Looks nice. But I've gotta say: Your 3(?) avatars since you've been here look like 3 totally different people!
And I guess I should try henna. That color may not be "me," but I'd love it if my hair were falling out less!
Small changes are good... big changes are too stressful.
Looks good Anna. I’m in full goof off mode today since both the girls left. I got in a short workout this morning and did a load of laundry. That’s about it for the day besides rinsing out a few tanks.
It’s too late for me now but was wondering how that prepaid tuition thing works? Do you pay it directly to a certain college? If I would have picked one for my kids it would have been the wrong one.
Under the Alabama PACT plan, buyers paid lump sums or installments to receive credit for four years of college tuition and mandatory fees at a state university for a beneficiary, usually a child or grandchild.
I paid into the 18 year installment plan not the lump sum but I paid it off in 14 years. I paid $18,000 for a supposed $40,000 degree for my son. It was supposed to pay 100% of tuition and fees at ANY college within the state while the state made money from investing our money while letting our children have a guaranteed college education. It’s a prepaid 529 program basically. Not all states have it but the ones that do put some money they make back into education.
Now, the next part of this story still makes fire come out of my ears. Alabama put too much money (~70%) in the stock market and lost it all during the stock market crash. A lot of children became college age at the same time and strained the state. And tuition prices kept rising also costing the state a lot of money. It was the perfect storm.
They tried to back out of all the contracts they could no longer honor. Class action lawsuit ensued from all the account holders. After years of litigation the state guaranteed 2010 tuition prices and stopped any new contracts. It paid about 70% of tuition and fees instead of 100% when my son started college in 2018.
The market got better and they have since raised our payouts several times to about 75%. I don’t think I have ever been madder and closer to a heart attack in my life. To think we signed our name in blood with a guaranteed contract and they do this to us. It was mishandled. But I am still thankful I stayed in the program since I had paid into it for a long time. Parents who just started quit because by the time their children got to college the PACT would be useless.
The state now has traditional 529s that also pay room and board along with tuition and fees.
Whew...I need a glass of water. Makes me furious.
Oh and the administrator of the PACT program when it went downhill was Kay Ivey...who is now the governor of our state. 
I forgot to place my order before the sale expired because I’m a dummy.My Stixx order has reached NH
I can understand your frustration but would have killed to have something like that for our kids. I was able to save enough for each of the kids to pay for 1.5-2 years and it’s beg, and borrow after that. Both kids got some scholarships but not enough. My oldest came out with 12k in loans. I didn’t think that was too bad considering school was about 18k a year plus books. The youngest will have some loans too. Her first year was about 20k. She is in the dorm the first year but plan to have her in an apartment with roommates starting next year which will be a huge savings.
My Stixx order has reached NH
Mine is due for delivery tomorrow also.
It was a dream come true for me as I saw it as the college solution when I wasn’t sure how I could pull it off. He did his part too by doing very well in school and on his ACT and getting a scholarship. I don’t make a huge salary in my university job but the benefit of them paying half tuition is well worth it. I’m very thankful it worked out...mostly. My son commutes from home. I’m not sure I could afford dorm housing without loans.
Yeah, room and board is insane. I thought it was bad for my oldest but for my youngest is about 3k more a year. We can pay rent and food for a year less than what it costs for dorm and meal plan for a semester.
We have a friend that is a professor at a local college and her daughter is going to a sister school of their university and I think she gets free tuition but it doesn’t pay dorm.
I'm done with it now (just finished this year), but I recommend a 529 plan. I did it for both kids. I did a ton of research, and best plan back then was UTEP- Utah Educational Savings Plan. I'm sure others are good as well, but their expenses were historically low. You can spend it anywhere, any college, any state pre-tax for any qualified higher ed expense, and you maintain control, choose the college, you (not the kid) get the money if they don't go, etc. I'd never put into a specific state, unless you're really good at seeing the future.
And even if you're not covering everything, you're still getting a tax break & interest for your investment on every penny you put in.
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Oh, and both of mine have loans in addition. Neither seemed to think it was that important to get their degrees in 5 years, and that's all I was in for. Originally I was only committing to 4, but first one recovered pretty well midway, and I caved, so I had to on #2. Now they both should have enough guilt to take care of me later.
I’m going to start with mixing them solo to try. Then I can see what if anything would go well with them. I’m ready to call the viso with glamour chocolate and caramel butter a winner for me. I liked the butter rum cavendish solo. I still have a couple I haven’t gotten around to trying. I’m liking the nets in a zenith tank and it takes me a long time to go through 10ml of any one when I’ve got 12 set ups in current use.
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