My older daughter is in college now. She pays for part of it and we are paying for part of it. She worked hard to get quite a bit of scholarship money, about $32,000 over 4 years. She also has a student loan for 4 years. We pay for the rest.

Unfortunately, my younger daughter will not be able to receive as much support from us when she starts college in 2 years, as we have fallen on harder financial times. My older daughter will need to take out a larger loan next year too.

Right before I went to college, there was a big rift between me and my parents, and they decided not to give me any money at all for college even though they had set some savings aside for that. (They didn't approve of a guy I was dating and would only help me out at college if I stopped seeing him.) I had a free-ride for tution due to scholarships, but I still needed room and board. It was not easy being 17, moving away from home, and suddenly having scarcely a penny. My parents tried to use the threat of not paying for any of my schooling as a way to control me and I said too bad. I got jobs and paid for all my living expenses myself. Thank goodness for my scholarships, though. If I hadn't had those, I wouldn't have made it.