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FAFSA: Get the Most out of Your Federal Student Aid

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Getting the Most out of the FAFSA
You can now file your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the 2016-2017 school year. The FAFSA is used by college students (or prospective college students) to determine how much help they will be able to receive to attend school. Aid is generally broken down into grants, scholarships and loans. However, is there a true “method” to filling out the FAFSA to get more aid than other people? Maybe.

There are a few tips you can follow to make the FAFSA work better for you:

Use A Supplementary Letter

When you are filling out the FAFSA, the application asks you somewhere around 100 questions (it is time consuming). However, not many of these questions have to do with what is going on with your finances currently. The questions have to do with the prior year’s finances. This means things like a recent job loss, recent illness and medical bills are not taken into consideration. You can write a letter to the university in which you plan to attend explaining your current situation. This will require a third-party document as well (hospital bills, doctor’s note, layoff notice), but it can significantly help your likelihood of receiving aid.

Always File

Even if you don’t think you will get any kind of federal aid, you should file. If you household makes $180,000 or less a year, you will likely qualify for some type of student aid. If you do not file for student aid, you can be blocked from asking for it for a few years. This can be bad if you have a financial bump in the road and are not able to pay out-of-pocket for your education. Besides, you have to fill out the FAFSA prior to receiving any type of federal loan, so go ahead and fill it out.

Savings Accounts

If you have a savings account in your name (student’s name), move the money. FAFSA takes the student’s earnings, savings and income into consideration before their family’s. This means that if you have a college savings account, brokerage account or any other type of savings, it may be considered when the decision about your eligibility for aid is made. This can be avoided if parents can just move the savings into their account or start the college savings in their name instead of having a child-owned account. You can also just use the savings for the child’s freshman year in college so that the savings are no longer taken into consideration when filling out the FAFSA.

File Early

The earlier you can file, the better. If you can get the FAFSA filed before the end of January, that is best. Some schools (and even entire states) award federal student aid money on a first come, first serve basis. States like North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Illinois, Tennessee, Vermont and Washington have all handled federal aid disbursement this way. If you live in or go to school in one of these states, it is important to get your FAFSA in early because they will only disburse funds until they are depleted.

Complete The FAFSA

To be accepted for student aid, you have to completely fill out the FAFSA. You can’t leave anything out. If you leave information out, you will be prompted to re-do the application and it will take longer for your financial aid to be processed.

Photo: Flickr: Tax Credits

12 Inexpensive Ways to Improve Your Home’s Air Quality

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house plants air quality

People spend a fortune trying to “improve” the air quality in their homes. They buy fabric sprays, air fresheners, candles, special vacuum cleaners, and expensive purification machines. Unfortunately, most of the candles, plug-ins, and sprays just make things worse. They don’t eliminate odors; they simply mask them. As for the expensive machines, many don’t work and those that do are usually only required for people with allergies so severe that the slightest bit of allergen can make them sick.

For the rest of us, there are plenty of free and low cost things we can do to improve the air in our homes. Here are twelve ideas to get you started.

Open The Windows

This is the simplest way to improve the air in your home. When a house is shut up, odors and allergens accumulate. You need to allow fresh air to circulate. Sure, the outside air isn’t pure, but studies have shown that most outside air is cleaner than the air inside most homes. Everything in your home from furniture to drapes to carpet gives off gasses that contaminate your air. The only way to get rid of them is to let fresh air circulate. It’s especially important to bring in fresh air if you buy new furniture, carpet, or drapes, or paint or wallpaper your home.

Turn On A Fan

If cooking and bathroom odors are a problem, turn on the fan over the stove or in the bathroom rather than spraying air fresheners. The fan will suck the smells out.

Change/Clean Air Filters

Your air filters are great at trapping dust and allergens as they blow through the house. When they get full, though, their effectiveness is reduced or eliminated because they’re clogged up and can’t trap anything else. Change them regularly or buy the washable kind and wash them out regularly. If you do something to your home like add new carpet or do some construction, change them more often because there are more particles in the air than normal.

Dust/Vacuum

A simple clean up can do wonders for your air quality. Dust is in the air and it settles on furniture and in the carpets. Thoroughly clean your house, and don’t forget the baseboards, blinds, and under/behind furniture. Empty your vacuum or change the bag frequently to keep maximum suction and prevent “blowback” from a full bag/canister.

Reduce Clutter

Clutter attracts dust, mold, and mildew. The less junk you have piled around, the fewer problems you’ll have. Sell, toss, or donate the stuff you no longer use and reduce as much clutter as possible.

Go Shoeless

Shoes track in all kinds of pollutants including dust, dirt, animal fecal matter, fertilizers, and pesticides. Leave your shoes in the garage, on the porch, or in a designated area by the door. Wear slippers or “house only” shoes inside (and remember to never wear them outside).

Smoke Outside

If you smoke, do it outside. If you have guests who smoke, insist that they take it outside.

Skip Artificial Fragrances

Air freshener sprays, plug-ins, and candles actually hurt more than they help. Most release known toxins and carcinogens into the air, even though those chemicals are not required to be listed on the product label. If you need fragrance in your home, place some sliced lemon on a plate in the kitchen, or place freshly cut pine branches in a vase.

Skip Commercial Cleansers

The scents from those commercial cleansers and detergents are really just chemicals. While you may think the smell means you have a clean home, what it really means is that you’ve released a lot of chemicals into the air. Switch to homemade cleansers which use staples like baking soda, vinegar, and essential oils.

Get Some Plants

Plants act as natural air purifiers by helping to remove toxins from the air. If you have kids or pets, get non-toxic varieties. A good nursery should be able to help you choose.

Clean Your Pet’s Bedding

If you have pets, wash and vacuum their bedding regularly, as well as the areas where they spend time. This will keep odors, dander, and fur problems to a minimum.

Deal With Moisture Immediately

Moisture leads to mold, so if you have any leaks, burst pipes, or rain damage, deal with it immediately. Run a fan or open the window in the bathroom when showering to keep mildew and moisture in there to a minimum. If you need to hire a professional service to clean up major damage, do so because if you let it go your house may become uninhabitable.

Improving the air quality in your home shouldn’t mean buying lots of expensive fragrances and gadgets. Simply opening a window and changing how and how often you clean will make a huge difference.

(Photo courtesy of Orin Zebest)