5 Money Management Tips for College Students

If you’re in college, you might be familiar with the fact that most students struggle with money. This is often due to their financial background and inability to manage their personal finance. Because of this, students often look for ways to make some extra cash, save what they have earned, and learn to be more mindful of their spending. Even though personal finance can be hard, there are some smart ways to save money, and in this article, we go over 5 of the best tips for money management college students need to follow.

How to Manage Your Finances as a Student: Top Tips

Below are 5 of the most recommended tips for managing money as a college student:

• Have A Separate Savings Account
• Look Out For Student Discounts
• Only Buy The Essentials
• Use Your Meal Plan
• Make Plans For Large Expenses

1. Have A Separate Savings Account

“Out of sight, out of mind” is a great way to consider saving money as a college student. When trying to build discipline for handling money, you’ll need to help yourself by limiting your access to extra funds. One way to do this is to have a separate account you use to save. Ideally, you shouldn’t easily have access to this account to limit your use of the funds stored there unless there is an emergency, while also enjoying the savings account perks and benefits. This approach can help you manage your finances effectively.

2. Look Out For Student Discounts

Businesses often give students preferential treatment as they’re great shoppers that can become lifelong customers. It is often part of the business’ policy to give students some percentage off certain items. So, to avoid paying the full price, you can ask if the business or service offers student discounts at purchase. It’s not easy to save money in college, but you have to try. Even if you aren’t getting more than 10% off, these savings can add up to help increase your savings. 

3. Only Buy The Essentials

When there’s cash at hand, it can be tempting to get everything at the store; after all, you likely have a use for it. However, this can easily lead to you barely scraping by each month as you wait for your next allowance. Therefore, it’s best always to have extra cash tucked away. So, when shopping, focus on getting the essentials first. This doesn’t mean you can’t spoil yourself occasionally, but you must have a budget for your necessities.

Although students mostly buy food and spend their money on rent, there are other expenses they may occasionally have. When the workload gets too hefty, many learners opt to order some of their papers instead of writing them. This can improve mental health and help a student feel less stressed. However, if you don’t choose a writing company well, you may end up overspending. Get a professional essay writing service that will offer you a reasonable price. Also, avail of any discounts, like seasonal offers or first-order deals.

4. Use Your Meal Plan

Many colleges offer their students meal plans to minimize their expenditures. So, if you’re a student in a college with such a program in place, you don’t want to miss out on this opportunity. In most cases, the food is rather healthy, served more than once a day, and you don’t even need to wash the dishes afterwards. Of course, you can decide to eat out occasionally, but using your meal plan is a great way to manage your money better.

5. Make Plans For Large Expenses

When you identify something you want or need that’s very expensive, rather than spending all your cash on it, consider making a budget and saving towards it. When you have saved enough money, you can rethink whether what you want to buy is as important as you first thought. Often, saving for long periods will make you scrutinize your purchases more, which can be a good thing.

Money management is a skill that can positively affect all facets of your life as a student. Having a separate savings account, using meal tickets, and even buying only the essentials are some ways to make the most of what you have and doing that you can avoid falling behind on a credit card and title loan defaults. If you enjoyed this article, consider sharing it with your friends who might need the tips.

Author’s Bio:

Andrew Mazur is a freelance writer and entrepreneur. From a young age, Andrew realized the benefit of saving money. Now that he runs a business, the money management principles he has learned are proving very useful. So, in the spirit of helping others, Andrew has decided to help more people learn how to plan and manage their money better.