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How to pay for college is a question on the minds of many parents. Regardless of how old your child is, funding their future education is a major concern. My wife and I are fortunate because we have time. Then again, our neighbor’s son who was just in diapers went to kindergarten today. Maybe we don’t have as much time as we think.

This is a new series where I will explore college education and why I believe it’s vital to a child’s future. My four years at Plattsburgh State University were some of the best years of my life.

I believe education is the key to a better future. Sure, one may get lucky and invent the next Facebook or iPad and not need college. If this is your kid, kudos and enjoy your tropical island. For the rest of us, college is key. Let’s start with deciding to or not to help financially.

The Decision

Prior to actually creating a fund of some kind, parents need to decide if they want to fund their child’s education. If they truly don’t want to put any money towards college, hopefully they’re honest with themselves. Then be honest with their children.

My wife and I knew from the start, we wanted to help. Deciding what to do wasn’t easy, but I think we both rest easier knowing that we are helping.

Fortunately we have no plans to become the Brady Bunch so this makes decision-making easier. Paying for college is really a personal decision that stems from many factors surrounding the parents. Once you make the decision, stick with it.

Stay tuned for the next installment, How to Pay For College Part 2: Do We Have Options?

Thanks for reading. Comments and feedback are always welcome and encouraged.

In yesterday’s post, I mentioned how our computer crashed. I realized just how dependent we as a family, have become on our computer. Life revolves so much round our gadgets, especially the home computer.

One doesn’t realize how much gets done with the computer. Banking, connecting with friends via Facebook and Twitter. Daddy has a good old Goodreads account too. In our ongoing effort to save money, I look for new recipes constantly online too. For example, this evening I will attempt to make penne alla vodka for the first time. At least if that doesn’t work, I’ll still have vodka. I digress.

Once the computer went down, many emotions ran through both my wife and I. What do we do? How do we get this fixed? Damn Windows 7! I wish I had the above mentioned vodka last week!

Fortunately, we have a neighbor and friend whose livelihood comes from fixing computers. So when we happen to run into each other because of the kids a day after our computer went down, it was providence indeed.

I was immediately put at ease when I asked our friend, “what do you know about Windows?” His response, “everything.”

Needless to say this Sunday Morning Musing is coming from our newly restored desktop. Many thanks to our neighbor and friend. I also am grateful for the true sense of community we have with our neighbors. Lately our daily lives are bombarded with negative ideas and tragic realities. The sense of friendship and community we are fortunate to have where we live is refreshing to say the least. And maybe life should revolve more around people rather than our gadgets.

And one more thing, if you haven’t backed-up your computer, do it. Think of a computer back-up as health insurance for your computer.