It’s not a time when you’re going to be flush with money, not by any stretch of imagination. So it’s best to minimize your expenditures and tighten your purse strings when you’re in college. More importantly, you need to minimize your borrowings because that is what ends up putting you in debt. And, with all these issues to contend with, the last thing that’s going to be on your mind is saving money when you’re in college. But save you must, because it’s a habit that must be practiced throughout life and because it helps you make ends meet during these four years. If you’re wondering how to go about climbing this mountain, perhaps these adages will help you along.
One man’s meat is another’s poison: Don’t spend just because your friends are spending, even if you’re really inclined to do so. So when you go along with your friends’ ideas even though your wallet cannot support it, you’re only digging yourself into a deep hole of debt. Sure you can use your credit card and live life king-sized, but when the time comes to pay the bill, you’re going to regret your foolishness.
Share and share alike: If you can share appliances and other belongings with your roommate, do so instead of spending more to buy duplicates. You save not just the money but also the space to store all these belongings.
Keeping up with the Joneses is a bad idea: If you think you must own what your friends own, then you’re not very mature. Phones, iPods and other gadgets are nice, no doubt, but when you really don’t have the money to spare, it’s best to do without. It’s okay if all your friends own gadgets and you don’t because you’re saving yourself from a mountain of debt.
A penny saved is a penny earned: When you avoid using your credit card irresponsibly (think of your debt when you can’t pay your bill and the interest that accumulates by the day), when you don’t spend what you don’t have, you’re saving money. And a dollar saved is a dollar earned.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be: When you don’t borrow or lend money–or your things, for that matter, you’re safe from debt. Besides, when you lose stuff you borrow, you may have to make good on the loss by replacing it. Also, when people lose things they have borrowed from you or fail to return them, it is an added expense for you.
It’s easy to save money in college if you are disciplined and mature and look at the long term, a future where you are free of debt.
By-line:
This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson, who regularly writes on the topic of online engineering degrees. Adrienne welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: [email protected]
