Need some advice

[chalupaman]

What if you were in a situation where you were able to get enough financial aid to cover most of the tuition for the summer semester but happen to have around 105 dollars as a balance on a student account and where you also have to commute to a school half an hour away. My mom wants to make sure she has enough to pay for gasoline and I'm not sure whether I should take out another loan or not or just maybe take these two classes in the Spring semester. Thanks.

[pizzadude]

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@chalupaman wrote:

What if you were in a situation where you were able to get enough financial aid to cover most of the tuition for the summer semester but happen to have around 105 dollars as a balance on a student account and where you also have to commute to a school half an hour away. My mom wants to make sure she has enough to pay for gasoline and I'm not sure whether I should take out another loan or not or just maybe take these two classes in the Spring semester. Thanks.

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I'm not sure exactly what you are asking.  Are you trying to decide how to pay for other school related expenses ( besides tuition ) during the summer ?

[chalupaman]

Baasically yes. Mainly gasoline and textbook costs. I'm probably going to cancel that semester anyway and I doubt I could get an extra 1000 dollars in private loans right now. I just really wanted to get my microeconomics and statistics courses out of the way now.

[SCF]

Honestly, if you're only about $100 short on the tuition, and then just need gas and books I would get a part-time job and look for some cost-cutting measures.  Some ideas would be - buy used books, or maybe look for someone who took the class in the spring or who will take it in the fall who wouldn't mine your using the books for free?  Also, since it's summer and there are fewer students, maybe the school or your public library could get you the books you need?

For gas, any chance of car-pooling?  Schedules change in the summer, so maybe you could work something out that doesn't work during the year, or maybe public transit/riding a bike is an option because of the nicer weather?

Seems a shame to let $105 plus what could be relatively minor expenses stop you, but if taking the classes during the year is an option and you'd rather do something else in the summer or save more money for the year, it could be the best idea.

[chalupaman]

Alright. I didn't think of that but I have no idea what kinds of part time jobs I can get. I'm almost done with my freshman year of college after taking a year off from school. I had considered applying for an Apple internship but don't have a resume or anything because I've never worked before.

I'll look into taking public transportation over the summer. That just might work. My school is in Downtown Atlanta and I live around 30 minutes away and I know there are buses here that can go that far, not just at MARTA either but the county that I live in.

[SCF]

With only two classes, you should be able to look into all kinds of part-time jobs.  If they are day classes, maybe you could wait tables or be a bartender?  If they are in the evening, maybe you could work at a retail store?  Your college might even have jobs in the library or other departments - since most students aren't around but those facilities are still open you may have a better chance at getting an on-campus position, even if you don't have work-study dollars.

The more you work in the summers and the breaks - whether it is to make money, or to gain experience with volunteer and intern positions - the better off you will be when you graduate.

[SCF]

EDIT: Accidental double post

[Crisis]

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@SCF wrote:

With only two classes, you should be able to look into all kinds of part-time jobs.  If they are day classes, maybe you could wait tables or be a bartender?  If they are in the evening, maybe you could work at a retail store?  Your college might even have jobs in the library or other departments - since most students aren't around but those facilities are still open you may have a better chance at getting an on-campus position, even if you don't have work-study dollars.

The more you work in the summers and the breaks - whether it is to make money, or to gain experience with volunteer and intern positions - the better off you will be when you graduate.

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These are summer classes, though, and summer classes take up exponentially more time. 

Look into renting textbooks.  You can do this through Amazon.  I was able to get all my books for this semester for less than $100.