This is a guest post from from Leslie at Spilling buckets. She, along with Ryan, write about their lives as they try to they discover what it means to really be wealthy.

This week has been crazy in the Spilling Buckets household: I found out that I was accepted into business school, and I lost my wallet.

First the good news: Getting into business school is a huge accomplishment, but usually an expensive one. If you are lucky enough to have your company pay for your education the costs out of pocket are probably only textbooks and materials – which can still add up to a few thousand dollars over a few years.  If you are paying for the schooling yourself then it will easily be tens of thousands of dollars in tuition.

The university where I work offers free tuition for two classes per semester or quarter, but you have to be working a full year to qualify – and they are sticklers for that rule, down to the day.  I took a course in June and the quarter began two days before I had been there a year.  Luckily the class I took started the exact same day that marked my one year anniversary, and I didn’t have to pay the full cost of the class which was close to $5,000.   It was scary to be on the phone figuring that out with the bursar; I was worried I had a $5k stupid tax for starting two days early.  Moral: be sure you are aware of your company’s policy before registering to avoid unnecessary charges.

After taking that class as a non-matriculated student I applied and was recently accepted as a regular part time student in an MS program.  As part of the part time degree I will need to take a math review course which won’t be covered by the tuition benefits.  This means $550 out of pocket, but hopefully the rest of the classes will be free.

Business school, as well as regular graduate school, can be a great opportunity in your education, but also an easy opportunity to rack up debt.  Many people take out large student loans to pay for their higher education, and it can really be a weight on your back when you graduate.  If this program weren’t free, or if I couldn’t save the money in cash, I wouldn’t be going.  It will be an advantage in the job market later on, but it isn’t worth it if you have to dig a huge hole to get the degree.  If you already have a decent paying job, and can afford to save money before getting a higher degree you should – even if you end up putting school off for a few years you will be much better off in the long run when you don’t have debt obligations.

After the good acceptance news, and learning that I had to pay $550 for the math class, I decided to get cracking on alternative income for December and try to earn enough to pay for the class without digging into savings.  My salary is enough to live on, and save a little each month, but the real kicker in our savings is alternative income.

Here are some things you can do to help pay for school  or other expensive activities:

1. “Pay Yourself First” - if you can afford it, automatically skim a little money from each pay check into a savings account that earns interest.  You probably won’t miss the money, and you will have an easy, automatic, way to start saving for the large expenses.

2. Alternative Income – there are many things you can do to earn a little extra money.  You could get a part time job, babysit, be a mystery shopper, do online surveys, or anything that lets you earn a little money.  The possibilities are almost endless, so be creative and find something that fits your lifestyle and schedule.   When you get paid for these alternative jobs make sure to file it away in a separate savings account so you aren’t tempted to spend the money and have it get lost with your regular earnings.

3. Be Patient – if your workplace has a program like mine that will pay for schooling after a year, then be sure to wait the year and take advantage of the benefits.  If your employer has hinted that they will pay for costs make sure you wait until it’s finalized before applying.  If you have parents wealthy enough to help make sure you get their approval and aid before spending money.  Whatever you do, don’t put the charges on a super expensive credit card or high interest accruing loan – it will only add to your stress when you have to pay it back.

I decided to use method (2) and use alternative income to compensate for the math class I need to take in January.

We are members of several mystery shopping websites, and I was able to schedule 10 shops for Monday after work.  This would net me just under $100 in cash and free stuff, and would make a large dent in the tuition bill.  If I could have five days earning that much in December the class would be paid for without having to dig into my savings or regular salary.   Mystery shopping sites take a little while to build up your status and skills, but once you get established they can really increase your income each month.

After getting to the first shop, where I had to buy something as well as evaluate a few displays in the store, I realized that I didn’t have my wallet. I remembered taking receipts out of if that morning as I entered a few mystery shops from the day before, and I thought I put it in my jacket pocket the way I normally do before I leave for work.  I scanned the car, my bags, and every pocket I could find – but no luck.  It was gone.  Luckily I had a dollar in my pocket and could complete this shop, but the other nine would have to be postponed.

I got home and scanned the apartment to make sure I didn’t leave it at there. No dice.  I tried to retrace my steps thinking of the exact times I remembered having it to see what might have happened, but again no luck.  As of today I still haven’t found my wallet, and I am getting worried that it was stolen somehow.  This got me really upset as I realized just how much I have in my wallet that is valuable.

I had been meaning to copy all the items that I usually carry in my wallet in case it was stolen, but I had never gotten around to it.  Now I can’t help but think of all the credit cards, ATM cards, and other personal information I had.  I normally don’t carry cash, but I even had a lot of holiday gift money in there this month – and I carry my SSN card.

Rather than panic I scoured the house again, and the car, and my pockets… but nothing.  It’s unlikely that it was stolen – I was the only person in the lab at work yesterday, there was only one subject who came in, and most of the day the door was locked.  We did have a rather long lunch when we were out of view of my jacket and the door, but I thought it was locked then.  So it has to be somewhere in the house, right?  I have ID Theft insurance, so if it is stolen I hopefully won’t have any out of pocket expenses, but it’s a huge hassle to not know where things are.

I’m sure most of you have heard this advice before, but if you were like me you just never got around to implementing it.  Please – make sure you protect yourself BEFORE the unexpected happens!

Here are some ways to protect yourself if you have your wallet stolen or lost:

1. Every time you add a new card or new permanent item to your wallet scan a copy of it and keep a digital file. I have a ton of cards in my wallet, and trying to check all my accounts for fraudulent activity is difficult without remembering exactly what I had.

2.  Sign up for ID Theft Protection Insurance. We use Zander Insurance, recommended by Dave Ramsey, and have really liked them so far – although I haven’t had to use their services yet.  ID protection is only a few dollars a month, and if something happens you are protected from personal loss as well as having access to a good legal team to help your case.

3.  Don’t carry things you don’t need. I kept my social security card in my wallet (hidden in a pocket) because I would always know where it was and would have ID if I needed it.  I only used my card a few times, and would have been able to take it to those places because I knew in advance when I would need ID.  Carrying around personal information that you don’t need only adds to your problems if you lose your wallet, and makes it easier for your identity to be stolen.

4.  Regularly check your accounts online. If you use credit cards or other forms of online banking be sure to check the accounts daily for strange charges.  Normally it takes a few business days for activity to show up, but it should be clear if something is wrong.  Don’t wait until the end of the month when you pay your bill to make sure everything is right.   And, even if you have a lot of transactions, be sure to scan each one on the statement and verify that you remember and made the charges.  Don’t just pay the bill and assume it’s right – even if your identity wasn’t stolen there can be mistakes.

Can you think of any other ideas?

Related posts:

1. How to Protect Yourself From Credit Card Skimming
2. The CARD Act: How it Will and Won’t Protect You After February 22
3. Are You Leaving Your Credit Card In Your Wallet This Christmas?
4. Guest Post from Wide Open Wallet
5. When Did Personal Responsibility Become A Lost Art?