Now that summer is officially over and we are all back on campus, I have realized that it has become really difficult for me to manage my money. Going to parties, ordering food mobily, going out to eat, shopping, etc. Everything has hit me all at once. Because all of this is happening around me and so consistently I have found that I am having a hard time saying no to spending my money. So, in order to prevent you all from making the same mistakes I have thus far, I present you with a plan to help save us all some cash.
I had a similar experience last semester with spending too much of my money. The first thing that I started with was writing down everything that I had bought throughout the week. Being able to see what I was spending held me way more accountable. Seeing the amount I had spent on paper made me realize how crazy my habits had become. This technique worked for a while, but soon I had to find another approach.
Once that started to fail me, I tried another tactic. This approach was to plan out what I wanted to buy during a given week. I would set some money aside for food, some money aside for going out and then another small amount for random things that came up. Once I had spent the money I had put aside I would cut myself off for the rest of the week.
If both of those ideas end up failing you, I have one more drastic technique that may help if you are as bad as I am. Each week, I would either take out $80 in cash or set a limit on my debit card for $80. Once that was up I really would have no other source of money. So, it made me more responsible and cautious about where my money was going.
As the year continues, I am going to stick to my limits, and focus on saving as much as I can; and you should too!!