Saving money in college

This archived article was written by: Nathan Pena

Being a college student is difficult. Aside from the countless homework, the myriad of class requirements as well as brain-crunching and stress-inducing exams, is the problem of getting by with the little money you have when you have bought books, paid tuition and fees plus rent. When you have money, it just simply vanishes with a purchase of the latest game or the newest trend. Here are tips on how to save and spend money wisely.
Keep a mental record of expenses. Students sometimes go overboard with spending and before they know it their wallets are drained dry. Keeping a mental record of expenses prevents students from using all of their money in one go and saves money for when they need it. Collegescholarship.org advises to: “For one month save every receipt of everything you purchase, from a pack of gum, a tube of toothpaste to your computer. Log each expense in a notebook. When the month is up, tally up what you’ve spent and take a good look at just where most of it went.”
Cheap is not bad. Students tend to look at something cheap and find it to be poor quality. However, many stores have good quality products on sale and at a cheaper price. “Shop secondhand whenever possible,” thesimpledollar.com says. If you are looking for a product that becomes a need to buy, do not go exactly for the newest edition of the product, search anywhere for older editions or product models that would naturally be sold at a cheaper price.
Prioritize your spending and saving. Do you need something paid off for school or do you need to buy something in the coming months? The best way to use your money wisely is to deal with unpaid fees first, then save for your spending later. Gocollege.com advises to, “pay the balance each month” and to “pay on time, every time.” Your education as a college student should always come first.
These tips should not be followed strictly; everyone has their own ways of saving and spending wisely. And with these tips, life as a college student in respects to spending and saving money wisely can be easier even with the stress that naturally comes with it.