Author: Michelle Perry Higgins

Moms, Dads, Parents, Grandparents:  This is THE book for incoming and current college students!  I know when I went to college as an adult, my only options were student loans, grants and scholarships, and I wasted time and money, graduating with $40,000 in debt.  This book is THE ONE I wish I had thrown in my backpack on the way to my college journey!

Entertaining, realistic and necessary, Higgins prepares students to enter college with enough quarters left to do the laundry!  In her own words,

“This book offers heaps of tips to avoid the money shortages that plague most students and teach you how to get the most out of the dollars you have, which may just help you avoid the stomachache from a semester’s worth of Hot Pockets, or the missing chunk in your hair from the slip of a roommate’s scissors.”

And I love this line: 

“Here’s the first thing you have to accept: you are poor.  The good news? Being poor in college is neither a bad thing nor a rare thing.  Most everyone around you will be poor as well.  So, why not embrace poverty, college-style, for the creative challenge it is? But hey, living frugally doesn’t mean having no fun.  On the contrary! It means finding creative and unique and sometimes crazy, out-of-the-box ways to get the most fun out of the least amount of money.”

As Higgins charmingly organizes the financial life a college students starting with a budget, she endearingly wraps us around her little finger, as she offers tips, sound advice, and fun in making a dollar stretch to infinity.  From setting up a no-fee checking account, to establishing credit, to credit reports, a non-borrowing money policy, to shopping, decorations, books, groceries, student discounts and paying it forward, Higgins covers all the basics as well as the extras simply and in engaging language that made me smile.  Why was I smiling?  First, I fell in love with the author: she made me feel financially grown up!  Secondly, this is a book not only for college students, this is a book for EVERYONE who needs to grow up and set about fixing their finances.

LOVED LOVED LOVED THIS BOOK!  Suzy Orman, Michelle Higgins is your new best friend!

AWESOME book for students and those of us who are still paying ATM fees!

Ratings are based on a 5-star scale

Overall: 5 out of 5

Review by Broad “A” 

We received a copy of this title for our book review. All opinions are our own