2007-08-31 10:29:00
Most of us students aren't rich. Part-time students like me timeshare between their job and their education, trying to find a balance. Freshmen straight out of high school usually have it even harder, getting by on crappy jobs instead of a real job. Most of us rely on government grants, or support from family. All in all, we don't have it easy getting by.
Unfortunately, once you've paid your tuition, you're not done yet! There's books, study supplies, software and hardware that you'll need. And all of that stuff costs money as well! Luckily there are some nice ways to get discounts or even free stuff!
School books are, in general, pretty damn expensive. One of the maths books I need for my first semester rings in at around forty euros! I'm glad to say that it's possible to get better deals online. The Netherlands' largest, online bookstore Bol.com has gotten into a new market: second hand books.
In their 2eHANDS section they mediate between seller and buyer. People wanting to sell books can open an ad and name their price. Mind you, not all books on 2eHANDS are in pristine condition, some being down-right ragged. Buying books from 2eHANDS couldn't be easier since it uses the normal Bol.com ordering process. You add books to your shopping cart, you proceed to checkout and you pay Bol.com in the preferred manner. You won't have to worry about shipping, or talking to the seller: Bol.com takes care of all that.
I managed to save about seventy euros on an order that would've otherwise cost me almost three hundred euros. Result!
When it comes to syllabi (dictaten in dutch) things will be a little bit harder. These books are usually created, printed and published by the school itself and thus much harder to find. In a lot of cases the syllabi are a waste of paper, since you'll only use them a couple of times.
Thankfully, some syllabi are available digitally and for free! Search your school's Intranet or ask your teachers if they are aware of any digital copies.
As a student you'll be using a lot of different software to get through school. You'll be typing reports, researching new materials, trying to prove theorems, and so on. What a lot of people don't know is that a lot of software can be found very cheaply or even for free.
Most notable among the software you will use are the various Microsoft Office tools, like Word, Excel and Powerpoint. Of course, Microsoft's software is famously expensive! Paying through the nose, just to type up your reports is a bad idea. So here are a few alternatives!
First off, Surfspot.nl offers discounted software to most of the Netherlands' students. This way you can get an official and completely legal license for MS Office at around thirty euros! Absolutely amazing! Aside from Office, Surfspot also offers huge amount of other software, like Photoshop, web design tools and security software. It's really neat!
If you have a hearty dislike for all things Microsoft and want to use an office suite other than MS Office, take a look at the following. Apple's iWork rings in at around eighty euros and is very slick. It may not have all the thousands of features that Office does, but most of us won't even need them. If you're looking for something that's completely free, take a look at Open Office. As I said it's completely free and it's available for most modern operating systems!
If you're looking for a smaller and simpler editor for your reports, take a look at Mellel. This cheap piece of software was originally created for students, authors and researchers, so they could create reports in an orderly fashion. Apparently it's rather easy to use, yet it remains powerful.
A lot of commercial software has either shareware or free, open source alternatives. Try using Google to search for some software. Or dig around websites like Version Tracker or Apple Downloads.
Since I'm of the Mac-persuasion, I'll open with Apple's deals. By shopping at the Apple education store you'll get a 10% discount off all hardware acquisitions. In my opinion the Macbook makes a great companion to any student. Getting a 10% discount makes it even better!
Some colleges and universities have laptop projects, where they strike a deal with a laptop vendor to get stuff on the cheap. For instance, Hogeschool Utrecht takes part in Notebookprojecten.nl. Those guys offer laptops and various peripherals at low prices. For instance, I just noticed an external LaCie hard drive (160gb, bus powered, usb2) for a hundred euros. That's pretty damn good!
So ask around your school, or check its Intranet. Maybe you're lucky as well!
The Money Tree image was borrowed from Thinkquest.org.
kilala.nl tags: school, money,
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2007-08-22 11:57:00
Recently I discovered that the Netherlands' largest online bookstore Bol deals in secondhand books. Or more precisely: it works as an intermediary between seller and buyer. I guess you could compare it to the Amazon Marketplace.
Study books are notoriously expensive, often ranging between forty and a hundred euros a piece. Of course I wasn't looking forward to paying such a huge sum now that I'm starting college. Lo and behold! Bol's secondhand section listed six out of the eight books I need for the first semester. By buying these books I managed to save seventy euros, bringing the total down to a little over two hundred. Nice!
Another nice way of saving a few bucks is the fact that Hogeschool Utrecht allows spread payment of my fees. This year's college fee is about a thousand euros, give or take a few. Instead of paying this whole sum up front, I can now pay in six terms. Even better, these terms are spread all over the whole year. This means that we can easily save up a little money and still have ample breathing room.
kilala.nl tags: money, school,
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2007-07-10 23:47:00
I can heartily recommend anyone considering a career switch to go and have a chat with people who work in their aspired field.
I made a little visit to my old high school this morning, to talk to their HR guy. He gave me a lot of valuable tips and suggested that a part-time study would indeed be the best and safest option for me. He indicated that it would be nigh on impossible for me to get a zij-instroom position, due to my lack of experience.
He also suggested that I go have a talk with the CWI (Centrum voor Werk en Inkomen), the part of the dutch government charged with work and job security. He reckoned that I might strike a lucky deal with them, getting a subsidy for hours I didn't spend working for Snow. In order to make time for my education I'd need to cut back on my working hours (and thus my monthly wages) by about 40%. This grant might help cover for at least part of the money I'd miss out on.
Tomorrow I'll also make a phone call with the CO of another high school. His number was given to me by my father's girlfriend who happens to work with the fellow. I'm curious if he has some other useful tips for me :)
kilala.nl tags: career, life, money, school,
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All content, with exception of "borrowed" blogpost images, or unless otherwise indicated, is copyright of Tess Sluijter. The character Kilala the cat-demon is copyright of Rumiko Takahashi and used here without permission.