I received this query email from a reader: Good morning. I’m a single Dad. I have three children 23, 21, and 19. My 21 and 19 year old are boys in college. One is a freshman and one a junior. Their Mom is remarried. I probably make about 1/3 to 1/2 of what my ex and her new husband make. The boys think I should contribute 50/50 on all things with my ex. This is…Read More
When Ford Motor Company approached me about a campaign tied to young adults buying their first car, I turned it into an interview with Greg Cerise, Ford Credit sales and marketing manager. here’s what we talked about… Q: College kids affording new cars? Is that even possible? Yes, it’s possible. It’s important to put as much research and effort into financing as you put into choosing a vehicle. There are ways to start building a…Read More
If you’re the parent of a high school senior this year, you likely have a freight train of soul-crushing bureaucratic busy-work heading your way, something that’ll test your patience and demonstrate just how much your child really likes you. It’s two words that fills the heart of every parent of older children with dread: College Applications. Indeed, if Dante were to revise The Inferno I’m convinced that he’d add a new circle, bureaucratic paperwork. You know what I mean,…Read More
I like college. In fact, I have a Bachelors degree in Computer Science from UCSD, a Masters in Education from Purdue University and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Baltimore, Merrick School of Business. You can glean that from my LinkedIn profile, but what few people know is that I earned my MBA through the Merrick online program, completing the first year while we were wrapping up our life in California and…Read More
If you’re a diligent reader of this blog, you’ll be saying “hey, wait a sec! your oldest is in 12th grade, not college! what the deuce are you talking about with back to college?” And you’d be spot on. I’m writing about the cheapest wireless plans, perfect for families — or students! — on a tight budget. The phone of choice: The slick Nokia Lumia 521, available at your local Walmart for a bargain $49.88….Read More
In the last few days we hit the last batch of colleges, from Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara to Pepperdine, ending with UC San Diego. The journey’s been quite fun – California has a beautiful coast and I love the beach communities – and it’s been enhanced by the C-MAX Hybrid that Ford loaned us for the drive. In fact, I turned that back in to them yesterday and we were both sad to see it…Read More
We made it to UC Santa Cruz, and enjoyed our tour, but subsequent we had a day off on the agenda, a day to enjoy Monterey. In fact, we stayed two nights in Monterey, so that the day we hit the Monterey Bay Aquarium we wouldn’t have to worry about getting back in the car and driving anywhere. No worries. And have I mentioned how much we love Monterey Bay? We stayed a few miles…Read More
We flew into San Jose, California yesterday to a lovely spring afternoon and started by figuring out how to pick up the car that Ford’s loaned us for the trip, a C-MAX Hybrid. In an ironic twist, it’s the same color, “Candy Blue”, as a photo I posted a few days ago on Facebook showing the vehicle. It’s a really bright blue. In fact, when we saw it my 16yo A- immediately fell in love….Read More
After discussing it for months and months, tomorrow my 16yo daughter A- and I are flying out to San Jose, CA and driving down the famed Pacific Coast Highway (aka “Highway 1”) from Santa Cruz to San Diego, visiting colleges along the way. She’s just finished up 10th grade, so my goal with the trip is a) to have fun and b) to have her step foot on a variety of different college campuses so…Read More
I was given the opportunity to watch the made-for-TV movie Game of Your Life prior to it being shown on NBC on Friday, Dec 2 as part of NBC’s Family Movie Night series and was surprised and impressed with the storyline and production. The film takes place during freshmen year at the obviously fictional Digital Institute of Game Design and centers around likable Zach Taylor (Titus Makin Jr.). Enthusiastic about his new college life, Zach joins…Read More
My children are young still, but I’ve been thinking about college expenses for many years now, wanting to both stash some money away each year to help me from panicking if one of them says “hey, Dad, I’ve been accepted into Harvard!” or “Yes, Dad, the London School of Economics looks like my best bet.” Each of which will be inevitably followed by… “You can pay for me to go there, right, Daddy-ums?” What I…Read More