If someone were willing to hand you tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, what kind of money would you be willing to walk away from?  Me?  I’d probably walk away from nothing more than $100,000.  Which is why I’d make a poor contestant on the show.

So I sit here watching one of my favorite shows, Deal or No Deal, and I would love nothing more than to be on this show. I’m watching this guy Brooksy get a second chance (he only won $10 the first time around) and I love to see people win money, even if it’s $10,000 (for those who don’t know, they can win up to $1 million). I doubt most of these people would ever make this kind of money in 4 hours ever again in their lives. (I actually met a producer for the show once working a promo event, but she was working on casting the Mother’s Day special so I didn’t qualify.)

I want this kind of amazing start. I want enough money to pay off my student loans in one payment (that’s a lot of student loans!). But then, who doesn’t? I thought getting a college degree would help to achieve this, but unfortunately, between the time I entered college in 1997 and the time I finished in 2002, the job market changed, and one now needs a lot of workplace experience on top of the degree to be able to seal a good job.

That’s okay though. Someday will be my day, my deal!

Lessons:

1. Study the job market in the field you will be going into. Find out if the job requires more than just a degree. Does it require you to be published? Does it require hands-on experience? Should you get an internship? If so, doing what?

2. If you get the chance to be on a game show where you can win a lot of money, don’t turn it down. You walked in there with nothing, what would it hurt to walk in, have a good time, and walk out with the same at the very least?

3. Keep in mind that you have to pay back student loans. If this concerns you, try finding a career that offers student loan forgiveness once you enter the workforce (many teaching positions, for example, as well as other high-demand fields offer this type of program).

4. When in college, take advantage of the free time you have by getting even a part-time job. Save as much money as you can while still in college because life will just get more and more expensive once you get out!

Balance:

Checking: $100

Savings: $125

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