not that great of a cook. Are there any specific products that I could buy that will be healthy for me but not break my budget?

Nagesh answers:

Beans are generally inexpensive and good for you. You can use them as a meat substitute or a side dish. Other things you can do is buy foods that you can use more than once, that brings the price down per meal. For example, on Sunday cook a turkey breast and the use it for the rest of the week in stir fry, sandwiches, etc. When you are down to the carcass, use it to make a soup stock. Soup is nutritious and cheap to make. Plus you can use what ever is on hand. In the winter when fruit is expensive, I buy the bags of frozen berries, etc. Same flavor in smoothies at a fraction of the price. You can also try to get a group of friends together and create pot luck suppers–it is another way to stretch a budget when everyone is responsible for only one dish. Hope this gives you some ideas!

Linda asks…

Are there any affordable ways to get to Japan to help with the crisis?

Hey everybody,

I am a college student with very little money, and I was wondering if I could, somehow, personally go to Japan and help out with the crisis without having to buy a plan ticket. Do these charity organizations offer free transportation to the areas of devastation? I have a feeling that’s a no, haha. Anyways, I would really like to help out. I know I could donate money, but that dosen’t really seem suffice; it almost feels impersonal.

Thanks a lot,

Pat

Nagesh answers:

No organization takes untrained, spontaneous volunteers for international relief.

As I am sure you are aware, relief organizations are funded by donors. Donors expect that their money will be spent wisely. That means that where possible, expenses not related directly to helping survivors, have to be kept to a minimum. Flying people thousands of miles and spending money on their airfare is not a good use of money, when there are many local volunteers available. (Not all of Japan suffered damage, and they have a large and functional national Red Cross themselves.) Providing shelter and food to these people costs money, and strips scarce resources from the disaster survivors. Inexperienced volunteers are often shocked at the living conditions they have to deal with. Limited water, no electricity, shared open showers, and hot, crowded volunteer shelters are the norm. It’s one thing to say that you can deal with them while sitting at home, but a very different thing to endure them when working 12-16 hour days and sharing them with dozens of people you don’t know. Sending home a volunteer who’s had an emotional meltdown is just another unnecessary expense–and keeping them around is even worse.

Yes, many people have skills that may seem useful. However, disaster scenes are much more complicated than everyday life. Resources you take for granted (like electricity–see above) while doing your job are not present. In Japan, communication and cultural issues would be huge. The language is complex, it is not written in Western alphabets, and it is very difficult to learn. If a volunteer needs a translator, that ties up two people to do one job, and that is inefficient.

The Japanese put a very high value on etiquette, nuance, and protocol. Informal Americans–even ones who can manage some of the language–run a very high risk of insulting the people they want to help.

This is a common problem at disasters even in the U.S., with American volunteers not understanding the local culture. (For example, I have heard of one group of good-hearted people arriving with beef ribs to feed a Hindu community. They couldn’t eat the food due to their religious beliefs, and the volunteers were insulted at the refusal of their “gift.”)

Processing would-be volunteers is also a problem. Existing volunteers and staff have to take time away from planning and executing the response, in order to register, interview, and track prospective helpers. This takes time, and it doesn’t help when the prospective people get rude and yell at the existing workers for “taking too long.” By the way–being rude or exasperated is the fastest way to being rejected from a volunteer agency. If you behave like that in your home country, in your home language, in a comfortable setting, what kind of tantrum will you throw under real stress?

So, those are just a few of the many reasons spontaneous volunteers are not used.

If you can make the long-term commitment to training (1 or 2 nights a month and several weekend classes) and disaster response (1 week of on-call duty per month) with the Red Cross, you will gain experience in local and regional disasters. That will get you qualified for large responses over time.

Lizzie asks…

How much should I pay for a 30 ft mural done by non professional college student?

I would like a large (30 ft long and approximately 7 feet high) mural painted to decorate a new children’s party place that I’m opening. My decorating budget is mostly taped-out, so I suggest the job to someone I casual know. She is a college (not an art student, so she does not need this for a porfolio) student who is artistically talented but is not a professional. She paints but never done a mural before.
I did explained that I approached her because I can’t afford a professional, but she’s a college student who is not working so she can use the money. We haven’t discussed price yet because I’m not sure what to offer. What’s the (minimum) I can expect to pay?

PS. We’re in NJ which makes a difference since things are a bit more expensive here than other parts of the country

Nagesh answers:

Honestly thats a tough one, as everyone deserves to get paid for their talents….The way it should work is you tell her what you want done, and she gives YOU a price based on how long it will take her. She really needs to be the one to price herself according to her talents what she believes SHE is worth. Factoring in time, supplies, and experience. As a professional designer, painter, and artist, myself, I would probably charge about 2-3K for such a large mural….so if thats any indication, I wouldn’t offer any less than $500, which imo is still a bit low.

Just curious though: why didn’t you look for an art or painting student who really COULD use something like this in their portfolio, as well as the experience? They could probably do it faster than this other girl…and you can feel more confident in their abilities because you would be able to see their actual work….I’m not saying this other girl doesn’t have painting talents…just was curious as to why you didn’t give a painting student a chance first…. 🙂

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