Take Control of Your Personal Finances

In my completely unofficial and totally informal sociological study of my college friends and peers, I find the most concerning area of irresponsibility to be personal finance. I’m all for having a good time and spending some money to do so. My problem is when there’s more money going out than coming in. Also, I don’t want to hear about how you have no money and are screwed. Meantime you zip up your new $150 hoodie.

College is the best time to get a grip on your finances and set yourself up for future success.

Take that, You Irresponsible Spender!

Why is University such an awesome time to get a grip on your personal finances? In lieu of rambling on about all the reasons, I’ll just touch on the major ones. By the time I’m done, you’ll be thinking of reasons on your own.

1) We have more wiggle room for error than we would have in the real world. If we screw up in college, maybe we run up some credit card debt to cover ourselves (which I strongly recommend against); if we screw up in the real world, there's no money for the rent.

2) It’s easy to live like a cheap college student. My school shows fairly recent movies for free every weekend and this weekend I’m going bowling – complete with shuttle to and from, food and drink – for $5. I just picked up tickets to see my favourite basketball star play next week for $10. Your school has a bunch of groups that run cheap events; take advantage of them! Spend less money and you’ll have more to save and invest.

3) Your school wants to help you succeed financially! My school just wrapped up a 4 week financial literary series. Each week, different groups on campus made presentations. Some presentations were by faculty members, but others were by student groups. Look for a similar event on your campus. Because these presenters are usually from on campus, the series doesn’t have to end with the last lecture. If you find a particular topic confusing or interesting, get in touch with whoever talked about it. They’ll be more than happy to pass along more info or direct you to where you can learn more. If you can’t find one, email the appropriate professors and seek their advice.

4) Mom and Dad (or Grandma and Grandpa, etc) are usually there to fall back onto. I’m not advocating that you run for help with every set back and I’m not saying that someone will subsidize all your wild shenanigans; but in the case of a real, legitimate disaster, those who care about you will be there to help out.

I’m sure by now that you’re beginning to see why college is such an ideal time to begin conquering the skills required for effective personal finance. Now, you have an idea of the why.