I was just posting about this earlier this week. My parents used to take 50% of what I made each summer and invest it in savings bonds for school. I hated it at the time, but I ended up graduating with ZERO debt!

How much did you put away for school when you were a teen? How did you save? WAs it on your own initiative or were your parents proactive about it?

My parents paid for all of us to go to college...we weren't expected to pay for any of it. Dh and I also are going to pay for our kids to go to college, we already have the money saved.

I took a gap year and worked 60 hr weeks to save up enough for the first two years. Then I joined the Reserves which paid for the rest .. well the good pay in the summers paid for the rest. In my 5th year of post secondary I took loans (big mistake) and my 6th year was totally on scholarships.

Dh took 4 years between highschool and university to save and paid for it all in cash. He's been getting scholarships ever since. He is on year 10 of his post secondary education and he's never had a student loan.

We have a great program here in Canada called an RESP. I wish we had it then! The gov't gives us a 20% match on whatever we put in (up to $2500 per year per kid). We don't put that much in but it sure helps to get the 20% extra. We've been saving something every month since the day they were born. We're hoping to pay for tuition and books. They will have to cover the rest. There are lots of good universities within driving distance to where we are. Once they are teens and have teen jobs, the rule will be , "save half, spend half". Half of the money they make will go into their RESP. They can do what they like with the other half.

Here is some more information for any Canadians...
Registered Education Savings Plan - Frequently Asked Questions

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My parents just paid for most of it a few Scholarships helped and I had an officer position on the Res Hall Student Council. I loved doing it and they paid for my room which really saved thousands. I ended up with a little debt as did my DH. We are down to owing 18K and will just keep paying for another 10 years. The debt is at a fixed 3% interest rate so I don't See it as a problem and we can write off SL interest.

For DD I like the idea of saving up for her early. She gets $5 a month to go in her savings when we get a good build up we will move it to some place with a higher APY We throw any checks she gets into the savings too. At 2 she has very little concepts about money other then putting spare change in her piggy is fun. But I am hoping that with putting a little away every month at a later age I can teach her about interest and how saving a little can grow big.

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Kimberly Proud Mommy to Bethany Rose April 2006

My parents did not have any money saved for college and they really didn't encourage me to save as well. I had a few savings bonds but only enough to buy books. I wish I would have had money saved then I would have stayed in school instead of dropping out to work full-time to be ble to support myself. My DH has just gone back to school and we are racking up some student loans. I plan on returning to school once he is finished and paying for my classes as I take them. The good news is I have a missouri college savings account for my soon to be here daughter so when it is time for her to go to college she can have the best experience possible.

the rule at our house was you had to go to a year of some schooling and dad would pay or get out and get a full time job. so i went to cosmetology school so dad paid for that. we hope to be able to save some money for our kids college to at least help them out but we have to save for our retirement and get out of debt first. we don't want to be a burden on them when we are old.

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'The will of God will never take you where the
Grace of God will not protect you.'

I paid for my own by working, but I never had a seperate savings account just for college. I went to a small local community college my first year and paid for everything from my income. After 1 1/2 years of that I joined the Army and so the GI Bill paid for rest of my school. I did not want loans and never qualified for grants (my mom made too much for financial aid but not enough to pay for college).

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I am only one, but I am one. I can not do everything, but I can do something. I must not fail to do the something that I can do. -Edward Hale

zero! I never worked until college. My dad did not want me working because I was so involved in school and church activities.

I paid for college with grants, financial aide and loans. My parents paid what they could. It did not take long to pay off my loans and my parents paid one off for me.

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~Happiness is a large family~

I had pretty much nothing. I went to school on loans. I took a year off after high school, but no stores would hire me because I had no experience. I worked as a babysitter for $50 a week, but I didn't save much of it. Some of it went to my last month rent deposit on my apartment that I lived in when I went to school.

The second year I was in school I worked for my school, and made enough to cover most of my rent.

So I've got student loans to pay off now, which at the rate I'm paying them will take 10 years. But once my fiance finds a job we can up the payments.

I had a little bit put away, but went to a state school and commuted and paid most of it by working part time. I had a few loans but was able to pay them off after I started working. My Master's was 100% paid for through the company I was working for at the time. What a deal!