College life is often associated with financial struggles. Between comparing student loan lenders and supporting yourself day-to-day, the financial woes often become a staple in practically every student’s life. No matter what your income is for the moment, you should learn to save money, and the earlier you start, the better it is for your future development. These are the main reasons why it is important to save money as a student:
1. It Trains Your Discipline
Saving money takes consistency and discipline. Building a skill of saving might be even more important to your well-being than to your wallet. Many people struggle to choose between procrastination and the determination to get things done. In fact, the ability to achieve goals is not inborn but rather a result of self-discipline. If you are new to saving money, you should not fix unrealistic goals, such as buying an apartment. Make your first step small and begin with saving the minimal amount that you can, even if it’s only $1 per month.
2. It Prepares You for the Realities of Adulthood
Not that many students are well educated on such things as taxes, loans, and budgeting. The great news is that your time in college is perfect for learning to control your money by yourself. Even if you have some theoretical knowledge, you will inevitably have to put it into practice. In this way, it is better to start as early as you can before the opportunity to learn becomes a vital necessity that you can’t avoid.
For example, if you are good at writing, you could work for WritePaper as a freelance essay writer on your free days. This kind of job won’t interfere with your studies and will provide you with regular income, which you can learn to manage effectively while still in college.
3. Enjoy Greater Security in Your Life
Being a person that always has no money is no fun. Conversely, by having a safety net, you become a person who always has money. This fact transforms your behavior. You feel safer in daily situations and have less pressure.
Now that you know why you should start saving let’s concentrate on two main types of savings: regular saving accounts and an emergency fund.
Emergency Fund
Having no supporting fund is a limitation of some kind. The connection might not be obvious, but you are less likely to start looking for a new job or express your opinion on the current one in the fear that you lose it when you don’t have an emergency fund.
The concept of the emergency fund usually means having the amount of 3 to 6 months of income put aside. You can’t spend this amount on traveling, car repairing, or buying somebody a Christmas gift. But it is destined to help you in case of a medical emergency, unexpected job loss, or other emergencies.
For example, you can use the fund if the device that you need for your studies is broken, although you can’t spend this money on the latest phone if this is not a vital necessity and your old one functions well. All in all, you can modify these rules according to your needs. Just keep in mind that it’s important to think it through before starting to save for it; otherwise, you might give up before you even create the fund.
Savings Accounts
Experts recommend having multiple bank accounts devoted to different types of expenses. You can start with something simple by having one savings account and another one for your regular expenses. In this way, you will divide your income between these two accounts and be sure not to overspend. This is especially important when you have unstable income sources from your student job, scholarship, and pocket money. If once you receive more money than you usually do, you will be sure to save it for your bigger goals instead of spending it overnight.
The next step would be creating separate accounts for every item on your wishlist that you can’t afford to buy quickly. Define if there are any dreams you need to save on, prioritize them, and decide how much you will be saving per month.
For example, you would like to buy a new iPhone, a Halloween costume, and go on a trip. Let’s imagine Halloween is next month, so it happens to be the most urgent one. However, you can check DIY tutorials on making a costume by yourself to see if you can save on this item. This purchase will serve you only one day, so it might be reasonable to concentrate on other dreams of yours. Like this, you only have to set up two saving accounts for a new phone and a trip. For instance, you can transfer 5% of every incoming payment.
As you see, saving money is easy, and it trains your discipline and determination. We hope this will encourage you to start, even if the amount is not considerable.
