Tricks for Dealing with Money Stress

Chances are, you’re stressed out about money. According to a survey done by Ohio State,  seven out of 10 students are stressed about their personal finances, the study reported.  

In a world that makes you feel like you will fail horribly  at life if you don’t have enough money, it’s hard to learn financial responsibility, let alone make the money in the first place.

Learning how to budget, pay your bills and treat yourself here and there is hard for anyone in the adult world, but it is an especially huge source of stress for college students.

I’ve never experienced more stress and anxiety about money than in my college years, and I’m only a sophomore. 

I’m experiencing a constant fight with myself in my head going back and forth from, “No, save your money. You don’t need that,” to “Hey, treat yourself you deserve it,” then “That money should go toward your groceries — don’t spend it.” 

I know I’m not alone in this.

There are many aspects of college life that make it difficult to live through. Not only do you have to succeed in your classes, have a balanced social life, figure out who you are and what you want to do, you also have to pay for everything.

Food, rent, school, supplies, clothes, going out — the list goes on.

When determining how to split up my money and how often I should spend it on things I don’t actually need, it’s hard to find a balance. Over time, I have learned little tricks that help me reduce my spending and reduce my stress levels.

Get that cup of coffee, but only when your friend asks

I never ask my friends to grab a coffee or go shopping, I wait for them to ask me first.

If my friends and I, or even me by myself, got coffee every time I wanted, we’d be in debt.

Following this method has decreased my spending on food, coffee and clothes by a ton.

Now, whenever I’m spending money on these types of things, I don’t feel as stressed our guilty because I’m getting the experience of hanging out with my friends while I’m doing it.

 

Treat yourself when you deserve it

I’ve learned to treat buying some things like rewards, rather than something normal or expected.

For example, now instead of hopping straight into the Starbucks line on campus, I wait until I earn a great grade on an exam or finished all my assignments early for the week so my coffee can be a reward.

Not only does this save me money, it makes me work harder so I can treat myself when I deserve it.

Cash in those spare coins at the bottom of your purse

It wasn’t until recently that I started saving and cashing in my change, but it has been revolutionary.

For a while, it felt useless just dropping in pennies and dimes here and there.

But over time, it has added up, and when I bring the rolls of coins into the bank, I end up with almost $50 deposited into my account!

If you haven’t been saving your change I definitely recommend doing so, it’s a great way to make some extra money here and there.

Money is something that’ll never be easy to deal with unless you have a ton of it, and by being a college student, you most likely don’t have a ton of it.

However, the tiniest changes can impact your bank account immensely. 

Something my mom has always told me, as we’ve struggled with money for as long as I can remember, is, “It’ll work out. It’ll always work out.” 

Although some people have told me this isn’t a great thing to live by, especially when dealing with money, it helps me calm my mind down when stressing about my finances.

So, take a breather. Money is stressful, money is important and money is confusing, but it’ll all work out.

• college
• finance
• HC UFL
• money
• saving
• stress