Going to college can be an incredible and life-changing experience. In addition to paving the way for your future career, this is also a time where you gain independence, develop many vital life skills and make friends for life. There are many great things about being a student, but you will also find that it can be tricky financially to manage, and you do not want finances to impact your experience both in terms of your study and lifestyle. Fortunately, there are many handy financial tips to keep in mind, which will hopefully help you to keep on top of your finances each term and make the most out of this special time.
Draw Up A Budget
First, you should draw up a budget for each term. You need to divide the amount of money that you have for each term by how many weeks there are to work out how much you can spend each week and then spread this across your essential spending. Anything leftover can then be used for non-essential spending or saving. Keep in mind that unexpected expenses can occur, so it is smart to have some funds available in an emergency fund.
Take Advantage of Student Discounts
You can often make huge savings on key expenses with student discounts, so it is always worth searching for these before making a major purchase. For example, you can usually find laptops student discount, which is a great way to make big savings on high-quality laptops, allowing you to get more for your money and find a laptop that you can rely on for your studies and personal life.
Keep Food Costs Down
Food is one of the major expenses to cover a student, and many struggles if they have not done their own shopping and cooking before. This is an area that can be very expensive, but there are many ways to make savings, such as:
- Shopping at cheap supermarkets
- Buying non-brand
- Buying in bulk
- Avoiding impulse purchases
- Use meal prep
- Take turns cooking as a household
Find Cheap/Free Entertainment
It is important that you can go out and enjoy yourself as a student, but you do not want to blow your budget on going out and make it hard to afford the rest of the term. This is why you should always be on the lookout for free or cheap entertainment, such as house parties, free concerts, or activities in the local park.
Find Ways to Earn
You may want to earn extra to give your finances a boost, but you must be careful with this as you will not want it to affect your studies. Any part-time job needs to be flexible, or you could look into ways to earn money online, which can allow you to earn in your free time without any major commitments and give your finances a healthy boost each month.
Once you make a little extra money, use at least 10% of it to start investing. While you’re young you should consider investing in cryptos like Bitcoin. They are highly volatile which provide a great opportunity to gain or lose on the investment. Since you’re young there’s plenty of time to make that money back up. Invest now for the potential of huge profits.
Hopefully, these financial tips will come in useful and help you to make the most out of your student experience.
