credits for using public transportation. If you’re using student loans, you can claim federal and provincial tax credits for the interest you pay throughout the year. Use the free tax services offered by your school to ensure you’re benefiting from all the credits and deductions available to you.
What Every Student Should Know Before Signing a Lease
The countdown is on: you’re about to fly the nest! It’ll be just you, your roommates, books, essays, late-night study sessions, and maybe the odd party (okay, make that lots of parties). But what about that all-important roof over your head?
You need a game plan when it comes to your pad. Before you commit to forking over cash on the first cool place you see, ask yourself these questions:
Budget: What’s your budget? If you don’t know how to budget, we’re going to show you in a few short chapters. You know better than anyone what your cash flow can handle each month, so stay within it. Otherwise you’ll add a layer of distracting financial stress to your already full school schedule.
Location: Is the place close enough to school, the grocery store, and other amenities so you can keep your commuting time and costs to a minimum? Is public transit nearby? If not, do you save enough money by living further away that it outweighs these costs?
Roommates: Have you found the right roommates? No, this isn’t just about saving money on rent and utilities. It’s about ensuring your personalities are compatible. If not, you’ll spend way too much time worrying about the things that irritate you, like dirty dishes and smelly clothes, and not nearly enough energy on your studies. You’ll also want to make sure the people you live with know the importance of paying their share of the rent on time — you don’t want to be on the hook for covering for them. Hash out these tough issues before you decide to become roomies.
Legal Responsibility: If you’re dabbling in the roommate realm, you’ll need to determine who will ultimately sign the lease and take legal responsibility for the place. If it’s possible, have all the roommates listed on the lease. Some landlords will ask to look up your credit score to see if you’re a safe bet for paying your rent on time. Many students don’t have much in the way of credit and may need a parent to co-sign a lease. Talk about this possibility with your folks ahead of time.
If you’ve done your research and you’re ready to rent, here are some practical considerations, most of which are negotiable with your landlord:
Cost: The cost of the rent and what it includes. If utilities, laundry, and parking are extra, work that into your budget and clearly state it in your lease. Don’t get sideswiped with add-ons you didn’t agree to.
Term: Are you getting into a month-to-month, full year, or lease term that lasts only for the school year? Most landlords push for a year, but many allow students to rent only for the months they’re in school.
Damage Deposit: Are you prepared for the amount and conditions of the damage deposit? How does your landlord plan to reconcile the condition of your place before and after you lease it out? It can help to take plenty of before and after pictures to establish your position if there ends up being a disagreement upon your departure.
Notice: Can your landlord kick you out with 60 days notice? That would be an issue if you were in the middle of exams. Consider the opposite situation where you need to break the lease. What are the penalties for doing so?
Eviction: What will it take to get evicted? Not paying the rent? Loud noise? Drug use? Vandalizing the property? You need to find out. Generally speaking, if you treat the property as your own, practice common courtesy, and pay rent on time and in full, you shouldn’t have issues.
Repairs: Who will be responsible for which repairs? How will you notify your landlord of issues? It’s very common for tenants to be responsible for repairs under $50, such as replacing light bulbs.
Community Rules: In many cases, condominiums and apartments have common property and strict rules around how that property is to be used. You should review these rules, determine how they will affect you, and ask your landlord if there is a need to “sign off” on them prior to signing the lease.
Changes to the Property: Are you allowed to paint, hang art, copy keys, and swap out the furniture? This may be important as you’re establishing your much-needed Zen for school.
Read: Don’t skim your lease agreement! The devil is always in the details. Take it home for a thorough review and consult with your student resource centre if you have questions. You might also want to understand the basic legal rights between tenants and landlords in your province or city. A quick Google search can provide this information.
Well Past High School? You’re Not Alone
Jodi was contemplating whether to head back to school after working for four years as a legal assistant. At the age of 25, she was thinking she was too old to join the ranks of so many others studying. But the income she would earn as a legal business analyst versus a legal assistant would be nearly 70 percent greater. But the cost to Jodi would be three years of additional schooling.
Many people choose to go back to school after they’ve been working for many years and already have financial commitments, such as a mortgage, rent, or car payments. My parents did it while I was growing up in the hopes of increasing their collective income and creating a better life for our family. The costs, however, were very inhibitive for our family and essentially pushed us below the poverty line for nearly a decade because they had to forego much of their income-earning capacity in exchange for their education. Ultimately it was worth it because they did make more money, but our budget was very lean and sacrifices were made during that time.
If you’re thinking of heading back to school later in life or your career, go for it! But be smart about it so you can avoid financial hardship in the process. There are two ways to balance the commitment — part time or full time.
My pal Maria does the part-time school route. She is a young mother of three children, and between working 40 hours a week and shuttling her children between dance lessons and karate practice, she has time to take only one night class each semester as she works to complete a bachelor of arts degree at her local university. Sure, it will take her almost five times as long to complete her degree as it would if she were a full-time student, but having balance between her schooling, work, and personal life is important to her.
My other pal Angela took a year off to complete her masters of business administration (MBA) full time. For Angela, this meant forgoing her healthy income as a geologist for 12 months in exchange for completing her master’s program much faster. But the moment she graduated, her income bumped up 40 percent, which helped to offset the costs of forgoing it for a year.
In either scenario, you’ll be able to achieve a higher level of education. The biggest consideration for you will be whether to forgo your current income in order to expedite the process. If you have a partner or children, going to school full-time might not work well for you and your budget. Whereas if you’re single and living on your own, the only person you’ll be affecting financially, and with your lack of availability, is you.
Informal Education
Education can also be informal. Take, for example, Jack, a young fitness trainer. He’d like to broaden his fitness expertise into teaching spin classes. In order to learn how to do this, he doesn’t need to take a formal class, he just needs to learn the skills from an expert spin instructor.
Think about where you’d like to take your career in the next
