MONEY MANAGEMENT: Tips For Students to Manage Money Effectively – Set Limits, Be Disciplined
By Space Coast Daily // January 25, 2018
students should Set Limits, Be Disciplined
Managing money is always important and always a challenge, no matter how much you earn. But it’s particularly difficult when you’re a student.
On the one hand, you’re probably not earning very much (or receiving that much from your parents). On the other, you’re tempted to spend it on enjoying student life. You’re only young once, after all.
The consequences of mismanaging your money are real, even if you don’t have monthly debit orders you need to pay. Eating well, staying fit, and buying all the books and resources you need, can go out the window when you have nothing in your account.
If you’re having trouble managing your money, here are 3 tips to effectively budget as a student.
Pay by card or app
Cash can sometimes feel convenient, but it can be very detrimental to your budgeting efforts. Not only is it harder to keep track of how much money is in your account, but it also becomes difficult to remember what you spent it on. One of the most useful ways to create a budget is to look at what you’ve been spending and see what you actually need and what you can cut out.
You can’t do this with cash unless you keep receipts. If you pay by card or app, however, you automatically have a record of what you spent and where, which you can use to plan the months ahead.
If you don’t have one yet, make sure to check out the best credit cards for college students. They give you the ability to spend with rewards, if you go about it responsibly.
Also…
Budgeting apps help
An indirect benefit of using a card or digital means of payment is that you can take advantage of one of the many great budgeting apps that are popping up every year. These apps link to your bank account and create an automatic budget based on what you have spent. They categorise all your transactions according to their own algorithms, with the option for you to correct their mistakes. They then learn from these corrections and become more and more accurate.
What once could take hours of monotony is now done for you. You’re much likelier to make a budget and stick to it if you have this capability.
Set limits
Ultimately, the success of your money management strategies will depend on how disciplined you are. It’s easy to start the month with the best of intentions, then end it on less than zero. If you have a credit card, this can be particularly damaging as you reallocate money to pay back what you owe.
What can help is setting limits on your bank accounts. You can limit the amount of cash withdrawn every day or month. You can limit how much you can spend every month on your cards. These limits are not set in stone. Just as you’ve set them, you can change them. But by placing them in the first place, they will deter you from using extra – at least better than the small voice in your head!
CLICK HERE FOR BREVARD COUNTY NEWS
