Being a student is obviously a stressful time (especially in this day and age when there’s also a global pandemic going on), but there’s also a way to keep your personal finances in check while getting your degree. And being a student makes it incredibly obvious how hard it is to manage your personal finances anyway as you see your bank account slowly dwindle while you’re spending all your time and energy focusing on going to classes, taking tests, and writing essays.
It also makes it very apparent that your parents aren’t around anymore to bail you out of debt and not helping you with your purchases. And college books aren’t exactly cheap! Dining halls, room and board, weekend activities—it all adds up really fast.
Here are a few ways that students in particular can boost their personal finances while making sure they attend all their classes and ace their exams.
- Create a budget and then stick to it. Anyone who is creating any sort of financial goals for themselves is going to need to set a budget as well. And sticking to this budget is also just as important because it’ll ensure that you’re not getting into debt or screwed over. You’ll want to account for all money going out and coming in to account for all changes to make sure that you don’t find yourself in a negative space.
- Put money into your savings. It may sound obvious, but you won’t grow your savings unless you’re actively putting money into it on a regular schedule. It’s as important as all of your college classes to learn how to save money so that you can prepare for any unforeseen emergencies and also so you can prepare for your future, such as buying a house or a car.
- Buy used when possible. You’ll want to buy only new when you absolutely need to so you can save money. Buying used products will always save you money, and half the time you or anyone else won’t be able to even notice that they’re used.
- Keep your debt minimal. It’s easy to get a little too credit card happy and buy a lot using your cards, but if you’re not careful, that debt can really snowball and leave you with more debt. Make sure to cap your spending when possible.
- Be frugal. It’s one thing to be cheap, but being frugal will allow you to save money and not risk getting into too much debt. Make sure you go about things in a way that’ll keep you in a positive place financially.
