Like any mom, no matter what background you come from, no matter your lifestyle, income, or pedigree, you want your kids to have the best. It’s not always possible–if you’ve been paying any attention to the news lately, you’ve seen the royal baby fanfare, and you know your baby’s arrival isn’t likely to have primetime coverage and an escort of who-knows-how many security teams to ward off the adoring crowds.
For us less-royal mums, sometimes providing the absolute best means making sacrifices. One of the biggest sacrifices we make can be paying for college; in the 2012-2013 school year, the average American parent had to shell out $5,726 from their own savings just to get their kids through college (and that’s not including the amount taken out in loans). That’s a lot of money. But isn’t there something you can do to avoid these high costs? How can you give your kids the best when it comes to a college degree, without going into debt because of it?
Thankfully, there are some things you can do. Actually, there are a lot of things. And they may seem small, but in the long run, they can really add up. If you start cutting back now, when your kids are still young, by the time they turn eighteen you may have saved thousands! Check out this funny, yet realistic, infographic from PassGED. You’ll learn a lot and may think twice about that mocha latte from Starbucks later this afternoon.