Graduation Brunch Ideas

Why have a graduation brunch? When we were planning a party for my daughter and her friend we realized the kids literally had parties scheduled all day long and evening for several weekends and days in a row. You need to coordinate all of these events so that they do not overlap (or don’t overlap by much). A graduation brunch is a great idea because there are usually fewer graduates vying for this time. A brunch also gives opportunities for many fun graduation brunch menu ideas!

Read on for Graduation Brunch Ideas!

Graduation Brunch Ideas 

This post contains affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I will receive (at no additional cost to you) a small commission, which helps pay for this blog. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

A Graduation Brunch can be a wonderful solution to overlapping parties and other graduation festivities. I hope these Graduation Brunch Ideas help you in your planning. Be sure to savor the day and take lots of pictures!!

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Tax Deductions for Parents of College Students

No one likes paying for college and no one likes doing their taxes. Fortunately there are a few ways to make the process more pleasant during tax time with tax deductions for parents of college students. These college student tax credits can give you a few of your tuition dollars back from the government when you file your taxes each year.

For more posts about Paying for College:

How to Complete Your FAFSA

The Complete Guide to Paying for College

Tax Deductions for Parents of College Students

There are 2 tax credits and one tax deduction available to parents of college students. They are the American Opportunity Credit, the Lifetime Learning Credit, and the Student Loan Interest Deduction.

The American Opportunity Credit

The American Opportunity Credit is a credit available to parents of college students who claim their student as a dependent on their taxes. College students who are not dependents on anyone else’s return may also claim the credit.

If your adjusted gross income is below $90,000 for single filers and $180,000 for joint filers, you can take up to a $2500 credit per eligible student on your return. The cool thing about credits (as opposed to deductions) is that they come straight off your tax bill.

Your college student must be pursuing a degree or other recognized credential, be at least a half-time student, and have a social security number to claim this credit.

The other cool thing about this credit is that you could potentially receive CASH BACK. 40% of the credit is refundable for most taxpayers.

Lifetime Learning Credit

The Lifetime Learning Credit is another credit available to parents of college students. You cannot take both the American Opportunity Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit on the same return. Usually the AOC is better, but you can only take the AOC for 4 years per eligible student. The Lifetime Learning Credit can be taken for an unlimited number of years. So, if you are still paying for expenses after 4 years, you can switch to the LLC.

Although the Lifetime Learning Credit has a lower income threshold ($68,000 for single filers and $136,000 for joint filers), its eligibility requirements are not as strict. It does not require that the student be pursuing a degree and includes courses to acquire or improve job skills and it can be claimed for one or more courses.

The LLC will not result in a refund on your return. It can only reduce the amount you owe.

Student Loan Interest Deduction

The student loan interest deduction is not a credit. It is a deduction, meaning it reduces your income, not your tax liability. The maximum deduction is $2,500.

This deduction can be taken by the person who is claiming the student as a dependent AND is legally obligated to pay the student loan interest.

The person who is legally obligated on the loan will receive a 1098-E from each institution to whom $600 or more in interest was paid during the tax year.

The income threshold for this deduction is $85,000 for single taxpayers and $170,000 for joint taxpayers.

Tax Credits and Deductions for Parents of College Students Cheat Sheet

I created a cheat sheet to summarize the information in this post. It is available in The Printables Library. You can access it below. These college student tax credits and student loan interest deduction are complicated in their eligibility, so I encourage you to consult a tax professional. I have done my best to report accurate information, which I obtained from IRS Publication 970.  

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Small Coffee Bar Ideas on a Budget

Looking to create a small coffee bar? Here are some small coffee bar ideas that you can create on a budget.

For more apartment ideas:

College Apartment Kitchen Idea

New Apartment Checklist

New Apartment Care Package

College Apartment Recipes

Small Coffee Bar Ideas on a Budget

This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

THE PROBLEM

One of the problems with an apartment is a small kitchen with a small amount of counter space. This picture shows my daughter’s apartment kitchen counters on move in day – not much there!

So what is a little apartment kitchen with no counter space to do? Add some with a bar cart. You can use a bar cart for a lot of things – for drinks, to serve food to a gathering, or as a coffee bar. These girls start their days with coffee so we chose to make a small coffee bar.

And if you are in college or just starting out, you need small coffee bar ideas on a budget!

FIRST THINGS FIRST

The first step to creating a small coffee bar on a budget is to find a reasonably priced bar cart. Many affordable carts in all finishes are available on websites like Amazon and Zulily. This iDesign bar cart cart came from Zulily.

ASSEMBLE THE CART

A budget bar cart will come in a box and will need to be put together. Don’t let that scare you. Assembling a bar cart is super simple. My daughter and I were able to easily put it together  in about 15 minutes. The only tool we needed was a phillips head screwdriver. I even forgot to take my Covid mask off. (I was wearing it because the other girls and some of their parents were in the apartment.)

One of the best things about a bar cart is that they almost always have casters. Being able to move the cart around is handy in a small space if you want to rearrange.

SMALL COFFEE BAR IDEAS

Your coffee bar will need several items:

The first is a coffee maker. A Keurig is easy to use and the pods are inexpensive compared to other types of single serve coffee makers. You can save money by buying refillable pods and putting your own ground coffee in the pods. If you use refillable pods, I recommend filters. I make a pot of coffee every morning in my Keurig caraffe. Using filters in the refillable pods is the only way to go to avoid the mess of cleaning the pod all the time.

A fun addition to the coffee bar are coffee flavoring syrups. Don’t forget to get the pumps as well.

Add a plant or other decorations to add personality to your cart.

We added a mug tree. The gold looks modern and sets off nicely against the black cart. The gold mug tree came from Amazon.

You need mugs for your coffee and you cannot go wrong with white mugs. They also set off well against the black cart. The white mugs came from Target. Here is a similar white mug set from Amazon.

If you have room, you can add water bottles or a container for your coffee pods. These green Perrier water bottles add more personality and color to this small coffee bar.

DOESN’T IT LOOK AMAZING!

This small coffee bar is so cute. What fun to grab coffee from this coffee bar every morning on their way to class. (Or to their desks in their rooms. It is 2020 after all.) You can use these small coffee bar ideas to make a coffee bar of your own.

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College Apartment Kitchen Ideas 

My daughter and her friends moved into their first college apartment last week. I was overjoyed to help them with some college apartment kitchen ideas. We worked to set up and organize their pantry and their refrigerator. We also styled a bar cart as an adorable coffee bar.

You can find all of the details, cool things for a college apartment, and the steps we took to organize their college apartment kitchen.

For more college apartment ideas:

New Apartment Checklist

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College Apartment Kitchen Ideas

This post is sponsored by Zulily. All opinions are my own. For more information see my disclosure page.

COLLEGE APARTMENT KITCHEN IDEAS TO ORGANIZE YOUR REFRIGERATOR

A shared refrigerator can turn into a big jumbled mess pretty quickly, so we worked to give each girl a spot to store their food. We started with 4 – 8″ Fridge Binz Caddies from Zulily – one for each girl. I made labels for each bin with their names. It is nice for each person to have their own space in the refrigerator in a shared college apartment kitchen.

Their refrigerator is organized and super functional thanks to these bins from Zulily. They have now spent 8 months in their apartment and my daughter told me they LOVE the bins and do use them to keep their food separated.

They decided they wanted to organize the pantry by category. We used food storage bins from Zulily. I made labels for categories like pasta, breakfast, baking, and snacks.

We had an extra bin and decided to use it for cleaning supplies under the sink. Creating a spot for dishwashing and other cleaning supplies is a necessity in any apartment kitchen.

College apartments often have very little counter space. A bar cart is the perfect solution. It can be added to the living area of the apartment and set up as a coffee bar.

We had the best time styling the cart with their coffee maker, syrups, Perrier, and some mugs.

By the end of the day four college students with the help of their parents had moved into the apartment. They are all set to go for the year with these college apartment kitchen ideas and items from Zulily. I found the cute mug rack on Amazon and the white mugs at Target.

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