We missed you last week. Collin and I were attending a family reunion and our good intentions for blogging were superseded by together family time.

Collin reports that things are going well. He has not run out of money, nor has he been hungry! He is surviving his limited food budget simply because he has a bigger goal in mind –  to be debt free. Student loans are in the grace period with the first payment due in September.  With only one school loan, he will be debt free in August. To hear his full story, click here.

There are three things that contributed to Collin’s success to be debt free shortly out of college:

1. A Defined Goal. Collin’s goal was to finish college with minimal debt, if any. Compared to recent college graduates, he graduated with a small amount of debt. When students (and parents) don’t have a plan in place or a set goal in mind for the cost and payment of education, possible disaster and a large debt are waiting at the door.

2. Hating Debt. Hate is a strong emotion, and provides a line-in-the-sand starting point for all money-related decisions. As mentioned in our first entry, Collin is a natural saver and spend-thrift, but believe me, you can be a spend-thrift and still be okay with debt. Hating debt catapults you towards a new way of thinking about life. It gave Collin the internal fortitude to say ‘no’ to many things, and yes to living life differently.

3. Determination. When the odds are against you, when the going gets tough, the resolve to meet your goal is what gets you through. Collin had some rough years working two-three jobs, running track and going to school, yet was determined that he had a worthy goal set before him.

These three things will always be with Collin; he will set other goals for himself, hate debt and continue to be determined. He will also be a living example to others revealing a different and hopefully welcome way of viewing the cost of a college education.

For the love of your family, make a plan for the cost of college education.