There are many ways to save money but a good one is to buy and sell your textbooks online. It’s simple it’s easy and you save money!

A Year in New York from Andrew Clancy on Vimeo.

What a great video about New York… Such a beautiful city! Maybe you could consider study there…

1. Define your priorites and make a list

Find out what are the immediate needs of your children: a backpack, shirts or shoes. Spend money on these items and they are immediate needs for your children. Your child might not need a winter coat right away so you can wait on that expense.

2. Take advantage of the sales.

Plan your expenses and buy items for you kids during next sales. That will help you save a lot of money!

3. Shop online.

You have tons of websites that can help you find the right product at the right price: amazon, google shopping, … Take advantage of it!

4. Don’t shop with the kids.

Though you want to include them in the process, they will trick you to buy more stuff and this is when you will overspend. Be careful with that as it can be very tempting!

5. Shop your junk drawers.

It’s highly likely that your junk drawers are full of common back to school items like highlighters, pencils, pens, calculators, and notebook paper. Just recycle them and you will save a lot of money!

Here are the benefits of online counseling:
- You can do it from anywhere: even if you are traveling in France or Japan because you are doing an exchange program at ESSEC or Keio University you will be able to get in touch with your counsel wherever you are
- online counseling can be beneficial: you can chose who you prefer, you can change easily and you can stop whenever you want. You can follow your own agenda
- It’s much more efficient: you don’t have to waste time for trips to meet with your counsel. At the end of day, you can waste a lot of time with that
- You can do it from home: it’s probably a more relaxing experience as you can relax and discuss with your counsel from home. Experience is probably much more confortable as you are in your confort zone
- It’s probably cheaper: considering that you don’t have to go there and meet with the counsel. It’s probably cheaper as the counsel can do it from anywhere and might consider discount pricing
- You can get access to more people and have options: online counseling gives you many more options. You can get access to counsels from all over the world: New York, Boston, London, Paris or Tokyo… Who knows the best counsels might be in Tokyo… you never know!
- You have the time to decide: You can check different counsels, look at reviews, make your own checks and shop around. It’s easier to find out the right counsel for you and it’s not that simple to find the right match.

All in all, internet revolutionizes a lot of things and couseling 2.0 aka online counseling is probably something you might want to consider if you have been disappointed by regular counseling. Give it a try and you might be satisfied this time! Enjoy!

Self storage is something you might consider at some point and you have to know that safeguard self storage is the worst self storage ever. Do not use it.

Here is why:
- Their service is the worst. They don’t care about their clients and when you ask them for something they will never reply to you. They are not responsive at all.
- They overcharge and they never inform you about it. What they do is very simple. They charge you but after you close your account so you are not aware of it. Then, you get a call from a debt collection company and they force you to pay. You have 24 hours and you have no choice.
- Again if you try to contact them to get an explanation they will just say we haven’t done anything wrong. That’s too bad.

Thankfully, the FTC is here to protect us against companies like them. This is unfortunate that such companies but hopefully internet will help us make a difference between self storage at the right price and a rip off.

That’s why you look on the web to find the right self storage. We just want to give you some piece of advice:
- Look carefully at your options: there are self storages options that are awful (bad service, dirty,…)
- Don’t go too far because you will have to carry your stuff at some point
- Do not underestimate how much stuff you have to carry. You will believe it’s small but it’s actually bigger than you think…
- Calculate total price. Self storage will always try to add features for extra dollars and usually these options are useless.

All in all, pay attention to which company you will use. Do not use self safeguart self storage, this is the worst self storage ever.

1) sign-up via a referral link (extra 250MB): http://db.tt/37oFFhE

2) Integrate Dropbox with Facebook, Twitter get a 2*128MB storage space free: https://www.dropbox.com/free

3) Share with Dropbox why you like the product (1 sentence): https://www.dropbox.com/free

4) Extra free Dropbox space for people with an .edu address (you will get 512MB per referral (instead of 256MB) and you may claim up to 16GB (instead of 8GB)). To do so, you just need to sign up your .edu email address at: https://www.dropbox.com/edu

5) Pass all requirements in the “Getting Started” section in your dropbox account and you can get 256 MB of extra space

5 simple tips to get extra space on Dropbox… Enjoy!

Whether you are living in a hall of residence, in a bedsit or a shared rented house, you need to take out appropriate tenants insurance to cover your belongings in the event of a disaster.

Tenants insurance policies cover the cost of replacing your personal possessions, up to an amount which is agreed with the insurer at the time you take out the cover. The limit should reflect the actual value of your possessions. It may take some time for you to work out the total, but if you do this accurately you won’t end up paying for a level of cover that is more than you actually need.

Remember that you need to include the value of your clothing, your books and any equipment you use for studying, your computer, audio equipment, television and DVD player and other things such as sports equipment, your bike and anything valuable such as jewellery or watches. Usually tenants insurance policies stipulate a maximum value on the amount they will pay out to replace an individual item. So if you know you have things worth more than this minimum, you should discuss this with the insurance company in order that appropriate extra cover can be added to your policy.

Something else that may well prove to be important to you as a student is that your tenants insurance policy can cover your possessions whilst they are temporarily away from your accommodation. This would apply during those occasions when you go back home to your parents during holidays or go travelling.

As a student it’s highly likely that you will be renting furnished accommodation and whilst the landlord is responsible for taking out insurance on the actual fabric of the building, you may be held liable for any damage you cause to items the landlord has provided in the accommodation. Furniture and appliances such as a fridge or cooker would be included in this category, as well as carpets, curtains and other fixtures and fittings. Tenants insurance can cover you for this liability, up to an amount which will be agreed with the insurer when you first take out the policy. This value is likely to be much lower than that placed on your own possessions, but it’s nevertheless an important part of the cover you need.

There are a number of companies providing tenants insurance policies and you should be able to find something suitable for your own requirements. Historically, it used to be more difficult to find this type of insurance, as companies were more reluctant to cover people living in rented accommodation, especially students. However, as the size of the rental market has increased in recent years, tenants insurance is becoming easier to find and the choice and range of policies available is better than ever.

I have talked with a few people and they told me: « you don’t have the right background, you will nevet get a job in XXX or YYY » or « your story is not convincing… »

Think about it as a venture. When you start a venture, some people tell you « you will fail! » but eventually you will succeed! Be persistent and you will prove them they are wrong!

I have no network. Can I get a job with my poor network?

You always have a network! You just need to be creative about it: your classmates, your colleagues from your previous jobs, the person you hooked up with 6 months ago, your former clients or suppliers, your social network (linkedin, facebook), your professors, your TAs, your professors from undergrad, your mentors, your peers at other school, some guy you met three years ago who works in your dream company. All of these people will help you get a job. Just send them an email and some of them will answer and help you. It’s a numbers game. The more people you approach, the more opportunities you get!

I am shy and I don’t want to ask people for help. My ego is too big to do that!

It’s statistical. Probably 15-20% will answer your emails or calls if you have no connection with them. If you have a direct connection, 50-60% will answer your request. At the end of day, there might be one or two person who will think: « OMG, He/She is such a loser! What does he want? » « I feel bad for him/her that he/she asks for my help ». These guys are the losers, not you! If you are polite, there is nothing bad about asking.

I am depressed. I think I don’t have the right skills. There are so many smart students in my industry looking for a job.  I feel I will never get a job at Goldman Stanley or Lehman Sisters?

Think positive! You have great skills and there is always something interesting about you: your background, why you like this job, what you would bring to the table. It’s just a matter of connecting the dots. You always have a good story to tell. The way you frame it is what matters. There is always a good job for you! And don’t forget to collaborate with your classmates. It’s a virtuous circle. If you consider them as competitors, you will lose eventually…

I have 22 interviews planned for the next 3 weeks and 14 dinners. Does that make sense?

No! It’s like dating: does that make sense to date 22 girls? You need to make choices. Some of them are tough but life is tough sometimes…

I want to start my own venture this summer but might consider some other job next year. Is it doable?

Absolutely! Some companies love entrepreneurs and hire students who have done entrepreneurship during their curriculum.

If I take an offer at X today, I will never get a job in Y in 3 years. Does that make sense?

Forget about planning your entire career. Just be good at what you do and opportunities will come at some point. It’s just a matter of time.

My classmate who has a 3.1 GPA from University of ChiBerVania and never worked in Investment Banking just got an offer from Goldman Morgan in New York. That’s so unfair!

Well that does not mean that you are won’t get an offer next summer. What matters is that you find the right job for you. Forget about your ego and think about what makes you happy!

I feel career management is useless and I will never get a job because of them.

Again, think positive. There are great resources and they will do their best to satisfy most of your needs but it’s also your job to reach out to the companies you are interested in and expand your network.

It’s end of April and I still don’t have an offer…

Surprisingly, a lot of companies are still hiring later in the year especially small companies. You could even get a very good offer because there is less competition… True story…

This is a wonderful role for a parent, but math tutoring is far more difficult for most parents.  For many of us, no matter how well we did in school, math skills are simply forgotten when they aren’t used.  The majority of Americans no longer use geometry in their daily lives, and while percentages or simple equations may be easy to remember, more complex math skills are harder to bring out of the recesses of memory.

For this reason, instead of trying to teach your child yourself, good math tutoring sessions are far more productive for students.  To find good math tutoring, first start by asking your professors if they have any recommendations.  There may be older students, for example, who can tutor free of charge as a part of an after school program.

Or, you may find great math tutoring from a local college student who is looking to make some extra money and has recently taken all the classes relevant to your math needs.  If you are particularly fortunate, you may be able to find a local college student who is studying to be a math teacher, so that the student doing the math tutoring is actually practicing his or her teaching skills as well.  That is a win-win situation for everyone!

Overall, just remember that math tutoring can really help a child who is struggling with the subject.  Math is an area that is sometimes difficult for students to grasp and they simply need more one on one time to practice and also identify what they are doing wrong.  Math tutoring can provide that extra assistance, even if you as a parent remember none of your algebra training!