With COLLEGE, The Dallas Morning News by Nancy Churnin
Ahh… autumn is just around the corner. Crisp leaves will be floating like bubbles in the sky; or just like your luscious hair that is thinning off your head due to all your new financial stress! Summer didn’t last longer than a blink of an eye. However, your bank account begs to differ.
You realize all those summer hours you reeled are non existent after splurge shopping, exhilarating music festivals, and now overpriced school books.
Part of being successful is having our money under control: make some, save some, and spend some.
Saint Xavier offers the Northwest Community Credit Union on campus. The credit union is student led and allows students to open a checking and savings accounts with the minimum deposit of ten dollars.
This is the perfect opportunity to start saving a portion of the money you produce, even if you maintain a minimum wage income.
Rather than spending your paycheck entirely, have a small percentage deposited into a separate savings account. Now you have your rainy day money put aside. You bought a book without an access code?
Don’t wait until your next paycheck to buy the correct one.Spending some means some, not all of it shopping online. There are a few sacrifices that must be made. For one, reduce how often you eat out. Food is a necessity, being served is not.
Limiting spending on food is more than avoiding dine-in restaurants. It’s the $4 coffee you buy every morning religiously, and the quick serve cheese burgers that add up.
Think about it. If you head to a cafe for a morning large coffee and a breakfast sandwich and pay $9, that’s almost an entire hour off your paycheck on one meal.
Make coffee at home and do something more meaningful with your cash!
Only pay for what you’re using. If you spend majority of your time on campus, you’re probably using the school’s wifi too. If that’s the case, you can easily switch to a more inexpensive phone plan. Don’t pay for data you’re not using. Also make sure you are paying for your expenses on time.
Don’t procrastinate returning those amazon rentals. Take advantage of your cell phone’s calendar, or use canvas to keep track of upcoming due dates.
The definition of late fees is giving companies your money for being lazy instead of receiving an actual service of some kind.
Another wallet saver is instead of purchasing novels, or books that won’t be used for the entirety of the semester, try checking them out at your local library.
Do the math. Take a minute to figure out what you’re generally making in a month’s span. Then find out how much is left over after all your expenses are paid.
From there, deduct how much money is going into your new savings account. The remaining balance is yours to use towards guilty pleasures, guilt free.
This simple formula will make life as a college student, or as a human being, so much easier.
Susan Huerta
Features Reporter
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