The beginning of every month is like a dream. You swipe your card and you have the cash you missed in the past few days. But again not all joyous moments last long. Within the next few of days you are back to square one – broke. The cycle is inevitable for almost all of us. We take pleasure in chatting about how badly broke we are. We crack jokes and rush our entire month with empty pockets. But then we neglect how deeper the roots of this problem really are.
College ground is like a preparation for becoming more independent. Money management has huge role to play in when it comes to having an independent life. So why don’t we take this chance to learn money management. Here are a few tips to managing money while at college.
- Budget – Sounds old right? Yeah, but trust me this can work magic on your money. Having a fair idea about monthly expenses is essential. This will help you keep a track of where all your money goes. You can make use of online tools such as Mint.com to sketch out your budget and monitor it.
- Differentiating Wants From Needs – This is difficult only for the first few times. Eventually you will have a good insight about what is essential and what is much like an addition to it. This is particularly important if you are looking at cutting down expenses.
- Bypass Textbooks – Even though they become showcase pieces with time, we invest most of our money in purchasing textbooks in the beginning of the semester. Rather invest on a kindle or i-pad and download or buy e-books which costs way less than printed editions. You could also buy old used textbooks which come at much cheaper prices.
- Look For Student Discounts – Almost every necessary items for students somehow come with student discounts. Use the internet to search for such beneficial discounts and try to buy most of what you need from here. Also you learn to hunt for the best deals through this process.
- Lay Out Financial Limits – Sometimes parents give you money that is more than enough which is solely for the purpose of emergency. Once you have figured out your budget make sure you lay down a certain limit on your expenditure each month. Also spend some time each month in evaluating where you have spent more than your limit and try to cut down on them unless it is necessary.
- Keep Yourself Free Of Dues – Sometimes the most we end paying are on late dues in libraries, fines and other such dues. Ensure you keep a track of anything that you need to return so as to avoid penalties.
- Use Your Credit Cards Wisely – Of course the idea of owning a credit card is pretty tempting and exciting. But trust me, if not you have a good hold on what you buy, you might end up with a huge bill to pay in the month end. Credit cards are meant for judicious use and they work well for those who use them that way. watch your usage closely an do not use your card unless necessary.
Laying the ground work to managing money efficiently can be very useful. Don’t you think the sight of cash in your wallet when you have passed half the month is wonderful? So why don’t you try these out next month.
Of course I say next month. Common, I know you are already broke by now for the month.
