Throw the Cap! Now What?

The National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) includes consumer tips for back-to-school shopping. Why not take it a step further and sell what you no longer need – a Back-From-School Sale. The NFCC recommends: “Avoid the parking lot and shop online. Save time and money. Stores often put their best sales online and it’s a great way to compare prices”. [NFCC Consumer Tips] . Don’t depend solely on book-buy-back programs at the bookstore to get something back. There’s no end to the items in a dorm or apartment that can be resold to recoup some of the cost of the completed semester.

What Student Debt?

I couldn’t say it better than Michelle Singletary:

“The commencement speeches soon will be over, the graduation caps and gowns put away, the gift cards used. The one thing that won’t go away is the tens of thousands of dollars graduates owe in student loans. For most college graduates, the cost of their educations finally will be a reality. So now what?” [Consider Options for Student Debt]

Every semester ends and brings a new opportunity to take inventory and sell your unwanted stuff online for good reason – cold cash. The good news about converting stuff to cash is that a dollar gained today from unwanted items sold online can help to make the transition between student debtor and living on a cash basis – something everyone could aspire to, in school or out.

All Sold Out?

To suggest that selling your stuff online will quickly solve student debt problems would be tactless and insensitive – I am neither. The value in reselling unwanted items speaks for itself, and researching this post revealed a great deal more help for students and consumers in trouble:

National Foundation for Credit Counseling Tools

The NFCC Website provides a great list of interactive online tools to help with debt relief including:

• Budget Worksheet
• Calculators – (Home Ownership, Purchase Cost, Debt Payoff Scenarios)
• Consumer Tips (Thrift Actions, Credit Advice, Housing Info, etc.)
• Financial Fast Fact Videos – Short Clips with Long-term advice.

For most of us, living on a cash basis would be the ’Best of All Possible Worlds’ - out of reach for most.  The good news is that inventory can become cash with a little work online – and that little work online is what we are all about.