Getting a quality education is one of the greatest aspirations of young people around the world. Especially youngsters between the ages of sixteen and thirty, but getting quality education involves tuition fees, transportation, food costs, and so much more; that is why finding ways to reduce costs and save money turns out to be complicated.
This detailed article will guide you and offer you advice to help you and even when you reach graduation or university.
First of all, being a student who is always short on money, you need to . Your budget plan needs to incorporate your monthly expenses, so devise a budget that includes fixed and variable costs. You will have a perspective of your total financial needs and how you spend and prioritize the little money you have.
With this exercise, you will probably notice that many of the expenses that you think are necessary are avoidable luxuries, hence can be easily cut down.
by calculating your income and subtracting your expenses from it, such as transportation, recreation, and other activities; it is no easy task, so we suggest a way to implement revenue planning effectively:
- Dedicate fifty percent of your income to pay off your fixed and urgent expenses
- If you are in the college or university stage, some unforeseen plans may arise, so allocate thirty percent to those out of your vision for the future
- Saving is significant, so here you need to allocate twenty percent of your money to save for emergencies or plans
Tips For Students
Students can easily save a lot of money by making effective life choices. For example, you should plan your weekly meals, including snacks and everything you need during your day, instead of eating from restaurants or having street food. , so you make sure you eat healthily and spend less. Remember that the food in cafes or shops often is a little more expensive; add this to your routine for the welfare of your savings.
Another example is to sell out things that you don’t use. Take time to consider all your belongings, from clothes to books, pull out everything that is not useful now in your life; then, go for a garage sale or use social networks to promote these things and see if someone buys your stuff. It can let you make a higher income that will help you in your monthly savings.
Each university offers some form of practical recreation to students. They usually provide activities such as dance classes, music, theatre, and other activities. The advantage is that within the university, you can avoid paying fees and transportation.
If you can go to the university gym, take advantage of it and exercise in your free time, completely free of charge.
Apart from this simple advice, you can also keep in mind more effective and practical solutions to your financial problems, just give it a read and find out more.
Track Your Spending
Being a student if you can’t keep a record of your spending and don’t know where the money went in the middle of the month. Download a mobile wallet app and keep track of your spending. Several apps help you organize all your expenses in different categories.
You can also set a monthly budget for yourself and monitor your finances. By having control of your costs, you will know in which type you spend the most and how can you reduce that expense being a student.
Use Public Transport
With the pollution left by buses or traditional means of transport, opting for an alternative way of commuting such as using the bicycle can help you a lot, save money and fulfill your obligation to take care of the planet.
On the other hand, if your destination is close and you can walk there, do not hesitate to do so. You will also save a lot of money that you can take advantage of and take care of your health through physical activity.
You’re going to be up and down all day. Maybe not the first year, but as the years go by; you end up having classes in the morning, some in the afternoons, extra-curricular activities, urgent lab, and library visits. And everything is much more fun if you have to do it on different campuses, but it’s costly as well.
So, avoid expensive traveling by choosing a home en route on public transit and near your university. It is essential to know how it is connected to your university if you can go by bus or metro. Check how much the monthly pass costs; remember that you can request the student fares to cheaper the ticket. Public transport is much cheaper than having a personal car and facing the charges involved.
Nowadays, if you only need the vehicle for specific moments, many cars share, or rental companies can get a car per hour or a day at very cheap rates.
If you find a residence near your campus, the best alternative to university is a bicycle. Besides being the cheapest, it also allows you to exercise and stay in shape. In google maps, you can see if there are bicycle routes from your residence to the university.
Public transport is undoubtedly the cheapest option. But without a doubt, the bicycle is the method of transport with which you can save the most money and exercise.
Taking Advantage of Student’s Discounts
As a student, there is one advantage that others cannot avail, and these are the student discounts. Most corporate brands and eateries offer to young segments of their target markets. So being a student, you can always keep a lookout for any exciting offers.
It can help you save money and even let you experience the latest service or products at discounted rates. Apart from the corporate offers, various public transports and other services also offer some discounts to younger people, so never shy away from the national services meant to facilitate your needs.
Shop Smartly: For Groceries and Everything Else
Buying seasonal food in the markets guarantees, you have fresh and cheap food in your refrigerator. Please take advantage of the weekend to cook different stews and freeze them in resealable bags. Make sure you also pack your lunch for school in the morning or the night
before.
Your money ledger will thank you, and you will be surprised to see how much you can save as a student.
It’s not essential to spend money to have fun. One of the strategies to save as a student is responsible consumption at parties; reducing the amount of beer and cigarettes improves your health and prevents you from spending more money.
If you don’t believe us, take a few minutes to write down how much you spend on cigarettes and alcohol per month. That money can turn into a significant savings fund.
Have More Than One Bank Account
It doesn’t matter how much money you make or receive while in your student years; you can have multiple bank accounts. One clear is that various banks offer exclusive access and discounted shopping opportunities as their marketing and outreach practices. So, if you have numerous bank accounts, you can avail of maximum discount offers and even discounts on various fees.
You can also use the bank for making payments that cost you the minimum taxes. If you have just one bank account, chances are you’re missing out on a lot of things. So don’t waste this opportunity and get the maximum benefit from your banks as well.
Tips For Graduates
When you graduate, one of the challenges is to make the money work and save as a beginner professional since the expenses at the university are many and increase when you live away from your parents’ house.
The fact is that we can always find ways to reduce our everyday expenses. Here we share some tips that will allow you to save as a fresh graduate.
Interest and surcharges generated by late payments can be an obstacle to saving as a student. The worst thing is that many times we do not even realize how they affect our pockets, and although they are relatively small amounts, in the end, they are very significant.
To avoid them, prepare a calendar that reminds you of the payment deadlines and, if you have the opportunity, direct your expenses to a debit card; this way, you will have everything in order and without any significant complications.
not spend more, since it is easy to find the best deals and buy very cheap products over the internet. One tip is to buy online only the objects that you need and are essential; once you know what you want, you can look for them without making too many purchases. Sharing the shipping costs by ordering with friends is also a great idea.
From Netflix to the internet, sharing services will help you save a lot of money. Take advantage of the family packages of streaming services and divide the expenses equally. You can also organize with your roommates and buy wholesale products for the house, such as toilet paper, soaps or toothpaste. It will also help your roommates save as students.
Benefit from Money Making Apps
Money-making apps got increasingly more and more popular over the years since it is a fairly easy way to earn some money on the side. There are numerous options on how you want to earn money with the help of money-making apps. There’re surveys, transcribing speech, watching ads, downloading apps, etc.
There are even apps that pay you just for sharing your internet connection and paying you for doing almost nothing. One of the apps that offer this is Honeygain. This app works as a crowdsourced web intelligence network and it pays you real-life money in exchange for your unused bandwidth.
All money-making apps are similar but differ in the sense of how much effort you need to put in in order to earn money. Whether you want to earn money passively or prefer a more hands-on approach, there are plenty of apps to choose from that would work the best for you.
Curtail Your Spending
One of the biggest traps that keep us from saving money is buying things we don’t need just because they are on sale. Therefore, try to give yourself a day to think if you need to buy that product, and if you have to go back to the store for it, it is because it is essential to have it.
The recommendation is not to approach the discount stores unless you have what you need and thus make the most of the discounts and not buy only on impulse.
Plan Ahead
As a young adult soon becoming a full-on professional, planning must be an essential ingredient in your recipe to success once you plan everything and create a roadmap. It’s effortless to follow it, hence saving yourself money and avoiding any needless expenses.
You can also plan your savings to buy something expensive for yourself, like a car or a new wardrobe for your professional career. Whatever your choices may be, just make sure that you are okay with any uncertain expenses.
Invest Some of Your Savings
By now, we have indeed equipped you with some of the essential saving tips. Now you can start your demanding and challenging journey of saving money while being a student. However, it’s not over yet as you begin containing your expenses and manage to save some amounts of money.
It would help if you didn’t keep it to yourself and should invest in short-term savings accounts or any other way you can make more money off it. Buying shares in small amounts or buying some cryptocurrency may be something that will require you to study a lot before investing, as these are technical investment opportunities and can be that you face a loss as well. So be careful while you decide how you want to invest the money you save.
Prioritize Paying Off Your Debt
There are times when students also need to get some loans, may it be for their education or for something apart from being a student.
Either way, you need to make sure you pay off your debts as a priority as debts become more difficult to pay back with time. So, at the earliest, pay off all your debts and avoid buying something that is not essential for you.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many ways you can save money as a student and as a fresh graduate. All you need to do is make informed and efficient decisions while spending your money. Managing finances is never easy; for this reason, you must never take it lightly.
It may feel like you’re becoming a miser, but it will not be like this forever. Soon you will have ample money that will allow you to indulge in the luxuries of life, but student age is not the right age to delve into amenities. As students, you need to keep the focus on your education and equip yourself as much as possible so you can do well in your professional age.