Saving Money When Shipping Your Kids Off To School

• Print Articles

Summary: If your kids are headed off to college, it's time to think about how their stuff is going to get their with them and how to get it to them cheaply. Here's a few tips on saving money as you send your kids off to college.

ANCHOR: IF YOUR KIDS ARE HEADING OFF TO SCHOOL THIS WEEK, YOU’RE PROBABLY WONDERING HOW YOU’RE GOING TO GET THEIR STUFF OUT THE DOOR THIS WEEKEND.

ANCHOR: WGN MONEY SAVING EXPERT ILYCE GLINK HAS SOME SUGGESTIONS.

ILYCE: GOOD MORNING. WELL, IT’S BACK TO SCHOOL TIME AND IF YOUR KIDS ARE HEADING OUT THE DOOR TO COLLEGE, YOU’RE PROBABLY WONDERING HOW THEY’RE GOING TO TAKE THAT BODY-BAG SIZED DUFFLE WITH THEM. WITHOUT SPENDING AN ARM AND A LEG. WELL, I’VE GOT A FEW LOW-COST SUGGESTIONS:

-MOVING YOUR KIDS TO COLLEGE MAIL IT - PARCEL POST IS CHEAP\SHIP IT -- UPS AND AIRBORNE PICK UP\BUS IT -- GREYHOUND 50% DISCOUNT\TRUCK IT -- UHAUL’S COLLEGE CONNECTION

ILYCE: FIRST, TRY TO MAIL YOUR KID’S STUFF TO SCHOOL. PARCEL POST FROM YOUR LOCAL POST OFFICE MAY BE THE CHEAPEST ROUTE, AND IT’S RELIABLE. NEXT TRY TO SHIP IT. UPS GROUND AND AIRBORNE GROUND WILL PICK UP FROM YOUR HOME, ALTHOUGH YOU’LL PAY LESS IF YOU CAN BRING IT TO THEM. NEXT, BUS IT. GREYHOUND OFFERS STUDENTS WHO PAY $20 A STUDENT ADVANTAGE CARD GOOD FOR 50 PERCENT OFF THE REGULAR SHIPPING PRICE. OR, SHOW A STUDENT ID OR ACCEPTANCE LETTER AND GET 25% OFF. FINALLY, IF IT’S REALLY BIG, TRY RENTING A TRUCK AND CARTING EVERYTHING OFF AT ONCE. U-HAUL OFFERS A FREE ONLINE MATCHING SERVICE FOR STUDENTS CALLED COLLEGE CONNECTION, THAT CAN TEAM THEM UP TO SAVE MONEY.

ILYCE: THE BEST WAY TO FIND OUT PRICES AND RATES IS TO GO TO THE WEBSITES OF THESE COMPANIES. WE’LL PUT THEM UP ON THE WGNTV.COM WEBSITE SO YOU CAN CHECK IT OUT YOURSELF.

LAST WEEK, WE TALKED ABOUT WAYS TO PAY DOWN YOUR CREDIT CARD BILLS FAST. BUT CREDIT CARD LATE FEES ARE A HUGE PROBLEM FOR MANY PEOPLE. HERE ARE SOME QUICK WAYS TO START PAYING YOUR CREDIT CARD BILLS ON TIME AND SAVE ON THOSE EXPENSIVE FEES:

MONEY SAVING TIP

SAVE ON LATE FEES PAY THE MINIMUM IMMEDIATELY. ADD MORE LATER ASK TO MOVE YOUR DUE DATE AUTO-DEBIT OR PAY ONLINE PAY BY PHONE (FEE?) OVERNIGHT PAYMENT ASK TO WAIVE FEE

ILYCE: FIRST, PAY THE MINIMUM AMOUNT OWED IMMEDIATELY. YOU CAN ALWAYS ADD MORE TO YOUR PAYMENT LATER IN THE MONTH IF YOU HAVE EXTRA CASH. IF YOU FIND THE BILL ARRIVES WHEN YOU’RE LOW ON CASH DURING THE MONTH, CALL AND ASK THE CREDIT CARD COMPANY TO MOVE YOUR DUE DATE TO JUST AFTER YOU GET YOUR PAYCHECK. IF YOU NEVER WANT TO BE LATE, CHECK INTO PAYING BY AUTO-DEBIT OR EVEN PAYING ONLINE -- THAT’S WHAT I DO, AND IT’S FREE. YOU CAN ALSO PAY BY PHONE, ALTHOUGH CHECK WITH YOUR CARD COMPANY TO SEE IF THEY CHARGE FOR THIS SERVICE. IF YOU’RE GOING TO BE LATE AND DON’T WANT TO BE SOCKED WITH A $25 OR $50 FEE, IT’S CHEAPER TO OVERNIGHT YOUR CHECK. FINALLY, IF YOU ALWAYS PAY ON TIME, AND YOU’RE LATE BECAUSE YOU MISSED THE BILL, YOU CAN CALL THE COMPANY AND ASK THEM TO WAIVE THE FEE. BUT THIS WON’T WORK IF YOU’VE BEEN LATE MORE THAN ONCE IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS.

RESOURECES:

US POSTAL SERVICE: WWW.USPS.COM

UPS: WWW.UPS.COM

AIRBORNE EXPRESS: WWW.AIRBORNE.COM

GREYHOUND LINES: WWW.GREYHOUND.COM

STUDENT DISCOUNT SERVICE: https://www.studentadvantage.com/enrollment?promoCode=GRY48L9001

UHAUL: WWW.UHAUL.COM

COLLEGE CONNECTION MESSAGE BOARDS: http://boards.uhaul.com/collegeconnection/

See more articles on this topic by clicking on the "RELATED ARTICLES" above and to the right.

We have over 5000 articles on Real Estate Advice, Personal Finance Advice and Consumer Advice on our site. We encourage you to look at these articles. As always, if you have a comment on our articles, don't forget to post your comment below. We thank you for coming to ThinkGlink.com.

© Ilyce R. Glink. All rights reserved. This content may not be used, distributed, syndicated, compiled or excerpted in any medium or form without written authorization from Think Glink, Inc. For information on syndicating ThinkGlink.com please contact us.

Related Topics

• save money

Rate this article

• Average rating of 0 from 0 readers

Comments

View all ThinkGlink events