It’s a very good idea to start working on the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) as early as possible. The application for the 2013-14 school year is available now. If you want to get it over with and check one thing off your financial aid to-do list, you can submit your application here. And for tips on getting financial aid, along with lessons we learned the hard way, check out our special reports at FinancialAidLessons.com

What’s it like to survive on an “average” American income? MSNBC recently did an intriguing series of articles profiling families who lived on $50,000 a year—the nation’s average household income.

Now, I’ll say upfront that I’m generally not a big fan of these “can you live on XX?” types of stories, because there are simply too many variables to do a fair apples-to-apples comparison. For example, a young childless couple can live just fine on a tight budget, whereas it’s much tougher for families with several kids. Likewise, a given amount can stretch much farther if you live in the rural Midwest, as opposed to a very expensive metropolitan city.

However, I thought this series did a good job of covering a wide variety of scenarios, showing how vastly different it can be to live on a certain amount, depending on your circumstances.

But back to the basic question of, “Could you survive on $50,000 a year?”

Not if you have a kid in college.

At least, not unless you’re working the financial aid system or have somehow managed to amass a really nice college savings fund.

Our son’s first year at a public university cost us more than $25,000 out of pocket. (That’s just for tuition and mandatory room & board—I’m not even counting books, transportation and other costs.)

A financial aid rep once told me that I really needed to get our household income down to around $40,000 or less to get a decent amount of financial aid. And again, remember, we were paying $25k+ a year to the school, for just one child. In other words, we’d need to be paying more than half of our entire household income—leaving our family of five less than 20 grand a year to survive on—in order to be considered needy enough for decent financial aid.

This is one of those times when it’s particularly tough to be in “the gap,” as I call it—not technically under the poverty level, but still barely scraping by and living paycheck-to-paycheck. What some might call the “working poor,” for lack of a better term (although I’m looking for other suggestions). If you’re really low income—say, living on public assistance—your children will automatically get the maximum financial aid. At the other end of the spectrum, if you’re living comfortably, you should be able to afford tuition bills without too much sacrifice.

But for those in that Land of In-Between, life can seem like a series of tough choices, and this is one of those times. Send your kid to college or keep your house? Go to work, or quit your job so your kid might have a shot at substantial financial aid? Those aren’t rhetorical questions. For those living “on the median” with kids who hope to go to college, that’s the reality.

Something’s wrong with this picture.

(Want to learn more about the financial aid process and how the system works against you? Check out our special reports at FinancialAidLessons.com)

A powerful new film shows what it’s really like for the struggling poor and working class families in this country.

For some, this may be a bit shocking. American Winter (broadcast on HBO but also available on DVD) gives dramatic first-hand accounts of the families’ experiences, including their worries, fears and the dreams they suspect will never come true. For these families, crisis has become their daily state of living. The most powerful parts of this film are the interviews with children. Get your tissues ready—it will break your heart to listen to these kids talk about how they try to help their families, or how they constantly worry about what their future will be like.

Learn more about American Winter here.

In news that probably won’t surprise anyone (at least, none of us Broke Parents) the NY Times recently did a report that found low-income students face a huge struggle in the quest to attend—and more importantly, finish—college. The story found that a large percentage of those who do manage to start college end up dropping out, usually after incurring a lot of student loan debt which will continue to haunt them long after they’ve given up on their dreams of becoming a college graduate. For those of us who have struggled to get kids through school, we know that there needs to be more resources and support systems to help these students (and their parents).

Image courtesy of FrameAngel / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

College can be really expensive. (You’ll see lots more posts – and yes, rants – on that topic elsewhere on this site.) So you should look for ways to save on college wherever possible. One great way to earn credits quickly and easily is through CLEP exams. If you know a lot about a subject through work experience or previous education, you should look into CLEP. Basically, you take one test designed to gauge your comprehensive knowledge of that subject. If you score high enough on the test, you are awarded college credits. It really is that simple.

Most CLEP exams allow you to earn three credits – but some let you earn up to 12 credits! A CLEP exam usually takes a couple of hours, and it only costs $77. So, for less than a hundred bucks and a few hours of your time, you can earn at least three credits. Much better than spending an entire semester and a thousand dollars or more to earn those same credits.

CLEP exams are available for more than 30 specific subjects. Most of these are designed to be basic “gen ed” types of topics. So some people have managed to “test out” of their first year or two of college by taking a bunch of CLEPs.

I’ve taken some CLEP exams and would definitely recommend them. Check out my MainStreet.com story on CLEP exams for more information.