Let me put it out there: whoever said money couldn’t buy happiness was a moron. Aside from being a super dad-like statement, it’s completely false. While I’ve always suspected a little extra cash brings on the smiles, a study out of the Wharton School now also suggests my inklings are spot-on.

As if we needed a study to tell us this, it looks like the truth might actually be we’re simply happier people when the bills are covered, the loans are paid, and there’s a little extra play money lying around for those just-because purchases. As a college student or a recent grad, you probably feel the financial strain more than most groups within society. Rent, school, transportation, random incidentals…chances are you’re paying for one or more of these hefty items on your own with minimal life savings to your name.

And that’s all before you factor in the cost of shopping, vacations, and going out…if you can even afford to do those things. So what are we left with? A lot of debt, a lot of stress, a lot of mail we don’t want to open, and NOT a lot of affordable ways to de-stress.

Don’t try and tell me that the free yoga classes offered at the university’s gym are a wonderful stress-reliever. I don’t want to know about it. As far as I’m concerned nothing makes me smile faster than a cold umbrella drink in my hand, a fancy new pair of shoes on my feet, and knowing that there’s an exotic beach somewhere not too far away.

Tough love: sometimes it takes a million bucks to feel like a million bucks.

…Now if only the economy would improve so I can get a job and finally understand what it is to be truly, blissfully, happy.

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I thank my parents for making me pay for my own college education.

You’d think that any parent with the financial ability would just automatically pay for their child’s education. It’s their duty, right? Well, my parents decided to take a different route. They believe that paying for your own college forces you to do better. To them, if your parents are paying for your college, it doesn’t matter if you fail a class. Mommy and daddy can just pay for you to take it again. They believe that not only will I most likely do better, but that I will appreciate my education more if I pay for it myself.

What I love about this is that in my family, I’m treated like an adult. I may be the youngest of three and to my parents I will always be the baby, but they acknowledge the fact that they raised an independent and mature daughter. My parents were the complete opposite of helicopter parents. They gave me enough space to make my own mistakes, learn from them, and now I’m much more self reliant and stronger. To me, paying for my own college is my parents’ final lesson.

If I can do this, I’m ready for the real world.

There is, like all things, a down side. Like for instance, I’m broke pretty much ALL of the time. I live off of two loans, a grant, and a part time job, which – in the grand scheme of things – isn’t much. I live on a fairly strict budget, and it doesn’t have a whole lot of wiggle room. What really sucks is that most of my friends don’t have to worry about money. I only know a handful of other people whose parents don’t pay for college. I constantly have to tell my friends no whenever they want to go shopping, or go out to eat, or go for drinks. Even more, one of my best friend’s parents not only pay for college, but also pay her rent/utilities and her credit card bill. Am I insanely jealous? Of course I am. However I know that I can’t have everything that I want and have learned to do without. (I’ve also become the master and bargain hunting, but that’s another story for another day.)

With this being the start of my senior year, I’m starting to freak out a bit. I REALLY have to find a job after graduation, otherwise not only will I not be able to pay rent, but I also won’t be able to make my loan payments. What gets me through, though, is knowing that if my parents have enough confidence in me to survive in the real world, then dang it, I can do it.

I made it this far, didn’t I?

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Free stuff and a new credit card? Hell yes! What’s the harm, right?

How about serious credit card debt (an average of $2,623 for college seniors nationwide)? Or serious credit issues – the kind that got us into this whole recession mess in the first place – after graduation?

We all know that credit card companies target college students because we don’t know how to handle our money, but it seems they aren’t the only ones profiting. According to the New York Times, our very own universities are selling our information to those guys! Instead of protecting us and our futures, our schools are handing us over to the sharks and promoting our potential to incur serious debt.

Shouldn’t universities – places of learning – teach us how to manage money instead of profiting from our lack of experience? Doesn’t working with credit card companies go against the role of a university in the first place?

What do you think?

[Photo courtesy of NYTimes.com]

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If you aren’t familiar with the process, loan forgiveness is the cancellation of all or part of your student loans if you decide to go into certain charitable fields for a certain amount of time. Below is a list of some areas that offer loan forgiveness, but it’s not comprehensive. In fact, if you go into some sort of public service upon graduation, it wouldn’t hurt to consult the Human Resources department to see if your job qualifies for the program. Also, the military offers numerous loan repayment programs.

Volunteering

Americorps A year of service gets you up to a $7400 stipend and around $4500 to use against a loan.

Peace Corps Volunteers can get a loan deferment and up to 70% loan cancellation.

Teaching

The American Federation of Teachers has a list of scholarship and loan repayment programs by state. Usually they are given to teachers working in low income areas. If you are interested in this program, contact your school district to see what schools are eligible. The government website on the program also has a lot of good information.

Law/Medicine

If you are going to Law or Medical school, chances are your loans are going to be fairly staggering. Much like teaching, however, going into a public interest or not for profit field could be grounds for loan forgiveness. This website has information on the program for law.

There are many resources for nurses, therapists and doctors who work in low income areas or are doing clinical research as well. Here is a list of programs by state.

There is tons of information on loan forgiveness that you can find by doing a google search. You should also consider federal loan consolidation to cut back on your payments and if you work for your state, check and see if your agency offers a Student Loan Repayment Program. It’s not technically a loan forgiveness program, as your employer will pay back part or all of your loan as a recruitment incentive.