You’re ready for your new life as a college student, but how ready are you to experience your newfound financial responsibilities? Here are seven considerations every college student should chew on to help soften the blow of entering the real world.
1. Learn to Budget
If you don’t want to be on the college kid diet of ramen noodles and hot dogs for the next several years, you’ll probably want to learn how to budget. A healthy budget makes it easy to see your spending at a glance and teaches you good money management skills that will carry you through life.
2. Learn About Student Discounts
Want to squeeze more out of your part-time job income? Many companies offer discounts for college students. And it’s not just the big names, either; many mom-and-pop shops and restaurants in your area might also offer discounts. All you need to do is ask!
3. Be Careful With Credit Cards
Using a credit card responsibly is an excellent pipeline to becoming a well-rounded adult with good credit. Unfortunately, and if we’re being realistic, this isn’t the best time to experiment with credit cards if you have no experience using them. Instead of taking one out with an astronomically high limit that could get you in trouble, opt for a prepaid credit card to help you build credit without worrying you’ll go overboard.
4. Get a Part-Time Job
It might cut into your study (read: party) time, but a part-time job will help you immensely when you’re starting out on your own. It doesn’t have to be anything extravagant, just something that can help you with base expenses and savings. This is especially vital if you have the luxury of having other expenses handled by your parents — getting a part-time job now will help you be more responsible with money and help you save for future student loan payments.
5. Teach Yourself To Cook
Those of you enjoying the dorm life might be rolling your eyes right now, but you, too, can hone your cooking skills and save yourself money. While going out to eat is convenient, it can burn an impressively large hole in your pocket. Cooking most of your meals at home is definitely the way forward, even if it means you’re stuck trying to figure out a new way to soup up your ramen—no pun intended.
6. Learn About Personal Finance
You’re already a student, so you might as well learn! Everyone should have a basic understanding of personal finance. Teaching yourself about investing, saving, and planning for retirement will put you ahead of the curve once you graduate. It’ll also show you how to start saving for these things now so you feel like you have a better hold on your future.
7. Hunt for Deals
There’s no shame in buying used anything, but this tip is convenient regarding one of the more shocking expenses college students encounter: books. See if you can’t snag any of the books your teachers ask for either used or as a digital copy. However, this tip could literally apply to anything — teaching yourself to spend a little extra time to find the best price is an excellent way to prepare you for managing real-world expenses.
