FollowBudgeting Advice That Every College Student Should Know
- Utilize Smartphone Apps
- Avoid Impulse Purchases
- Rely on Jobs Instead of High-Interest Loans
- Take Advantage of Student Discounts
- Apply for Cash-Back and Cash Reward Cards
When it comes to budgeting tips for college students, there are countless platforms that feature invaluable financial advice. In order to present some of the best strategies, however, the following list contains the summarized version of those ideas.
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Utilize Smartphone Apps
Since practically all students have smartphones or easy access to computers, they should take advantage of online budgeting apps. Doing so will completely undermine any errors in simple calculations and help automate the process. For instance, many budgeting apps for smartphones come with automatic payment reminders. These will allow the student to stay on track with their expenditures and avoid late fees. Adding a budgeting software is also going to improve accessibility as most such resources have mobile, desktop, and internet versions.
Avoid Impulse Purchases
As per the CNBC, consumers spend a whopping total of approximately $5,400 on impulse purchases a year. Even though college students are seldom going to reach that figure, they are just as eligible to make last-minute transactions. Just consider, for instance, the number of times that someone will buy unplanned items that are positioned right by the checkout at the grocery store. Avoiding those expenditures will allow one to save their capital and put it towards overhead costs such as gas, insurance, and food.
Rely on Jobs Instead of High-Interest Loans
While the priority of every student should be the completion of their degree, finding a job may be necessary to cover all expenses. This is why millions of students across the nation work on a part-time basis to pay for their studies. Since they usually get to make their own class schedules, they can easily leave a few open days or longer periods of time that they will use for work. That route is much smarter than signing up for high-interest loans that can turn into long-term liabilities that exist after graduation.
Take Advantage of Student Discounts
The number of people who attend universities but fail to use related discounts is incredibly high. Since these types of savings are only preconditioned by one’s status as a student, which they already are, there is no excuse to overlook them. Examples include providers such as Amazon, Microsoft, Samsung, Groupon, and many others. Not to mention Spotify that millions of students across America use to stream their music. Well, instead of paying premium membership or item costs, doing some minimum research will showcase that these platforms offer lower prices for active students.
Apply for Cash-Back and Cash Reward Cards
Folks who wait until graduation to start building their credit are making an enormous mistake that will affect both their future and current budgeting efforts. This is because the number of financial companies who are offering easy eligibility criteria is extremely high. In addition, there are now dozens of cards featuring cash-back deals or cash-based rewards. For instance, companies such as Bank of America and Wells Fargo pay between $150 and $200 on specific credit cards where users meet minimum spending limits. This type of money is basically free when one learns how to use credit to their advantage and leverage it to improve their budgeting and spending history.
Some other tips involve saving a portion of all earnings for emergency situations, avoiding luxurious spending, and eliminating unnecessary subscriptions. Taking advantage of such strategies and the aforementioned budgeting tips will help college students improve their financial situations.
