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College fees, a big and looming cost that each parent must face. The prudent parent starts to prepare early for this. Most parents put aside a little money gradually over time to pay for their children’s college fees, or at least offset the fees to some extent. A question many parents have asked themselves is how much in total do they need to save?  Once they know how much they need to have to sustain the child’s college education, they can start to plan how to reach that goal.

So how do they find out how much they need? He best way is to set their sights on the type of college they want their children to go to and plan toward that, for example ivy league colleges, state universities, or centers of excellence.  The children do not have to go to these specific colleges; it just provides a base for the family to work from. Other things such as grants and loans will factor into the final fund at the point the children start their college career.

 

Whatever figure the parents chose, should then divided by the number of years left before the children go to college. Working with this figure, the parents need to find ways to get the most out of the money they save towards their children’s college fund. To get the biggest bang for their savings buck, they need to choose the most efficient investment vehicle or vehicles.

The 529

These investment plans for now are the most popular and patronized way to save for a college education. Each of the states has a separate plan and anyone can join and contribute to a plan in any state of their choice.  The parents need to look at the plans from as many states as possible to see which state has the most beneficial plan. The plans enjoy the same tax treatment as the Roth IRA. What this amounts to is that all contributions are post tax and all growth in the fund is exempt from federal taxes. Most plans are also free from state taxes but parents must confirm if this applies to the state of the plan they have chosen. All the funds in the plan are for any qualified educational expense. Any use of the funds for anything else attracts a 10% surcharge or penalty. In addition, any growth in the fund attracts income tax.  The maximum contributions into these plans are limited to the cost of the qualified educational expenses.

Coverdells

These plans called Coverdell ESAs. There is an upper limit to the contributions of the parent. The limit is $2,000 per child per year. These plans offer a greater degree of flexibility in the investment of the funds. Other than this, they are very similar to 529’s. The parent must pay to an approved educational institution all the funds by the time the child is 30 or the funds revert to the child with the taxes restored.

Mutual Funds

Parents, who want a greater flexibility in the investment of their funds, prefer mutual funds. The parents can very simply invest in any form of investment that they think will bring the greatest return. Since the law does not restrict them, the parents are free to use the funds for any purpose without the fear of incurring penalties.

One of the best ways to save money is to buy generic brands and not brand named products. They cost much less and in most cases are just as good if not better. There are a number of consumable products that this applies to more than most other products. Below are 10 things you can buy in generic versions without sacrificing quality, in fact one could say that there is no need ever to buy the branded version of these products. 

1. Milk

As funny as this may sound, most people forget that there are no brand name cows. The cows that produce the brand name milk are exactly the same kind of cows that produce the generic brand milk. The quality is the same, so why not save money while enjoying milk? True there are different kinds of milk like organic milk, but there are generic brands of all and any type of milk.

2. Baking Basics

Ingredients used in baking are quite honest basic. Flour, sugar, baking soda etc are very much standardized in composition. They are very much interchangeable no matter who makes them.

Using the generic brand leaves more money for other things which may not have such ready substitutes, such as top quality chocolate.

3. Breakfast Cereals

Some people prefer exotic breakfast cereals that contain many hard to find ingredients. These will not have generic competitors. If however the shoppers taste is more traditional and includes cereal made from corn, pressed into flakes, crispy rice and bran with or without raisins for example. The generic brands contain the same things as the brand name products.

4. Baby’s Formula

Including this product may come as a surprise to most people but there is no baby formula on the market that has not been through the same approval process as the others. They have all met the same safety standards, the nutritional guidelines are also the same. It goes without saying that the basic ingredients are the same. Infant formula is expensive in relation to other milk products, switching to generic brands will save a lot of money.

5. Bottled Water

For those who buy bottled water, usually believe that there are differences between the brands of bottled water. The truth is all the bottled water that simply carry the “purified water” label are the same. They pass through similar purification processes and really only differ in the shape of the bottle they come in. unless the label says the water is spring water, it is almost certainly from the tap. So why buy the name brand at almost twice the cost.

6. Salt

Some items by their nature cannot be distinguished from similar products made by other manufactures. Salt is one of these. A taste test will convince anyone that there is no difference between brands. They are all the same, brand name and generic.

Unless the shopper is a  gourmet or a trained chef it is unlikely that they will be able to tell the difference between the generic and brand name spices in the average family’s spice rack.

7. Bleach

Whatever type of bleach the shopper prefers, scented, or otherwise there is a generic alternative available. If the shopper prefers a particular active ingredient, they should choose a brand with this ingredient.

 8. Aluminum Foil

This needs almost no introduction; it lines pans, grills and wraps leftovers. The brand named and the generic brands are the same, long sheets of aluminum. 

9. Antacids

The cost of the antacids does not affect the relief the sufferer feels when he or she has heartburn. The person just looks at the list of ingredients to make sure that everything they need is present before they take the medication. Both the brand name and its generic counterpart will probably contain the same ingredients.

10. Pain Relievers

Generic pain relievers pass through the same rigorous approval process as the brand named products. The user simply chooses the generic product that has the ingredients he or she feels most comfortable using. The pain will not go faster because the pain reliever costs more.