Paul Sullivan of the New York Times thought so, too. Hence, he once spent time with 80 members of an investment club called Tiger 21 in a Manhattan Townhouse. His objective was simple. He wanted the members of Tiger 21, all of whom have a net worth of at least 10 million dollars, give a thorough critique of how he and his wife saved and spent money.

One of the most important lessons was a simple statement given by one of the members:

“The issue is not about how much we save money. Rather, it’s how we think about spending.”

What exactly does this mean? Simply put, most people think, “How much can I afford?” The wealthiest people, however, think, “What do I need to spend?”

See the difference?

In practical terms, if you see a branded sweatshirt that you really like that says 50% off, chances are you’d check the price tag. And most of the time, you’d see the $100 price crossed out and a new $50 sticker next to it.

Most people would probably think buying the sweatshirt would save you $50. But in reality, you are simply spending $50.

Keep in mind that just because you can afford something doesn’t mean you have to spend money on it right away. If you don’t need it, just don’t buy it. You’d be surprised to see just how much more money you can save by following this philosophy.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with buying the things you want every now and then. If you feel that you performed excellently during exam week, then sure, treat yourself for a job well done. However, it’s important to avoid the habit of buying things just because you can.

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Make the Most of Home Sweet Home – Spending summer in Barbados or Cancun sure is nice. But considering airfare, other travel expenses and hotel costs, you could be compromising your school budget. Having no money when you need it isn’t fun at all.

Rather than spend time away from home (again), why not spend more time at home? Catch up with some friends. Spend more time with your family.

Host a Movie Night – Rather than spend $13 watching the latest summer flicks, rent movies that you and your friends can enjoy in the comfort of your own living room.

Host a Potluck Session – Aside from having a movie night, you could also have potluck sessions with friends. It’s much cheaper than eating out.

Scout Cheaper Alternatives – If you really want to go out on a trip somewhere, scout for cheaper alternatives such as camping sites. Aside from vacation spots, check out free events such as concerts and summer festivals. These are great ways to have a good time without parting with cash!

Get a Job – After you’ve spent quality time with friends and relatives, it would be wise for you to explore summer job options. By getting a job, you will be able to keep your mind active and beef up your resume. More importantly, you get to earn money for your school budget! 

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Internships – Most placement experts will tell you that interning during the summer break will increase your likelihood of finding employment after you graduate. In a tight job market, a fresh graduate with first-hand work experience in the industry is always more attractive to employers.

Granted, finding internship opportunities is challenging, since many students realize how beneficial interning can be. You have to tap into the network of people you know (friends or relatives who already work in the industry you are interested in) to increase your chances of finding internship programs.

Volunteer – Volunteering is a great way to utilize the skills you learn in school for the community. Aside from gaining work experience and doing your civic duty, volunteering allows you to meet potentially important network contacts.

Academic Work – You may also choose go to summer classes. You will not only shorten the time it takes to finish your degree, you can also save money in overall tuition expenses.

Create Your Own Project – You can “do your own thing,” as it were. For instance, you could write a book proposal, a screenplay, create a short film, come up with conceptual designs or any other activity that is related to your career goals. You’d be surprised at how much companies value these individual projects.

By taking the initiative to hone your skills, employers will see you as a person who is self-motivated and willing to take the initiative. These are very important characteristics in the work place.

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But did you know that you, too, could follow in your favorite TV character’s footsteps? With the right degree, you can pursue the career of these small screen icons.    

Be Like Don Draper – Don Draper of Mad Men is a Creative Director. These are the people responsible for overseeing the head copywriter, art director and associated staff during brainstorming and production for ad campaigns. Top Bachelor’s Degrees in Business, Marketing or Communications can help you pursue this line of work. The average annual salary for creative directors these days is a whopping $93,490.

Be Like Sheldon Cooper – It’s doubtful that anyone would like to be the obsessive-compulsive geek that Sheldon Cooper is. However, it’s reasonable to think that anyone would want to earn an average yearly income of $82,790. That’s what Sheldon Cooper would probably earn in real life as a physicist for a college, according to the Department of Labor. Suddenly, a Degree in Physics doesn’t look so bad after all. Of course, you’d have to pursue a Master’s and a Ph.D. to do scientific research for an institution.

Be Like Temperance Brennan – Brennan from Bones is a Forensic Anthropologist. She holds a Ph.D., which is important in this line of work. Forensic anthropologists earn an average annual salary of $57,230 according to the Department of Labor. While further studies are needed in this field, you can still pursue a bachelor’s degree program in Criminal Justice to do forensic work in crime scene investigations.

Be like Kate Beckett – Aside from forensics, if you are interested in stopping crime and detective work, a bachelor’s degree program in criminal justice can also help you be like detective Kate Beckett. For women aspiring to be the real life Kate, keep in mind that real detectives don’t usually wear stiletto heels on the job.

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CareerBuilder.com came up with the list of top summer jobs in the country. These jobs were ranked because of availability and decent pay. If you want to make extra during the summer break, be sure to keep your eyes on these jobs:

Child Care Worker – With kids no longer attending class, busy parents will need childcare workers to look after their kids while they are at work.

Restaurant Servers – The summer season is usually one of the best seasons for restaurants and eateries. With an increase in demand, restaurants will also need to increase their staff.

Sales Associates – The hot summer months also mean hot demand in department stores. People purchase summer attire and vacation equipment during this time. And when summer is about to end, parents need to purchase back-to-school supplies. The increase of shopping activity also increases the need for sales associates.

Lifeguards – If you are an excellent swimmer, becoming a lifeguard is not a bad way to spend time in the beach. Best of all, you get paid for being there!

Office Assistants – With many workers taking vacation leaves, offices around the country will need extra staff and interns. Although working in an office may not sound like fun during the summer break, this can look very good in your resume.

Hotel and Resort Staff – With people heading out on vacation, hotels and resorts will need additional staff members to keep up with the demand.

Amusement Park Attendants – This sector picks up during the summer months. Amusement parks offer lots of employment opportunities.

Home Improvement Workers – Demand for home improvement workers jump during the summer when people want to renovate their homes to withstand the summer heat.

Landscapers – Of course, when renovating the house, landscaping usually comes next.

Camp Workers – This is one of the most popular jobs available since many children head to summer camps. Most of the job opportunities are open to councilors, facilitators and activity guides.

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Although filling out application forms and writing essays may feel tedious during vacation time, it’s still wise not to overlook these summer scholarships.

Golden Opportunity

Most students are preoccupied with summer activities. Chances are, very few people will take the time and effort to apply for scholarships, which is a good thing. Fewer applicants mean that there is less competition. This improves your chance of landing a scholarship.

Many of these may not be full-ride. But an extra $500 to $1000 is still money you can allot for college. And more importantly, this is money that you won’t have to pay back.

Start Your Research   

You won’t find summer scholarships if you don’t look. You should research ahead of time so you’ll have an idea of your options and how much time you’ll need to complete the application process.

Also, make it a habit to double check the deadlines. Many summer scholarships have quick turnaround times for their winners – usually around August.

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Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate – Your boss uses this form to determine how much tax will be withheld from your salary. If you have more than one part-time job, make sure that all your employers are withholding enough taxes to cover for your total income tax liability. You can verify this through the IRS withholding calculator.

Income Refers to all the Money You Earned While Working – If you receive tips on top of your wage or salary, it should reflect on your total income. Tips include what you receive directly from a customer, those that are charged from credit cards or those that you split with your co-workers.

Self-Employment

Babysitting, lawn mowing and the like are considered self-employment jobs. The income you earn in these jobs may also be subject to tax. Specifically, if your self-employment net income is $400 or more, you must pay self-employment tax.

Self-employment tax covers for Social Security and Medicare benefits, just like withholding tax. But rather than a Form W-4 Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate, you must fill out a Form 1040, Schedule SE.

Special Cases

Newspaper carriers or distributors under the age of 18 are usually not subject to self-employment tax. Be sure to double check the special rules for your job.

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Your degree and major

Your Finance degree may lead to a position in counterterrorism, your Business degree to a cyber security role. The options are endless. Below is a list of positions your college degree can lead you to:

• Budget Analyst (All Majors Accepted)
• Electronics Engineer (Majors: Electronic Engineering, Computer Engineering)
• Forensic Accountant (Majors: Accounting, Finance)
• Forensic Examiner (Majors: Biology, Chemistry, Physics)
• Human Resources Specialist (All Majors Accepted)
• Information Technology Specialist (Majors: Computer Science/IT, Management Information Systems, Computer Engineering)
• Intelligence Analyst (All Majors Accepted)
• Management Analyst (All Majors Accepted)
• Personnel Security Specialist (All Majors Accepted)
• Staff Operations Specialist (All Majors Accepted)

Qualifications

In order for you to apply successfully, you must be a U.S. citizen and pass an extensive background investigation to receive Top Secret security clearance.

The FBI recruits at all levels (undergraduate, graduate, experienced professionals) and hires individuals with a wide array of educational and professional backgrounds.

Internships programs

In addition to the current job postings for full-time positions, a paid Honors Internship Program as well as a non-paid Volunteer Internship Program is offered.

The internship programs bring students to work at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., or select Field Office locations for 10 weeks, beginning in June and ending in August. You’ll be working side-by-side with Special Agents and Professional Staff personnel on important cases and management issues.

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Higher Salary for College Graduates

Statistics show that college graduates actually earn more. In 2008, the median salary of male college graduates aged 25 to 34 was $55,000, with slight annual increases. On the other hand, the median salary of male high-school graduates was only $32,000, which has gone down from $44,200 in 1980.

College Dropouts Can Succeed

People who never finished college have thrived and succeeded. We have Bill Gates of Microsoft and Steve Jobs of Apple who are both college dropouts. And who hasn’t watched The Social Network, which was based on an unofficial biography of twentysomething billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook? He dropped out of Harvard after a year. One of the founders of Twitter, Jack Dorsey left the University of Missouri, and then left NYU to pursue the social networking site. Undoubtedly, people have found a way to celebrate (and justify) college dropouts. But these people are a minority given the relatively low income of the average high-school graduate.

The Price of Going to College

Going to college does cost quite a large sum of money. On the average, college education costs about $15,000 to $40,000 per year. This is for tuition, fees, books, accommodation, health insurance and living costs. Aside from the cost of a college education, a family has other financial issues to consider. Families have to worry about other things, like gasoline, mortgage, food and medicine. Do take note that the amounts mentioned are only for sending one child to college? So for those who have more children, sending children to college would be a financial nightmare.

College Education as a Solid Investment

A college education is a solid investment because it cannot be taken away from you. Fortunately, a good college education is not only for those who can afford it. Financial aids are readily available from either the university or an outside institution. You just have to research on your options for financial assistance. You can even explore the option of working while studying to ease the financial burden.

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Old news for engineering majors

The interest in these majors isn’t new. Last year, engineering majors also got the most attractive salaries. Chemical engineers were offered an average of $66,886 – the highest starting salaries offered. Mechanical engineers received $60,739, and electrical and communications engineering majors got $60,646. Computer engineering was the fifth highest-paying major, with offers averaging $60,112.

Rounding out the top ten best-paying majors were industrial engineering, systems engineering, engineering technology, information sciences and systems, and business systems networking or telecommunications.

Increase in starting salaries for all majors

But some non-engineering majors are seeing more attractive offers this year, the NACE reported in February. While not quite as much as the $60,000-plus offers that engineers are getting, the average starting salary across all majors is up 3.5% from last year at $50,034.

The quarterly survey monitors salary offers of graduating college students in 70 disciplines at the bachelor’s degree level. The NACE collects data from college career service offices nationwide.

LINKS

• National Association of College and Employers  Spring 2011 Salary Survey: http://www.naceweb.org/research/salary_survey/?referal=research&menuID=71

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