My dad would be 89 today. I reread my tribute to him on his birthday last year and realize I left out an incident that occurred almost 30 years ago. It provides some insights on why I believe students need to have frank and frequent conversations with their parents about the college finance question as in "Who's paying what and when?" I didn't communicate enough and you can probably guess the results. 

As for what I left out...it was a colossal battle that erupted a day before I was to drive back to college for my final college semester. As the 16 year old kid with the handwritten plan on how to pay for college, I wasn't supposed to be a few hundred bucks short with college graduation only a few months away. But I was. So, that January day, I rehearsed my pitch before Dad got home from work (tip #1: Don't expect Dad to say "yes" to anything after a long day at work). I would tell him that despite my best efforts (8 summers as a golf caddy, newspaper route at 12, raking leaves, shoveling snow and saving, saving, saving), I was coming up a few hundred bucks short for my last semester. 

Maybe, he might also take into account that I had a decent GPA which I had managed while earning a varsity letter. How could he possibly say "No"? Well at dinner that night, he did. (Tip #2: Paying for college doesn't make for good dinner time conversation.) "We had a deal," he said. He had been matching my savings for some time now which had definitely leveraged all the money I had saved from the jobs mentioned earlier. As the fifth of six children, he made it clear to me that this is what he had done with the four before me and I shouldn't expect any special treatment. "A deal is a deal." 

I decided the next morning just prior to my departure back to school that I would try again. You know, if you don't like the answer the first time...Well, it turns out my Dad could be pretty stubborn (Ok, maybe it runs in the family) and he didn't budge on his pronouncement from the previous night. In fact, he was a tad incensed that I would try again. Needless to say, I left for college later that day wishing that my sendoff had not been on such a sour note. My mom, who was witness to these conversations over the past 24 hours, gave me the warm hug, that only mothers can give, as I walked out the door for my 6-hour drive back to school. To my surprise, she also placed in my hand five $20 bills (her weekly food budget) and wished me luck. 

As for how I made it through my last college semester...the $100 from Mom helped but spending money was tight until April when I accepted a job and received a small signing bonus! 

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NGPF launched the PAYBACK Challenge essay contest to spur conversations between your students and their parents/guardians. Over $150,000 in prize money. More details here.

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.