SoFi Blog

Fall is approaching, and that means two things: fall leaves and the sounds of thousands of harried parents navigating increasingly long back-to-school lists. From pencils and notebooks to new school uniforms, your shopping list might be a mile long. For some parents, this back-to-school season will be the first time their kid heads off to school with a new cell phone in their backpack.

If grabbing your child their first cell phone is on your back-to-school to-do list, there are some important things to consider before handing over a tricked-out smartphone to someone whose brain might not be fully developed yet. Deciding to get a cell phone for your child is a personal decision. Here’s what to know when it comes to making that decision.

Congratulations, you did it! You walked across the stage, got your diploma, and waded the treacherous waters of meddlesome job questions from friends, family, former professors, and even your pet iguana, Izzy. Now you’ve done what once seemed impossible: You’ve landed a job offer!

When landing your dream job—or any job—it’s easy to run straight to the champagne aisle. But before you pop the bottle and buy yourself sensible slacks, you’ll want to think about your salary.

Adjusting to college dorm life can mean experiencing a lot of overwhelming sensations at once: excitement, stress, homesickness, loneliness.

But life in the dorms doesn’t have to be a total culture shock. While you are used to the comforts of living at home now, preparing for dorm life can be made much easier with these tips for how to settle in.

Going on vacation sounds like a dream. After all, who doesn’t like jetting off to tropical destinations to sip on oceanside cocktails as the sun goes down? But, like anything in life, faraway vacation dreams can quickly turn into a nightmare.

Between planning, paying for, and actually taking time off work to go on a trip it can all become too overwhelming. So much so that you may choose to not go on a vacation at all, wasting your precious earned time off instead.

But, what if we told you there was a better way? Meet the “staycation.”

Fall might bring falling leaves and trips to the apple orchard for cider and donuts, but it can also bring a whole lot of stress, especially when it comes to back to school. As your student gets ready for a new year, you’re overwhelmed with new school forms, back to school physicals, sports sign up forms, and of course, the dreaded back to school list.

Back to school lists seem to be getting longer and longer, with students expected to show up with everything from whiteboard markers to tissues. Wondering how to save money on school supplies?

Just because your list gets longer every year doesn’t mean that you have to spend more. With back to school shopping sales and some creative reuse, there are many ways to save on school supplies.