STROLL

"Let your eyes do the strolling on the Paseo Dinero for what matters to you. Bookmark and visit often for additions and revisions!"

Downloadable Documents:

Most documents on this site are in PDF format, unless indicated otherwise. These require Adobe Acrobat® Reader®, Version 6.0 or higher to view them. Documents and spreadsheets on this site may also need "viewers" downloaded first if you do not have the applications installed.

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1. Rowdy Cents Budgeting and Expense tracking worksheet
2. Money Management Excel worksheet
3. Budget Tips for New Roadrunners
4. Making Financial Goals and Priorities worksheet
5. 2012-2013 UTSA Costs of Attending
6. Opportunity Costs worksheet (compare taking 4, 5,and 6 years to graduate )
7. Glossary of Types of Savings Accounts
8. Money-savers
9. Money-wasters for UTSA students
10. How to Run an ASAP Degree Evaluation - for admitted UTSA undergraduate students with earned hours
11. Mid-term Money Blues
12. 10 Steps to Money Cool in College - for High School Juniors and Seniors thinking about coming to UTSA
13. College Life Events -a Financial Decision-Making Roadmap
14. 8 Tips to Boost Cash Flow for College
15. Financial Backpack Check - what's needed to be financially savvy in college
16. Interactive Budget worksheet (Excel)
17. A College Money Plan
18. Report by US Census Bureau - Sept. 2011, on education levels and work-life earnings
19. Lesley's Story -a college student's story
20. Budgeting for Life After Graduation - got a job and a paycheck: what to do about expenses and debt
21. Get Your College Game On - a playbook with financial and academic game plays for success

Online Rowdy Cents interactive tools:

1. College Student Expense Estimator - use to estimate your college tuition/fees, living expenses, etc.
2. Budget calculator - use to create a spending plan

Site Map by pages, in alpha order, with links and topics:
External links are not denoted on this page. They are noted with icons on the individual pages.

About us -introducing the Office that created this web site and the reasons for this site

1. Project on Student Debt
2. College Student Poll
3. College Insight
4. How America Pays for College
5. The Campus Credit Card Trap
6. Higher Education Research Institute
7. Graduation Initiative
8. The Institute for Financial Literacy

Climb - getting a degree seems like an uphill climb. Take a look at 4 yrs, 5 yrs, and 6 yrs to a degree in education costs and career costs

1. Fast Facts through NCES - National Center for Education Statistics
2. A college money plan -plan for completing a college degree
3. Employment Statistics and Bureau of Labor Statistics
4. Opportunity Costs - interactive Rowdy Cents Excel Spreadsheet -plug in your scenarios about time to degree
5. How to Run a Degree Evaluation - Track your degree progress at UTSA; steps for admitted UTSA undergraduates to generate an online degree evaluation

Educate -educate yourself about going to college, choosing a major = a career, exploring college costs (UTSA), and finding ways to pay for college

1. College is still worth it - featured article on insidehighered.com
2. Life goal -why go, what to do, how to pay (College.gov)
   • Careers -explore careers, education & training required, salary expectations
   • Majors -explore majors for careers wanted, plan for and find a college, pay for college
   • Colleges -explore where to go
   • Career Center at UTSA
3. College costs -understanding costs and options from College Board.com
   • Plan for college - tips from the College Board
   • A college money plan
   • Texas colleges -college locater, college match-up from College for All Texans
   • Community college -best to start college there - myth or reality?
   • UTSA -what to expect for 2011-2012 tuition, fees, living expenses, etc.
   • Student Expense Estimator for calculating costs associated with going to UTSA
   • UTSA Bluebook -public info about UTSA courses, faculty, cost of attendance, work-study positions, etc.
   • High School Juniors and Seniors, 10-Steps to having your money ready to start UTSA in the fall
4. Affordability -ways to pay for college
   • Financial Aid - Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
   • Taking out student loans (vs. just working more)
   • College Costs Comparison - worksheet by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
   • RowdyJobs -for registered UTSA students and alumni
   • UTSA Financial Aid Office
     • For Military & Veterans
     • For Graduate Students
     • For Parents
   • EFC -Family contributions - estimator with or without family contributions -Smart Student Guide to FA
   • Scholarships and Grants -search the net for money for college
   • UTSA grants and scholarships
   • Scholarship give-away - Texas Guarantee (TG)
5. FAFSA Hooray - YouTube video about the FAFSA

Follow (now) -know where your money comes from and where you spend it by creating a spending plan (budget) & tracking expenses

1. Budget calculator - Rowdy Cents online interactive tool
2. Budgets, tracking expenses with MS Word document - Rowdy Cents tool
3. Interactive budget worksheet (Excel) - Rowdy Cents tool
4. Budgets, tracking expenses-Money Management Excel Worksheet - borrowed from UNT Money Management Center
5. College Student Expense Estimator -Rowdy Cents online interactive tool to estimate your expenses for college (UTSA tuition and fees included)
6. Budget Tips for New Roadrunners
7. Budgeting for Life After Graduation
8. Quicken and Mint have joined forces - a free online budgeting tool
9. Video on Budget Tips for College Students from Mint.com

Follow to the future -by setting financial goals, planning for and prioritizing future wants and needs

1. SMART goals guideline by Top Achievement
2. Writing down financial goals - Rowdy Cents worksheet
3. Prioritizer - Calculator for prioritizing financial goals
4. Financial goals, First Step - from Smart About Money
5. Goal Setting's Big Payoff - article by Dave Ramsey (financial adviser, writer, radio and TV personality)
6. Young Money - magazine devoted to helping young adults manage their money
7. Financial Resolutions You Can Live With -by Jason Alderman. author
8. Get Finacially Fit in 2011 - from SmartAboutMoney
9. Making Financial New Year's Resolutions - by Kimberly Palmer, author

Go -taking personal finance on-the-go by downloading to MP3; using another money management resource called CashCourse

1. Portable Audio Version - downloadable to MP3 players, this is the Money Smart Podcast Network covering topics on personal finance basics; a public service of the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)
   1. download in Spanish
2. Consumer News and Tips - the FDIC has made these downloadable to MP3 players
3. CashCourse portal - the National Endowment for Financial Education; short modules on financial basics, paying for ollege, college life, and world of work; calculators & worksheets, economic survival tips, interactive Budget Wizard

Jump - avoid potholes on the money journey road by managing debt wisely; avoid $ problems that impact your credit rating, your living style, and your health

Debt

1. Debt Load Analyzer -how much is too much debt
2. Take the Life or Debt Quiz
3. Consumers' Guide to Credit Cards - FDIC
4. Educate for affordability tips
5. GO for on-the-go podcasts and portal to UTSA CashCourse
6. Keep track of your spending
7. Credit scores importance of having a good credit score
8. Annual Credit Reports for free
9. Don't Flush Your Credit Down the Drain
10. Credit Karma for monitoring your credit score free
11. Climb the hill faster to a degree
12. Strategies for coping with consumer debt
13. Debt worries - stress, depression, even suicide
14. Bankruptcy -when to consider
15. Getting help when too stressed and depressed about money
    • UTSA Counseling Services
    • Reputable debt management and credit counseling services - Texas Attorney General web site

Student Loan Debt

1. College Debt - how much is too much college debt
2. Student Expense Estimator for UTSA students
3. Interactive Budget (Rowdy Cents)
4. Types of Financial Aid -UTSA Financial Aid Office index
5. How to View your FA awards on your ASAP account
6. Student Debt News - can tell you more about what is happening nationwide.
7. NSLD Student Access -check how much you have in student loans
8. Adventures in Education - web site addressing student loan repayment after graduation or stop-out
9. Budgeting for Life After Graduation - tips about net pay and percentages for expenses

 

March -safeguarding your money by putting it in the bank; locating a convenient bank and one that fits your needs; taking care of your checking account

1. Banking on the UTSA main campus - Frost Bank
2. Pay-day Lender - a YouTube video
3. Locate a bank near you with the features you want
4. Bank rates, types, security - Bankrate.com
5. Checking Basics - Bankrate.com
6. A Guide to Your First Bank Account - Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
7. Safeguard Your Identity

Money Journey -Rowdy Cents home page; a world of money sense

Play -having fun with financial games; finding your future salary and living style; playing with credit before it plays havoc with you; exploring savings tips for vacations

Videos

• Funny Money - from GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca
• Ready to SAVE? - from feedthepig.org
• Your Life, Your Money - real people, real money issues from PBS
• $avingsman -cartoon from Choosetosave.org
• Indebted - about debt and the US financial crisis from mtvU

Games

• Practical Money Skills for Life - games and quizzes
• Credit Card Simulator - practice using a credit card and payment choices; money quizzes
• Credit Card Skills Builder - practice using a credit card and payment choices
• Texas Reality Check - flash player version- Texas cities, jobs, salaries, education-levels
• Texas Reality Check - non-flash player version
• Show Me the Future - education-levels, salaries, expenses (geared somewhat toward a younger crowd)
• The Debt Ski Game - jump on the debt ski and ride the waves of life
• Idahonia - Second Life at Univ of Idaho with a Financial Capability simulation
• CBS Moneywatch - on games about money

Play here and there -about planning a vacation or a "staycation" reasonably

Reach -finding ways to save money and avoid wasting money

1. Budgeting - pay yourself first
2. Money-savers - many simple ways to save money
3. Money-wasters - avoid these as a UTSA student
4. A College Money Plan - ways to progress in college, save money and time
5. Mid-term money blues - tips about what to do when your money is running low too soon
6. Types of Savings Accounts -a glossary
7. Compound interest - how savings grow faster

Run -managing time in your life and in school may save you money

1. Time management and study skills - UTSA Tomas Rivera Center resources
2. Study Guides and Strategies - interactive schedule and "to do" list; preparing for college, learning, studying tips
3. ECampus Tours - campus life
4. Video on time management from YouTube
5. Spendster.org - wasted money and wasted time on "stuff"
6. Climb faster to a degree
7. Blogs about time-saving tips, money-saving advice, and life-coping strategies:
   • Lifehacker
   • Zenhabits
   • Productivity501
   • Dumb Little Man
   • Get Rich Slowly
   • Campusgrotto.com

Safeguard Your ID - safeguarding your identity; keeping up with your credit report

1. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) -deter, detect, defend video
2. AnnualCreditReport.com - order a free credit report from each credit bureau
3. The Credit Score Quiz - how much do you know about credit scores

Stretch -saving money is the key to building wealth

• Debt - what, how much, student loans, etc. and impact on building wealth
• Begin with Financial Goals - Rowdy Cents worksheet for writing financial goals
• Student Expense Estimator -helpful interactive tool for estimating expenses
• Financial calculators - English version --online calculator for savings, mortgages, credit card payments, etc
• Calculadoras Financieras - en Espanol
• Savings strategy - the 70-20-10 rule
• America Saves - join the campaign to be a saver
• Glosssary of types of investment (savings) vehicles
• Money-saving tips that a student can do
• "Savings Strategies: Coping with Consumer Debt" - America Saves newsletter feature article
• Inspired Savings - a daily or weekly motivational e-mail service to inspire you to save
• How Barriers Can Actually Help You Save More from America Saves, e-issue 3-29-12

Walk -making decisions on the Paseo Dinero that impact your present and future financial life

• Life Decisions - financial impacts of marriage, children, education, retirement, etc. (from Smart About Money)
• College Life Events - College student scenarios for financial decision-making
• Student Expense Estimator to help calculate expenses for a college-life scenario

page updated APR 2012