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THE STUDENT LOAN CRISIS. PART 2 OF 7 PARTS. Student Loan Crisis- "Podiatry not enough income potential" by Michael Rosenblatt, DPM (no login) WHY SHOULD A PODIATRIST HAVE TO DO THIS, AFTER SUFFERING POVERTY WHILE GOING TO SCHOOL? ------------------------------- Reprinted from Podiatry Online, an E-magazine Emailed to subscribers. to get your copies, send an Email to Alan Sherman, DPM, Editor asherman@podiatryonline.com ------------------------------- President John Kennedy said: "Life is not fair." Even though he was born with the most silver of spoons, he clearly recognized that fact. A skinflint would probably have rejected podiatry outright as being far too expensive an education, too lengthy, with not enough income potential. That turned out to be correct.. But since you are already there, you have your cards in front of you. I will start out by giving you two references for learning SF. Not surprisingly, they are inexpensive. Still, I suppose this goes against my requirement for not spending money on books. For a "compromise," I'd suggest just buying one and trying it out. Some bookstores encourage "reading at the store." They even have areas set aside for that. You can always bring paper and take notes. Avoid the temptation of buying food or coffee at their short order counters! If you know another person doing the same program, you could easily split costs with them. Each of you buy a different book and trade it off. These are some titles obtained from Amazon.com: Absolutely Amazing Ways to Save Money on Everything by James L. Paris At Amazon.com: List Price: $9.99, Our Price: $8.99, You Save: $1.00 (10%) Availability: Usually ships within 24 hours. Paperback - 249 pages (January 1999) Harvest House Publishers, Inc.; ISBN: 1565079175 AND: The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason , Money Management for Those Who Don't Have Any by James L. Paris, Jim Paris, List Price: $6.99, Our Price: $6.29 You Save: $0.70 (10%), Availability: Usually ships within 24 hours. Mass Market Paperback - 144 pages Reissue edition (August 1997) New American Library; ISBN: 0451165209 There are others of course, and some might be better, but these will give you a good start. I will introduce you now to some suggestions about SFP (Skin Flint Philosophy), for the podiatrist who doesn't do any surgery and who has a 180,000+ college loan. CARS: I know you've heard this all before, but why not again? A new car loses 1/3rd of its value after you drive it off the lot. Charles Givens, who used to write a financial management newsletter said: "Buy the car of your dreams, two years old." In most states, the more expensive the car you drive, the more you have to pay in taxes, and usually gas. SUV's are the worst offenders. Added to this is that many are not safe and insurance companies charge more to insure them than sedans. A 4 year old Volvo Station Wagon costs far less and provides as much usable space. It probably uses half the gas as a new Ford Explorer. If you have an SUV sell it in the newspaper and buy a cheaper car. The SKINFLINT PHILOSOPHY is much stricter than just those examples. It is full scale orthodox money saving. I should give you the example of a Skinflint Southern Ohio family of two teachers and their 3 kids. They are about 35 years old. Their home is completely paid off. There is enough money in their accounts and investments to completely pay their kids' college costs. They could even afford to send one of their kids to podiatry school! Their own retirement is completely assured. This particular couple actually purchase out of date foodstuffs, which is somewhat controversial, even among skinflints. Here in California we have some real discount stores that purchase canned food in available lots. They are very inexpensive. Probably some of the food is past date. You may have similar outlets in your community. ENTERTAINMENT: Never go to a movie theater, always borrow cassette films at the library when you pick up books and magazines. (Most libraries have wonderful selections of magazines -you can usually borrow the ones' over 1 month old). Why not set aside an evening and read to your kids! Even if they are teens or almost adults and can read themselves, you can purchase plays and read the parts out loud at home. Start with a Neil Simon comedy borrowed from a library. You'll all have a blast. HEATING AND COOLING YOUR ABODE: Heating and cooling are discretionary to a considerable extent. Energy costs are skyrocketing. You can do much to reduce your expenses. If you don't have thermopane windows, you can line your inside windows with plastic sheeting and duck tape. Putty is inexpensive and you can seal up your interior windows. Keeping the sun out in the summer and welcoming it in the winter. Warm clothing is always an option. Keep your showers very short by turning off the water after soaping up and quickly rinsing off. Teach your kids to avoid what I call "decadent showers." TELEPHONE BILLS: These are also discretionary. If you have two lines, one for your computer, cancel the one line. Limit your browsing to late at night. A family policy is NO long distance calls unless a real emergency. Tell your family out of town that you will write them or e-mail them instead. FOOD: Never go to any restaurants, especially fast food. They are generally unhealthy and they charge huge amounts for soda pop, which is a waste of money. An exception are sub sandwiches, which are a pretty good value. Forget the chips and definitely NO soda. Which reminds me, soda pop is terribly over priced and is a bonanza to the companies that sell it. Your kids are better off with frozen mixed fruit juices that you reconstitute. Why not water with meals? Purchase sacks of rice and beans from Priceclub/Costco. Try to eat as vegetarian as possible. Tofu is very cheap and is an excellent protein. There are great recipes on the Internet. Never purchase a cook book. Buy fresh vegetables and fruits at Costco, but be sure to use them quickly or store them in special green preservative plastic bags that keep veggies fresh for well over a week. Buy multi-vitamins at Costco. You need to supplement your diet with them. By the way, I think that Costco now has a free Internet subscription. They probably monitor your surfing, but free is free. HEALTH CARE: This is a difficult part to save. Try to buy the largest deductible health insurance plan you can obtain. Medical Savings Accounts might be a good option. Since you have had medical training yourself, you know that a low fat diet, not drinking alcohol or using tobacco saves a LOT of money and is excellent for your health. While I don't recommend treating yourself, you certainly can take anti-diarrhea medications, for example yourself. You don't have to go to a doctor for things like that. Try going to a free County health clinic for pap smears and breast examinations. Contact a local public health nurse and ask for a description of their free services. You may be in for a real surprise. Going without health insurance is not a good option, and it might be better to try to cut somewhere else before cutting that, especially if you have kids. Which brings us to: KIDS: All of your kids, who are over 12 should be working at some income producing part time job. I delivered the Detroit News. My ex partner, a dentist, cut lawns in Montana as a kid. While in dental school he worked weekends laying building foundations. One caveat: be sure your kids are safe. In many cities it is dangerous to allow them to wait on corners for public transportation, or ride their bikes for hours in busy cities. When I was a kid, it was much safer. Now, I don't know. You might have to take them to their jobs, or have them go in pairs, with the "proper" safety lecture about strangers, etc. They might rebel at times, but you are still teaching them the most valuable lesson in life: how to manage on almost nothing. There's a saying written by child psychologists: "Your kids 'hate' you now for your restrictions, but love you in the future for teaching survival skills." It's called "empowerment." When I was a kid, my dad was a teacher. I knew there would not only be no "estate" for me, but also that I would have to manage completely on my own. When I was 8 years old, I used to look with amazement at restaurant menus, wondering how I would ever afford to go to one! I was right. There was and is no inheritance for me. Period. Fortunately, I don't need it. Tragically, one of Bing Crosby's sons committed suicide after he became forty and his inheritance stipend stopped. He never knew how to live on almost nothing. A life of luxury as a youngster did him no good. COLLEGE COSTS: You might as well tell your children up front that you will not be able to pay for their education, at least not totally. My son-in-law has a father who only paid $4000 dollars toward his, even though he could afford far more. Despite that, he still became a very successful engineer, going to state colleges and paying his own way, with (pardon the comment), school loans. It's painful to have a youngster who has the grades to enter an ivy league school and you can't afford it. But state colleges still provide a wonderful education. My daughter went to a state college. She also became an engineer and is paid just as much as graduates of MIT. I know this because she works beside them daily. NEXT ISSUE: PRACTICE LOCATION, FRIENDS AND FAMILY, GIFTS AND HOLIDAYS, YOUR MOST IMPORTANT ASSET, YOUR SPOUSE ------------------------------- Part of a series on the Student Loan Crisis in Podiatry. 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