Summer break just ended and for most students, so did the 40-hour work weeks spent in uncomfy office chairs or smelly retail chains. It’s back to school season and time to cash in those hard-earned cheques for school supplies, rent or maybe even your daily Starbucks cravings. Whatever your means of spending may be, student budgets are on everyone’s mind. Here at HerCampus Ryerson, we know exactly how you feel. Sure, that extra slice of pizza may have been a waste of money and maybe you didn’t really need that new Aritzia cardigan but it’s okay to treat yourself here and there.
As long as you set boundaries and goals for yourself while making all your payments on time, you can totally allow yourself some fun purchases. Below, I’ve listed some easy tips and tricks to save as much money as possible while you’re in school!
1) Set a reasonable budget
At the end of the summer, you should be sitting down and copy/pasting all of your expenses in a spreadsheet so that you know how much money you should be setting aside for them. Whether that be your monthly subscription to Final Cut Pro (I see you, journalism students!) or your Spotify/Apple Music payment, making sure you have all your expenses organized in front of you helps to monitor your money. From there, you should be able to figure out how much money you can use for “spending” money, otherwise known as food and entertainment. The rest of the money is for your savings.
Remember though, you don’t need to feel bad about spending some extra cash here and there. As far as I’m concerned, you’re a boss and you worked hard for your money – just don’t overdo it.
2) Stick to your budget
I cannot stress enough how important it is to stick to the goals that you’ve set for yourself. Adding $100 from every paycheck to your savings will eventually add up and you’ll be able to spend some money without worrying.
Of course, life gets in the way sometimes. Maybe Uber Eats becomes your saving grace or you fall in love with a super cute dress (and it’s on sale). Either way, as long as a routine is in place the majority of the time, it will be more beneficial for you and your wallet in the long run.
3) Registered Savings Plans (and other fun stuff)
A savings account is a good start but investing your money into something bigger that will generate more interest over time is the ideal way to go. So, what’s the difference, and how do you know which one is best for you?
RRSP – A Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) is an easy way to grow your interest rate and save money for retirement.
GIC- Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GIC) are a “safe and secure investment with little risk,” advertises Western Financial. With a GIC you invest a minimum of $500 that has to be locked up for a time frame in order to recieve interest. The only thing to consider is how soon you may need the money you’re putting away – with that in mind, you can determine the length of term that is right for you!
TFSA – A tax-free savings account (TFSA), my personal preference, provides tax benefits for saving your money. The money can be withdrawn tax-free and you can open one when you turn 18.
Investing early is one of the simplest ways to ensure that you have money for when you get out of school or when you need it most. Now, I’m not expecting you to go to your bank and sign up for any of these plans right away but they’re good accounts to be able to fall back on.
Money is best invested when it’s put into a high-interest savings account so that over time it will continue to grow. Still not sure which one to choose? Call your bank or ask your parents, they’ll be able to point you in the right direction.
4) Bank Accounts
A key game-changer in my finance plan was to make different accounts within the same bank branch. For instance, having two chequing accounts has really helped me. One chequing account is labelled “Bills” and it’s where my payroll deposit goes and my car payment (and other bills) come out of. The other one is my primary chequing account, labelled “Fun Money,” which has the money that I have budgeted myself to spend during the two-week period. It’s also the chequing account which is set up for TAP and Apple Pay, so you don’t need to worry about the money coming out of the wrong account. Of course, there are other methods to separate your money, you just need to figure out which one works best for you!
5) Apps
There’s an app for everything nowadays which means, you guessed it, banking apps. There are over a dozen different finance apps to manage how you spend your money, where you’re spending it and what category it falls into.
Apps like Learnvest and Mint do a good job at making sure college students stay on top of their investments while juggling school, extracurriculars, work and a social life. Bonus: These apps both link directly to your bank account for an in-depth review of what you’re spending.
6) Meal prep
In college and university, it’s easy to spend a lot of money on food and coffee without even noticing it. According to College Info Geek, meal prepping will cost the average person $60 – $100 a week. Although the price may seem steep, that’s 21 meals a week. If we divide $80/21, we get $3.80. $3.80 on a meal? That’s it? That’s about the price of two junior chickens at McDonald’s – not to mention healthier!
Meal prepping is a great way to eat well while making sure you’re not wasting money on food and coffee every day. You can even Google coffee recipes for when you burn a hole in your wallet from those $5.25 lattes at Balzac’s every day.
Make things from home, they might even taste better too!
7) Consider the Cost Per Use
When you go to purchase an item, whatever that may be, think about it logically. Is this item of clothing worth the number of hours you spent working to make this sum of money? If it is, ask yourself this; will you wear it enough? Consider how often you might be able to bring, use or wear the item.
Then take the cost of the item and divide it by how often you think you’ll use it to get the cost per use. If it’s something you keep thinking about, maybe you should buy it. If you can rationalize your purchase based on how often you’ll use it, then you’ll know you’re making a smart choice.
At the end of the day, no one can control what you choose to do with the money you have. There is no right or wrong, it’s just about what’s most beneficial for you and the way you want to go about your budgeting process. Hopefully, after reading this, you’ll be more motivated to save your hard-earned dollars, whether you’re new to it or a professional!
After all, does it look like money grows on trees?