More Money Podcast - 030 My Thoughts on Education & the Student Life - Jessica Moorhouse

Episode Date: December 9, 2015

For the last Mo' Money Podcast episode of 2015, host Jessica Moorhouse does another solo episode, sharing her thoughts on going to university, student debt and making smart financial decisions when it comes to your higher education and future career. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, and welcome to episode 30 of the Mo Money Podcast. I am your host, Jessica Morehouse. Hello. I can't believe we're at episode 30. And this will be, as I mentioned in last week's episode at the end of the episode, this will be my last episode for a few weeks. I'm going to take a few weeks off in December just because it's the holidays. It gets a bit crazy, I find. So just need a few weeks to kind of take a break, refuel, and I'll be back the first week of January with some awesome, awesome guests. I'm very excited. There's also going to be a couple of changes. If you keep up with my blog, then you know I've announced that I'm going to do a bit of a rebrand. I'm

moving away from Mo Money Mo Houses, which has been an awesome part of my life for four years, which is incredible. I honestly didn't think it would go past a year, but I just kept on going and going. But I'm almost 30. I've had it for four years and I just felt like time for a change, something that would reflect me who I am right now a little bit more. And Mo Money Mo Houses just didn't. It's just not. It's just not. So I'm going to do a bit of a rebrand. Nothing too crazy. There's still going to be a blog. This podcast is going to stay here. Nothing's changing. But there is going to be a new name. There's going to be new website design. And I'm also going to be doing a lot of kind of cool projects I didn't really, you know, kind of venture into with Mo Money Mo

Houses. And I don't want to give too much away. I will kind of announce more in my first episode in January, but I want to be more interactive with you. I want us to do things together. I've just made some really powerful relationships online through this personal finance community online. And I want to do something so I can kind of nurture that and get to know you more. And so we can just kind of motivate each other, keep each other accountable so we can move forward in this personal finance journey. You know, we all want to get out of debt. We want to save more money. We want to be smarter with our investments and I want to do things so we can help each other get there. All right, so let's jump into today's episode. Today's episode is all about education, post-secondary education, and going back to

school, things that I've done. And I have, I think, a pretty unique perspective on it because I always thought I would go to university in high school. It wasn't so much that my parents said that I had to. It wasn't any kind of pressure like, oh, I don't know what I'm going to do, but my parents just want me to go to school. I know a lot of kids have that. And I do think that's kind of unfortunate because I don't think you should ever go to school for the wrong reasons. You shouldn't go to school because your parents told you to. You should go because you want to. Also, it costs a lot of money. It doesn't make any sense to me for you to go to school, pay thousands of dollars. Yes, maybe your parents are paying for you, but still, nonetheless, it's like you spend thousands of dollars to do something that

you don't even find valuable. I do believe sometimes kids don't think that university is right for them, but they don't really know until they try. But again, I think every path is different and I do find that we are kind of putting too much importance on university. That being said, the reason that my parents, you know, didn't force me to go to university, but definitely encouraged me to go was because neither of them have degrees. My dad went to university. He went to SFU for a couple of years, but then he transferred to BCIT, which is a technical school. And my mom just went to that technical school. That's actually where they met. And so because of that, you know, even though they did

technically go to a post-secondary institution, they got diplomas, they did, you know, get some higher learning beyond high school because they didn't get degrees. They did find, you know, there were some obstacles in their careers. You know came to promotions or switching to a different career, different job, there were some kind of barriers when it came to that. And they never want me to experience that because you're young. It's only four years. You are going to get a great education and think critically and be creative and learn about things that you didn't learn about in high school and meet, you know, some of your lifelong friends that they really want me to have that experience and also to have no regrets when it came to, you know, moving

forward in my career. They didn't want me to have those same barriers that they experienced in their adulthood. And so for that, I am super thankful because it's true. Let's be honest. Most jobs require you to have a university education. You know, you'll see on those job postings, you know, degree in whatever or equivalent, you know, you can't really just jump into a new career without a degree. And it's, it's a sad truth because I don't feel like everyone should go to university or have to, to get a receptionist job or an entry-level job. That's ridiculous. Because honestly, most of the people that do go to university, they don't get anything out of it. And what a waste of your time and waste of your money, your parents' money going to school when

you don't find any value in it and you're not absorbing anything and you don't even like being there. You're just doing it because you feel like you have to because you don't think you can get a job with that or society's telling you to do it or your parents are telling you to do it. I don't think that's ever a good reason to do anything, especially when you're 18, you're able to make your own decisions. Make your own decisions. I mean, I know that's easier 18, you're able to make your own decisions, make your own decisions. I mean, I know that's easier said than done, but it's your life, it's your future. So you've got to, you know, really put some importance on that. So, you know, when it comes to education, I personally believe that post-secondary education is important and everyone should get an education if they can, if they're able to beyond high school.

That being said, I don't feel like everyone should have to go to university. There's a lot of other great avenues you can go to. There's technical schools like my parents went to. They actually studied, it wasn't called computer science, but it was sort of like that. It was like computer science before computers were even a thing. I feel like my mom was telling me that it had something to do with there was math involved and then these punch cards. I don't know. Basically, it's totally obsolete now. But still, there's so many more avenues that I think we need to educate these young people about. When I was in high school and in grade 12, you get to meet all these different recruiters from universities and ask them questions. And

I felt like a lot of it was just, oh, you can do an English degree or a humanities degree or this and that. But I don't remember any institutions coming to us being like, or you can train to be a chef or you can train to be a plumber or an entrepreneur. That's another thing that really kind of bugs me. When I was in high school, I just felt like they were just preparing us to become employees at a company. You had to go to university because you'll never get a job without a university degree. Well, that might be true for most situations, but what about if you want to start your own company? What if you just want to be a freelancer? Most of the time, you don't need a degree to do that. Most successful entrepreneurs do not have university degrees. And another thing that just

kind of pops into my head, if you've been reading my blog for a little while, one of the things that I've been writing about and talking about for the past little while is starting up a money coaching service. It makes sense in conjunction with my blog and this podcast. And it's actually something that I've been thinking about and wanting to do for a number of years, but I kind of always dismissed it. Why? Because I've got a job. I've got a nine to five at a company and that's just fine. And, you know, I always kind of associated being a freelancer or doing something on the side like that to that kind of scale as really risky and scary. And so just kind of, I'm like, oh no, that's not me. But throughout the last little while, especially with this podcast,

talking to so many awesome solopreneurs and freelancers, I'm like, you know what? This is actually something I should look into and pursue. But you know what? The reason that it was holding me back for so long was because I was kind of taught that the whole kind of way things go is you go to university, you get your degree, then you start from the bottom in a company and you work your way up until you're old and then you retire and then you die. Sad, but it's true. And I think now as I'm getting older and just seeing the whole job market and landscape change, I'm like, hmm, okay, well, I'm going to keep my nine to five job. I like it, but there's nothing wrong with doing

something else also. I don't have any kids. I have very minimal responsibilities. I've got a very tiny apartment. It doesn't really take much time to upkeep. Why not? And so that's something that I'm pursuing. And I feel like that's something that we should be encouraging young people to do as well. If they are really good at something, we should be encouraging them to pursue that as a side hustle, a side job, and it could turn into a full-time job for them as a freelancer, or they can start a company. It's kind of exciting all the opportunities that are available now because of the internet. A money coaching service and what I'm kind of thinking would be, it would just be an online thing, wouldn't be possible without the internet. And so there's so many more opportunities that we really do need to encourage

these kids to look into beyond just being like, no, you need to go to university and get a degree, otherwise you'll never get a job. Get groceries delivered across the GTA from Real Canadian Superstore with PC Express. Shop online for super prices and super savings. Try it today and get up to $75 in PC Optimum Points. Visit superstore.ca to get started. Speaking of my idea of becoming a money coach in the near future, that brings me to going back to school. One thing that I never thought I would do to going back to school. One thing that I never thought I would do was go back to school. And I know I discussed this a little bit in episode 10 when I talk about my whole move from Vancouver to Toronto and starting a new life. Part of that was pursuing a new career path, which was in digital marketing. And for that, I had to go back to

school and kind of just hone my skills. And it helped me get my current job. So I'm really glad I did that. But it was a bit frustrating because I never thought I'd have to go back to school, especially when I spent so much money at university. Now that I want to pursue becoming a money coach, yes, technically it's not regulated. I could be a money coach tomorrow if I wanted to. But me, I'm a big perfectionist and I don't want to ever start something when I don't kind of know everything I feel like I need to know. And so I feel like I have a lot of knowledge and I'm excited.

There's a lot of projects that I'm going to get started before my money coaching service. But I did feel like, you know what, I think I need to get some kind of traditional education on this. And so bam, third time's a charm and going back to school for a third time. So much fun. But again, luckily it's all online. It's something I'll be able to do while working my full-time job, while having this blog and podcast and everything. So I'm really lucky about that. But it's one of those things you never, and this could be me, you could be like, I'm never going back to school. I'm fine. I've got a career. That's totally fine. But I feel like we need to also educate young people that, A, it's okay if you have to go back to school,

and B, it's actually quite normal. I know a lot of people who have gone back to school multiple times, and it doesn't mean that you failed because you couldn't pursue your career aspirations after just getting your technical school diploma or university degree. It just means that maybe your interests have changed or you want to do something different. You just want to kind of reach for the stars and do something different. So that's what I'm doing. I have a lot of interests and I feel like I have a lot of talents.

And one of them is I love talking to people. I love money. And I feel like I can help people. And I feel like that's something, actually an element that it's been really missing from my life for a while. I don't feel like I've really been helping people. I guess I have in some ways, you know, sharing my story and, you know, sharing the stories of other people on this podcast, but I want to, I guess, kind of go a step further and like actually help people with their finances. So now I want to kind of switch gears, still talking about education,

but I want to talk about money. And one thing that kind of always just drives me crazy, and it could just be because I'm pretty unique. I was able to stay living at my parents' house, which allowed me to work, save up enough money to pay for my education. And I only got a small student loan. I got $5,000 in my last year. And I don't think I've ever revealed this. It's not like a crazy thing or anything. But in my last year of university,

I did get a small sum of money. I think it was $1,000, $2,000. I can't remember. But I did get a small sum of money from my grandpa and he actually gifted me and my sisters the same amount of money that we can use either in our education or some other way when we really needed it. And at that point, I really needed it because I was pretty much out of money because film school, although because it was a university, you just had to pay tuition. You also had to pay for the cost of making your projects. And my graduation film cost me $5,000 to make. So that was a damn expensive school project. So anyways, but I was still pretty lucky that I graduated school with only $5,000 in debt

and was able to pay that off in nine months. And then I haven't had debt since, and I never want to have debt. And that's, I think, part of the reason I'm so afraid to actually eventually buy a place and get a mortgage because I mean, oh my gosh, 30 years of debt? That sounds terrifying, but that's a whole other story. So even though I know university and post-secondary institutions, especially if you're going to a private institution, they're expensive and they are more expensive than when he went to school five, six years ago. That being said, you know, guess what? You're actually making more money. I made, you know, when I first started working in high school, my wage was $6.50 an hour.

And after that, then it got bumped up to $8 an hour, and I made that for several years. And it wasn't until, I guess, maybe my second or third year of university, I was working in a video store. I used to work at Blockbuster, best job ever. And I was a shift lead, so I was in charge of the staff during certain shifts or whatever. And I actually got bummed up to $10.50, I think. And that was like, what? That was crazy money for me. But now, guess what? Minimum wages are way higher. And yes, university is expensive, but I know, I just don't like people making excuses. Oh, I can't afford university. You know what?

Sometimes that's true. Maybe you cannot actually afford it because your family is also not able to help you or you have to live away from home. And there's totally different circumstances where I understand that. But in most circumstances, I feel like people, if you want to pay for your school and not graduate with like $50,000 in debt, it is possible. You just have to try. You just have to figure it out. There are so many things you can do to live frugally and also be smart with your money. And I do feel like a lot of that isn't the fault of these young people. They just aren't educated, which is part of the reason that I'm so invested in educating people and sharing all this information with people. I think it's so important and it really

makes me sad when I read these stories online and in the media of these young people drowning in like hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt because they just didn't manage their money properly. What I don't like is when, you know, these young people make excuses and say like, poor me, you know, I couldn't afford it even if I wanted to, even if I did get a, you know, job and go to school, it just wouldn't happen. It's like, I don't believe that. I feel like if there's, well, there's a way, there's always a way. Believe me, I didn't, you know, I literally came from, you know, $200 when I finished university. When I was in university, I had enough money to pay for the next semester. I didn't come from money, but I was able to do it.

I was just smart about it. And also that when it comes to picking your courses or picking the program, yes, it's important to pick the best program and pick the courses that you need, but there's also a smarter way to do it. The more courses you do, the more expensive it's going to be, the more debt you can have. So just only take a number of courses that you need to get. I know so many people when I was in school, they just kept taking courses and courses because they just didn't know what they wanted to do or they didn't know what degree they wanted. What a waste of money. I'm sorry. It is just a waste of time and money. You need to keep focused. Even when I was taking

courses at U of T for my digital marketing certificate, the continuing studies program, I would meet all these people that were unemployed or underemployed and were looking for that next job. And they're in the digital marketing program as well, but they're also taking a bunch of other programs. They're like, oh, well, I'm also in this PR communications program. And I'm also taking this writing program and I'm also doing this, this and this. And in my mind, I'm like, okay, wait, so what do you want to do? Do you want to do digital marketing? Do you want to do PR or do you want to do human resources? I'm a bit confused. And I think I totally get this. When you're in school, sometimes you kind of get caught up in it.

It's a lot of fun. You're educating yourself. You're learning. And you're just like, maybe just one more course, maybe just one more course, maybe one more program. And then you kind of just go a bit overboard and you lose focus and you lose money because you're, you know, there's no point honestly in getting a formal education like that where you have to pay thousands or hundreds of dollars for a program certificate or a degree and you're not going to use it. You know, you can teach yourself most of that stuff for free just by not going that route. So I feel like if you really do want to be educated, be smart with your money. And that may mean not taking all the courses you want to take, not taking all the programs you want to take, unless you have the cash, the means to do it. For example, I'm very open with my finances.

I never reveal exactly how much I make or anything like that. But when I went back to school for digital marketing, I had the cash. I was still pretty surprised because at that point I wasn't employed when I enrolled and I was still looking for a job and we had just moved to Toronto from Vancouver. But I had enough money saved up that I could actually pay cash. I didn't have to get myself into debt. And same here. I saved up enough money because I had an idea that in case

I do want to go back to school or whatever, I saved up a chunk of money for this. So I will be paying for all of these new horses for this new program in cash. All right. I think I'm going to kind of end it there. I hope you've enjoyed this episode. I know a lot of it has just been kind of my opinion on things, but it's my podcast deal with it. I am really passionate about education, especially when it comes to financial literacy. And I do find that knowing about money and being smart with your money, knowing how to manage it and budget and save properly, if you have that knowledge, you will be so much more set up to pursue going back to school or going to post-secondary for the first time. It is so

important that you know about money before spending thousands of dollars on a post-secondary education. That's kind of just my opinion though. I mean, how could you disagree with me? Right? Right? Thank you so much for listening to this last episode of season one. I'm not really going to do the seasons, but it is kind of, you know, I'm taking a break for the next couple of weeks in December. So on that note, thanks for listening. Thanks for all your feedback on your downloads. And I mean, just you being an awesome listener. I really appreciate you listening to my podcast.

There's a ton of other podcasts out there and it's really awesome that you decided to join me and listen to my podcast. It really makes me feel awesome and I am so excited to share with you all the cool upcoming projects I've got in store. So have an amazing December. Have a very happy holiday. And I will see you back here first week of January with some awesome, awesome guests. Cheers. This podcast is distributed by the Women in Media Podcast Network. Find out more at womeninmedia.network.