College for 10k

Make Money Online

zachyounkin — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:00:47 +0000

Throughout my time in college, I have been working pretty hard on making money online. Below, you will find the programs I am involved with, as well as the amount that I have made on each site. Please notice that all links used are referral links and I do make a few cents whenever you join and get paid to read emails. Don’t be afraid to join, as you will be helping me in getting through college with under $10,000 of debt.

I’ve earned a total of $56.69

I’ve earned a total of $106.80

I’ve earned $21.44

DealsnCash

I’ve earned $13.98

I’ve earned $4.77

I’ve earned $70.21

I’ve earned $11.41

I’ve earned $13.77

TakeTheInternetBack

I’ve earned $26.36

I’ve earned $8.04

Cashforaction

I’ve earned $6.47

I’ve earned $6.62

SurveyHead

I’ve earned $65.90

MySurvey

I’ve earned $45.55

Swagbucks

I’ve earned $105 at Amazon! Much more to come

I’ve earned $212.30

It’s quite amazing to think that in only reading emails and taking emails, I was able to make over $670.31! Give it a try and see what you can make

Site News:

I recently updated my website with a cool little add-on. You need to go to Meebo and add your log-in info there. Once you do that, you’ll be able to chat with your friends from Facebook and AIM here on College for 10k.
You have six days to win “America’s Cheapest Family” when you tweet Enter to win America’s Cheapest Family and $15 from zachyounkin just by tweeting this. Details at http://bit.ly/cBVHoY
Victoria, wrote a guest post on whether or not it makes sense to consolidate student loans .
I added a banner to the top of my site, ING DIRECT USA Checking Account. I recommend them for their great rates!

Consolidation of student loans

zachyounkin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:00:40 +0000

Below is a guest post by Victoria, a financial blogger to help inviduals find the best cd rates and insurance rates in the money market. If you are interested in being featured, contact me to Guest Post

You’re getting close to graduation and all those loans you took in college are going to come due six months after you graduate. Should you consolidate? Well, the straight answer is: It depends.

What types of Loans are there?

Student loans are cut into two categories: Private loans and Federal loans. A Federal loan is anything loaned to you by the Federal Government. which include PLUS loans, Perkins, and Stafford loans. A private loan is any loan given to you by a bank. Also, after July 1, 2006, Federal loans have had a fixed rate of 6.8%, whereas private loan interest rate has varied but as of 2009, cannot exceed 8.25%. Because the Federal loans have the fixed rate, it is not recommended to consolidate them unless you are having trouble or plan to have financial difficulty making the payments.

Understand that Federal loans have options such as deferment, forbearance, and cancellation that may be lost if you consolidate these with a private lender.

When you consolidate, your new rate will be equal to the weighted average of the loans that you currently have, increased to the next highest 1/8th of a percent. So if your interest rate combined was, say, 6.834%, your loans would be consolidated at 6.875%. The other thing that’s nice is that the student loan company will usually offer you a rate discount if you pay your loans on time for a pre-set number of months, usually 36 or 48 months.

In addition, starting in 2009, students graduating college can opt for an income-based repayment plan. What this means is that the most the student loan companies can charge you is a percentage of your income. the rate is based on the difference between your current income and 150% of the poverty line. If you still have debt after 25 years, it will be forgiven, although forgiven debt counts as income.

What should you consider?

First off, ask around. Call banks or lenders that specialize in private loan consolidation. Ask them what they can do for you and what discounts you can get off the interest rate after a number of payments have been made. Also, always make sure that your loan company does not have a prepay penalty. You want to be able to pay additional upfront if you make more money and save yourself the interest charges.

Always remember there are options. Sites such as studentloanconsolidator.com, loanconsolidator.ed.gov, chasestudentloans.com and studentloan.com, are some of the many websites that you can use to consolidate your loans. Keep in mind: These are going to be the people you may be paying for 10-20 years or longer. Do your research and see what works for you both now and in the future. You want to get the best rates and the best incentives.

Another option to consider is that most states have consolidation programs that will allow you to take your Federal Loans and make them into one big consolidated loan. Think about what benefits they can offer you — if they take 1% off your interest now, it helps a lot more than if they take 1% off your interest after three years.

Consolidating student loans is a good way to take the sting out of your monthly payments, and even though you will be paying more in interest in the long haul, the convenience of having just one payment a month instead of trying to remember whether you paid multiple companies may be worth the hassle that it takes. So explore all your options and find a consolidation program that is ideal for your situation now and in the years to come.

February Update

zachyounkin — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 17:00:08 +0000

Seeing that this blog is my journey in getting through college with under $10,000 of debt, I thought I should share an update to keep myself accountable to you.

Credit Cards

Where I am:

Well, this is been an ongoing battle. With my minor accident, I was unprepared to shell out the $350ish dollars to fix my car. Unfortunately, I had to use my credit card to pay for the repairs.

My plan:

As I mentioned, I am reading through America’s Cheapest Family. I just read through the chapter on debt and now have a plan. I will be taking my balances and paying them off one by one. I will tackle the cards evenly and once one car is paid off, I will take the money I was using to pay off one and put it on the other card.

Student Loans

Where I am:

Unfortunately, I did have to take out a loan to cover the costs for this year. I am currently saving money, with the hopes of paying off nearly all of this years costs this summer.

My plan:

By keeping my hands off of the money in my savings account (and adding to it with each paycheck), I am on my way to getting my loans paid off by no later than the end of this year.

Making Money

Where I am:

I am still working at Buehler’s, and loving every minute of it. While I have lost a few hours from one week to the next, I am still making enough to pay down my debt, while still stockpiling a bit of it. Also, I am still working getting paid-to-read emails and I appear to be well on my way to my most successful year yet! I’ll be posting an update next Saturday with current totals so you can see exactly how it’s improved. While this is not making me money, I have been asked to blog over at DelawareO.com. You can read an introduction and learn how Delaware has changed my mind. I’ll be posting two times each month over there about college life here in Delaware.

Site News

I’m running two contests on my blog now.

By tweeting “Enter to win America’s Cheapest Family and $15 from zachyounkin just by tweeting this. Details at http://bit.ly/cBVHoY” you will be entered to win a book as well as $15. You can get more info at America’s Cheapest Family

Also, if you have a blog, or are an affiliate for a product/company, I’m currently offering free advertisement. All you have to do is write me a little something and you’ll be entered to get a spot.

Be sure to subscribe to College for 10k, follow me on twitter (@zachyounkin) and become a fan of College for 10k on Facebook (see badge below)…

10k College Degree

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No College Debt

zachyounkin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:00:47 +0000

Below you will find an interview with Chris Coppenbarger. I found his story via StumbleUpon and asked him if I could interview him because his story was quite unique. As a student trying to get through college with as little student debt as possible, Chris’ story is quite an amazing one!! If you are interested in talking about your story, email me and I’ll send some interview questions your way

Can you tell me a bit about yourself?

My name is Chris Coppenbarger. I grew up in various places around the South, ending up in a small town near Savannah, GA. We were always in church and I was raised that if you don’t have the money for something, either save up for it, or don’t buy it. I have B.A. in Cross-cultural studies from Toccoa Falls College, a Certificate in Information Technology from Clayton State University, and a M.A. in General Theological Studies from Columbia International University. I work full-time as a web developer. I am married with two children and one on the way.

On your blog, you mention getting through college debt free. How did you do it?

I went to a small 2-year school in my first year and received money from the state through their HOPE scholarship program funded by the Georgia Lottery. I also received federal Pell Grant money. I think there was some other small academic scholarship, but I don’t remember. In the end, I received enough money to even pay for books. A lot of states offer some kind of scholarship program funded by their lottery. I didn’t do well enough to keep my scholarships and came home for two years. During that time, my dad died. My mom took a job at Toccoa Falls College in Northeast Georgia, and we moved there. I have two sisters as well. I was able to get a discount for my mom working at the school, but I was also able to get a few random scholarships and worked. I also lived off-campus with my mom and sisters. That probably helped immensely. In the end, I never took out a loan. There were some early semesters, when I wasn’t sure that I was going to be able to pay for the whole thing, but it worked out. I worked hard, committed to not get in debt over college, and got my degree.

And, you made it through seminary with no debt. How in the world did you do that?

Going to seminary was a little different than going to college. It was three years later, my mom didn’t work for the school (so, no discounts there), and my work wouldn’t pay for school, as it wasn’t related to my work (I worked for Target catching shoplifters). I was also married and we had one child already. In the end, I took my time. I was in a one-year program, since I didn’t need the Bible classes, having a Bible degree already. I could only afford to take one or two classes a semester to begin with. The Winter and Summer programs are only one or two week courses. While at Seminary, I was able to get a job on campus. This helped immensely as the school would pay for 90% of my tuition now. Again, I was able to secure a scholarship here and there that also helped to pay for the rest and for books. As for books, they can get expensive, so I recommend Amazon.com for book searching. In the end, I took my time, working my way through school. It took my three years for a one-year program, but I was able to finish it, even finding out we were expecting our 2nd child near the end. Again, I had committed to no debt. The only debt I believe that we maintained was a vehicle. It was hard at times, trying to decide if I could afford even one class sometimes, since payment is due up front. But somehow, we always did it. In both cases, college and seminary, I recommend sitting down with financial aid and discussing what scholarships and grants are out there. There are VA benefits if one has been in the military. There are specialist scholarships if you’re in a particular program or study. Since I was in the Muslim Studies program, there was a special scholarship for that. There are scholarships out there that don’t have to be paid back, if one just looks for them. If one has to complete a program in 5 years, instead of 4, then so be it. One shouldn’t have to rush it. A lot of the college debt that people take out, they are still paying for it 20 years down the road, and they may not even be using their degree. I don’t recommend loans to anyone for that very reason, and the interest rates are extremely high once you graduate.

If you could do college or seminary over again, would you?

Sometimes I think I would, other times I know I wouldn’t. I wish I would’ve stayed on track with the Mechanical Engineering program I was in at one time, but other times, I know that God had other plans for me. I didn’t do well in my first year of college. That might be the only thing I would possibly do over, but then again, I have a wonderful family and would not want to do that over. I believe that everything has a purpose and that I had my experiences for a reason. Some people may have to take out loans to get through school, but others may not. I don’t recommend loans because it’ll take forever to pay off and the interest rates are exorbitant. Like I said earlier, there are random scholarships out there that nobody knows about. Look for them. I was in seminary and found scholarships. There’s not a whole lot for Graduate and Seminary, but they are out there. Thanks for the time to share my experiences.

Chris Coppenbarger is a Christian, a husband, a father and a web developer in Columbia, SC. He has a B.A. in Cross-cultural Studies from Toccoa Falls College, a Certificate in I.T. from Clayton State University, and a M.A. in General Theological Studies (emphasis in Muslim Studies) from Columbia International University. He serves in his local church on the Missions Team, as the leader of a Men’s Bible Study, and as a web developer. He also blogs at http://god-at-the-center.blogspot.com.

America’s Cheapest Family

zachyounkin — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 17:00:25 +0000

Currently, I am away on a little retreat, but I couldn’t go away and not have something real special for you.

With the eight or so inches of snow that we have had, there has not been much of an opportunity for me to expand my knowledge outside of reading.

Lucky for you, my readers, I’ve been working through an interesting book, America’s Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money: Your Guide to Living Better, Spending Less, and Cashing in on Your Dreams. I am not sure if you have read it or not, but it provides valuable insight in personal finance topics. Anything from grocery shopping to going on vacations without going into debt.

It’s time to do a wonderful little contest in order to get your hands on a copy of this wonderful book as well as a few giftcards.

Here’s what you need to do to get entered in. Please read the entire post, as it answers all of your questions regarding your eligibility.

First off, head over to twitter and register for an account if you don’t already have one. Once you get one set up, or, if you already have one follow me, @zachyounkin

Then, there is only one more thing to do. Copy and post the following as your status:

Enter to win America’s Cheapest Family and $15 from zachyounkin just by tweeting this. Details at http://bit.ly/cBVHoY

Notice that there is no @ sign in front of my name. If the entire tweet does not match the one listed on here, IT WILL NOT COUNT.

Please only tweet this one time as doing it more than once will anger your readers. It will not increase your chances of winning. The decision I make, will be made using a random number generator. That decision will be completely final. The winner will be announced, Friday The decision of the judges is final. The winner will be announced on Twitter.com March 12, 2010, sometime before Midnight. You must respond within 48 hours of my tweet to claim your prize.

I will check my follower list and to make sure that the winner is one that follows me.

If the winner is out of the United States of America, I will be unable to ship this out of America and a new winner will be chosen.

If you are interested in helping me out with my big graduation giveaway, please contact me now!! I’ll send you the details back right away.

Sponsor Me

zachyounkin — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:00:27 +0000

Hey there guys,

In the 6 weeks that I’ve been blogging here at College for 10k, I’ve experimented with some affiliate programs as well as google ads.

In order to bring a few new ads to my site, I decided to try something I read over at Problogger.

I will be open to running a test drive on your ads, for free, for one month.

I have the following spots open four 125*125 ad spots open on my blog.

By the end of the March, I will choose four of those ads to run for a one month period on my blog. I will run the ad in the month of April completely free!!

How do I enter?

Please enter your information below

[contact-form]

You will need to provide me a banner yourself. The only thing I can draw is flies

As long as you enter, you have a pretty good chance of winning.

Here’s the rules:

No spam sites. I don’t need Viagra, cheap health insurance or anything like that.
You enter your information with on the site above.

That’s it!

Enter the contest and sponsor me!

Am I a bad sponsor?

What I wish someone would have told me my senior year

zachyounkin — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 17:00:28 +0000

With graduation coming in a few short months, students are looking at colleges across the United States and trying to figure out which college would be the best choice for them as they look to further their college education. As I look back over the past two years, I can think of a few things that I wish someone older told me:

Debt Is Not A Necessity

The basis of the blog is my goal of making it through college with under $10,000 of debt. Two years ago, as I mentioned before, I was planning on heading to Grace College. While I did have the sticker price down under $13,000 a year, I still would have ended up with well over $50,000 of debt for four years. I considered Ohio State University, but even there, I would have ended up with more than $30,000 of debt.

As I look back at those plans, I realize how much that debt would have played in me not being able to pursue my dreams without the cloud of debt over my head. Currently, I have about $2400 of debt and am getting ready to send my first check to knock out a bit of that loan. I’m well on my way to getting through school with under $10,000 of debt.

It Is Possible to Work and Go to School (and, I recommend it)

Currently, I am employed at a grocery store part-time, while going to school as a full-time student. Throughout this, I have learned a few interesting things:

Groceries are expensive. Even though grocery prices are falling, I am amazed at just how much money goes to buying food. I know have a much deeper respect for those that are able to save hundreds of dollars a month on their grocery shopping.
Working for my education has given me a greater respect of my education. Because I am paying for my education, I work harder because I know that if I were to fail a class, I am the one who has to repay to take the class again.

Friendships are important

While I have learned to meet new people and have even become friends with some of them, I have realized just how important friendships are. As I mentioned in Why so Little Debt?, I am trying to get through college with under $10,000 of debt, so that I can give money freely to my friends who want to go and change the world.

Because we are all within a four hour drive of each other, it makes it easy for us to get together and hear the successes we are having in our schooling and the career opportunities that we may have and how we can help each other through that. Through this all, we learn about each other a little more and can understand how we may be able to help each other out financially.

In saying all of this, please hold on to your friendships from high school. You never know when you are going to need them.

What next?

If you have already graduated from high school, what is one thing that you wish someone told you?

If you are a high school student, what is one question you have about college?

If you are graduated from college, what is one thing that you wish someone told you before you graduated and entered the “real world?”

Let me know in the comments

Link of the Week

I was asked to write a guest post over at CreditShout. You can check out Credit Cards from a Students Perspective and let me know what you think.

Student Credit Cards vs Secure Credit Cards

zachyounkin — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:00:38 +0000

The following is a guest post by CreditShout, a personal finance blog dedicated to educating people on how to manage their finances and save money with credit cards. You can follow Kevin on twitter: @kevinfleming . If you’d like to guest post, you can submit your information via this form: Guest Post

Turning eighteen, and often going away to college, are major steps on the pathway to the real world. Another, often overlooked major step on this path is beginning to build your credit. When you apply for a mortgage, a car loan, or even student loans, your credit score can have a big impact on whether you are extended a loan and how much that loan costs (i.e. what the interest rate is).

As soon as you turn eighteen and are legally an adult, you can begin the process of building a good credit score that will stay with you for life. However, many young people are uncertain as to the best way to go about establishing a strong credit history. Young people may also be unaware of how to choose between the two principle options available to them: secured credit cards and student credit cards.

Secured Credit Cards
Secured credit cards are a form of secured debt. This means that there is collateral guaranteeing you will pay back the debt. The collateral in this case comes in the form of cash, which you give to the lender to hold in an account.

Your credit line is usually extended up to the amount of security you provided. This means if you have a secured card with a $500 limit, you will have to put $500 into an account (which usually earns interest similar to that you would earn at a local savings bank). If you fail to pay your bills, the lender can seize the $500.00 to satisfy the outstanding debt.
Almost every secured credit card charges an application fee, and many charge an annual fee (although not all do). Shop around online, and at your local bank and credit union to compare fees and find one with the lowest charges. Most secured cards also have high interest rates on borrowed money, so shop around and compare this feature as well.

If you opt for a secured card, make sure that the lender reports to the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. These three bureaus are responsible for keeping the data on your credit history, and when lenders check your credit, they ask one (or more) of these companies for your credit report. If your secured card doesn’t report to the credit bureaus, the card will do nothing to help you begin building your credit since lenders will never know about it.

Many secured cards also convert to standard credit cards after a set period of time, as long as you are responsible with your bills. The standard length of time before a card converts is between 12 and 18 months. Make sure to find a card that offers this feature, if you opt to go this route.

Student Credit Cards
Unlike secured cards, student credit cards are unsecured debt. That means that there is no tangible asset guaranteeing the loan. You are extended a line of credit (based on your credit score, income and other related factors) and can use that line of credit however you see fit. If you have a $500 limit and charge $500 worth of pizza, the creditor would have no asset to seize if you didn’t pay your bills.

Student credit cards are very similar to standard credit cards issued to any adult. They are issued by many of the same banks or credit unions, and some offer similar features to standard cards, such as rewards point programs. Some, but not all, charge an application fee. The interest rate is usually higher than a standard card issued to an adult, however, but lower than the interest rate on a secured card. The credit line is also relatively low on most student credit cards, since most students do not have high incomes.

If you’re looking for a decent student credit card, I recommend looking into the Discover Student Card. This card is very similar to the Discover More Card, but has a higher interest rate because of the fact that it’s a student card.

Secured Cards Vs. Student Cards

There are both benefits and detriments to secured cards and student cards. For example, secured cards have a higher interest rate than most student credit cards. They also require you to tie up the money that you put into the account, where it earns a relatively low interest rate as compared with other investments. You cannot earn rewards points on secured cards as you can on some student cards, and most charge annual fees while many student cards do not.

A student card may also be a better option because it is more similar to a standard adult credit card. Secured cards are not usually meant to be kept for long periods of time, due to the fees associated with the card and other such factors. Student cards, on the other hand, could theoretically be kept open indefinitely as long as there is no annual fee. Since a part of your credit score is determined by the average age of your credit accounts, opening a student card and keeping it open throughout your life can make your credit-history longer and have a favorable impact on your score.

However, the major benefit to secured cards is that it is almost impossible to get in over your head in debt. Because your credit limit is restricted to money you have in the bank, you can’t run up huge credit card bills that could follow you beyond the college years. With a student card, it is entirely possible to get yourself into financial trouble by charging up to your credit limit when you don’t have the cash to pay. It may also be easier to qualify for a secured card than for a student card, since there is less risk to the lender.

Building Your Credit
Regardless of whether you choose a secured card or a student card, the key is to use these financial tools wisely to build your credit. Don’t ever carry a balance on either card, as you’ll end up paying interest at a high rate. Carrying a balance is not necessary to build credit, contrary to a popular myth.

Charge a small amount on the card each month and pay the balance in full. Over time, you’ll develop a record of on-time payments, which accounts for 35 percent of your FICO score. Keep your balance low, and refrain from applying for too many cards as a maxed out card and multiple inquiries (i.e. multiple new accounts) can hurt your credit.
By practicing these tips and using credit wisely, you’ll be on your way to creating a strong credit score which can make borrowing for the big stuff a breeze.

Taxes

zachyounkin — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 17:00:50 +0000

“Nothing is certain but death and taxes”

Benjamin Franklin said it over 220 years ago and it still rings true today.

Today is February 6th and by now you should have received most, if not all, of your W-2’s, 1099’s etc.

Here are some dates that I received in an email from TurboTax Online that you should pay attention to if you don’t want to end up with a hefty tax penalty.

Individual Tax Returns Due for Tax Year 2009 April 15, 2010.
		Individual Tax Return Extension Form Due for Tax Year 2009 Need more time to prepare your tax return? File your request for an extension by April 15 to push your deadline back to October 15, 2010.
		1st Quarter 2010 Estimated Tax Payment Due If you are self-employed or have other first-quarter income that requires you to pay quarterly estimated taxes, get your Form 1040-ES postmarked by April 15, 2010.
		Last Day to make a 2009 IRA Contribution If you haven’t already funded your retirement account for 2009, do so by April 15, 2010. That’s the deadline for a contribution to a traditional IRA, deductible or not, and a Roth IRA. However, if you have a Keogh or SEP and you get a filing extension to October 15, 2010, you can wait until then to put 2009 money into those accounts.

June 15, 2010		2nd Quarter 2010 Estimated Tax Payment Due If you are self-employed or have other second-quarter income that requires you to pay quarterly estimated taxes, make sure your payment is postmarked by June 15, 2010.

September 15, 2010		3rd Quarter 2010 Estimated Tax Payment Due If you are self-employed or have other third-quarter income that requires you to pay quarterly estimated taxes, make sure your third quarter payment is postmarked by Sept. 15, 2010.

October 15, 2010		Extended Individual Tax Returns Due If you got a filing extension on your 2009 tax return, you need to get it completed and postmarked by October 15, 2010.
		Last Chance to Recharacterize 2009 Roth IRA Conversion If you converted a traditional IRA to a Roth during 2009 and paid tax on the conversion with your 2009 return, October 15, 2010 is the deadline for recharacterizing (undoing) the conversion. Doing so could save you money if the IRA has lost money since the time of the original conversion.

January 18, 2011		4th Quarter 2010 Estimated Tax Payment Due If you are self-employed or have other fourth-quarter income that requires you to pay quarterly estimated taxes, get them postmarked by January 18, 2011. (January 15, 2011 is a Saturday and the following Monday is a federal holiday.)

Taxes are great, are they not?

‘Tis the season where we complain about the amounts we pay, but just consider the benefits that we have.

Question of the post:

Top Tax Posts from fellow bloggers:

How to Save Money on Taxes: $27.95 to be Exact by PT Money

Free Turbo Tax Software by Money Smart Life

Exciting site news:

Check out shopzach for great deals!

Also, if you can feel free to guest post on College for 10k.

Why so little debt?

zachyounkin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:00:19 +0000

One question that never gets asked, but I feel some people wonder is:

“Zach, why don’t you want to get into a bunch of college debt? Everyone else is doing it.”

As I have said before, I was planning on attending Grace College starting the fall of 2008 for about $12,000 a year. Over four years, I would have ended up spending about $50,000 for the degree from Grace. A good chunk of change! My goal was to work aggressively at paying that down to around $10,000 so that I could leave and go work for a non-profit (Compassion International, To Write Love on Her Arms, etc).

Long story short, loans didn’t work out as I expected and I ended up staying here at home (If you want to read the whole ordeal, I invite you to take a gander at My Story).

Going throughout all of this past school year, I wasn’t completely sure which direction I desired to take my career choice.

Did I want to head into a ministry?

Or did I want to head out to the workplace?

Each week would bring a different feeling for me as to the direction I wanted to take my career choice.

One week, I felt strongly that working in a ministry environment would be the best for my future.

The next, I’d feel that I wouldn’t be challenged enough and felt compelled to go into the “secular” workplace.

I considered the salaries that I’d make in each option.

I considered the stress.

And I still couldn’t decide.

Decision Time!

I feel I didn’t have a good answer until I heard Dave Guiles speak at DGBC (You can listen to the message “What in the World is Going on?” and subscribe to the podcast on ).

About half way through his message, Dave spoke about a group of people who gathered together to decide how exactly they were going to go about changing the world. They we are all friends who desired to solve poverty around the world. God was not letting them be at peace. They all gathered together and wanted to see how they would solve the world. Many of the families changed their lifestyles; three of the couples left for the urban poor, one of the couples were great in business and asked the group if they were okay with staying in their profitable business and then supporting the three couples who left for the urban poor. Of course, the group agreed overwhelmingly.

I found this extremely encouraging as I debated back and forth on which direction to take my life.

As Dave was talking about this, I remember thinking how similar this sounds to my group of friends. So many of my friends want to go and change the world. Many want to travel to Africa, to Asia with some wanting to work here in the United States, all with the goal to change the world.

I never had that feeling.

Do I have a desire to head abroad at some point in my life?

Absolutely.

However, I feel much more similar to the couple that had a successful business. I always felt that regardless of which route (ministry or secular) I took, I would become a very successful businessman. Up until the Sunday that Dave spoke, I never felt right in admitting my goal as a successful businessman and having a goal of making money.

Because of Dave, I now feel confident (and completely at peace) in my future plans.

Now, how exactly does all of this tie into getting through college with under $10,000 of debt?

It will allow me to help my friends get started in their ministry. Starting the very first day on my job, I will begin to share my money with my friends who are so passionate in changing the world. Rather than waiting to pay down my $50,000 loan, I am able to begin to be a blessing to my friends in financial ways that will allow them to change the world.
I will be able to see first hand how the money I donate is used. My good friend Ben, after me telling him this news, informed me that he will not just allow me to write checks. He wants me to go and see what he is seeing and become aware at how my money is being used to end poverty in the world.
I will be able to not worry about driving the newest, nicest car or having the biggest house because I am living with the satisfaction that I am blessing others through my financial standing.

Where do you go from here Zach?

I continue to work through my classes at Columbus State Community College
I continue to work at Buehler’s in Delaware
I continue to support Compassion International and help Haiti
I continue to support the work of Delaware Grace Brethren Church in volunteering my time with the Junior High students. What a blast!!

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Decision Time!

Now, how exactly does all of this tie into getting through college with under $10,000 of debt?

Where do you go from here Zach?

What do you think?