Photo: Heather Hartmann
You’re walking down Grand River Avenue, heading to CVS Pharmacy for the essentials: Arnold Palmer, Kettle Corn, and a new coffee mug. Ok, maybe not essentials, but definitely much needed wants. As you’re passing a storefront window, something catches your eye. Temptation draws you nearer: it’s a blue sweater, lined with fur, gorgeous beyond belief, and, you’re in luck: it’s on sale. However, you know you can’t afford it at the moment. It couldn’t hurt to just go and try it on right? Or at least you think. In a blink, you’re in the store. Thirty minutes later, you walk out with the sweater, a pair of mittens, and the scarf you just had to have. You justify the purchase by telling yourself it’s going to start snowing soon. Besides, everything was on sale. However, you can’t ignore the subtle fact that though you left the store with more stuff in your hands, your wallet has become noticeably lighter.
The scenario above is one we all know too well. I’m sure it’s happened to all of us dozens, if not hundreds of times! However, though we walk out of the store swearing we won’t spend anymore money, our fight seems almost futile. There’s always another window display with something in it calling our name, full of promises that more treasures and discounts await inside.
It’s not just shopping that we lose our money to. Think back on all the lattes, tea, and ice cream you’ve bought in the last seven days. How much cash has been spent on those things? Or how about what’s kept you entertained: Did you hit up a bar during the weekend? Go to see The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn movie? Have dinner at Chipotle with friends? All of that costs money! Money that we, as truthfully labeled ‘poor college students,’ cannot afford to spend flippantly! There are textbooks to buy, groceries to purchase, and let’s not forget that little thing known as tuition which most of us have to think about. Besides, the financial decisions we make now will resonate far into our future. We cannot afford, literally and metaphorically, to make mistakes!
Depressing huh?
But, I’m not here to be the Scrooge of finances; instead, I have a solution you may not have thought of. Recently, in my CAS 110 class, my professor Karl Gude assigned us a project: determine a problem and find a creative solution to it. Along with the five other members of my group, we decided to tackle the problem of how to save/not spend money, a logical conundrum for steadily broke students. After about two or three hours of brainstorming, conversing, and sticky-noting an entire wall, we suddenly hit a solution none of us had thought plausible at first:
The idea of having confidence.
Shocked, we brainstormed further, talking and discussing the applicable nature of this possible solution. Finally, after much thought, our final product was realized:
Have confidence in yourself to resist what influences you to spend money.
Yes, we could have said ‘run away’ or ‘just say no,’ two options which were considered I might add, but in the end, every potential solution to saving money reverted to the idea of having confidence in yourself. See, each of us deals with pressures around us, both supplied by society and our own persons. From what you should wear and do, to what constitutes as a ‘good living,’ all these things contribute to the cash that flows out of our pockets. However, smart decisions, ones that may go against the norm and require confidence in who you are, can save you money and maybe even build your creativity.
Here’s a few ideas that my group came up with to implement this solution:
- MAKE A BUDGET. You may be going, “That’s not very creative,” or “How does making a budget require confidence?” Let me explain. First, sit down for twenty minutes. Look over bills and receipts of your past spendings, as well as earnings, and estimate how much you spend a month. Think about how your income and output relate to one another, if your outgoing money exceeds how much you make. Then, look at where it’s spent. Is it on shoes? Clothes? Bills? Groceries? Make a list of what is truly necessary and what isn’t. This will require confidence in yourself, confidence that you’ll be honest and listen to what your figures are telling you. Create different categories, from food to entertainment, and allocate the amount you are allowed to spend each month. I suggest taking out enough cash to fulfill these requirements; if at all possible, put your credit card away for good. If you dislike carrying around cash, think about getting a debit card. It’ll allow you to access whatever is in your account and no more then that. Finally, also have confidence you can follow your budget. If you don’t believe in yourself, it’ll be much harder to do.
- BORROW/SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS. Why go to a store where you can only by a few items when you have girl friends with closets as full as your own? Usually, most of us use shopping for an excuse to celebrate, for something to do, or to get over our recent break up. Instead, during one of these episodes, head over to a friend’s and swap clothes. You can ‘shop’ and enjoy their company without spending any money. Switch shirts, skirts, and shoes, trading wardrobes for a day. Have a friend who is reluctant to give up her blouse for 24 hours? Put a ‘down payment’ on her top, letting her hang on to your favorite pair of jeans or earrings until her blouse is safely returned. It takes confidence to break the norm of wanting the hottest and newest brand-name tee, to be different then the flow around you. However, you may strike gold in your friends’ wardrobes, finding clothes and new styles you would never have known about before.
- BE CREATIVE. Anyone can go to the movies on a Friday night and watch the latest Harry Potter film for the third time in a row! However, it’s expensive to do these days. So, instead of dropping $7.50 at the theater, get creative. Try to find a DVD you’ve never heard of from a girl or guy down the hall; head over to Wells Hall for a free movie; go to the cafeteria and make root beer floats with your friends; play Capture the Flag on your floor (safely please!); invest in a board game like Quelf or Apples to Apples. There are thousands of things to do that are either very cheap or don’t cost a dime at all! However, you have to have the confidence to stand up and suggest these options. Maybe you’ll get a weird look or two at first for saying, “Hey, instead of going to the movies, let’s play Spoons,” but you could become the talk of the town before the night is over.
Now, I’m not saying to never ever spend money; sometimes indulging yourself is perfectly fine. But it’s when and how we spend it that matters; it’s the smartness of our decisions that counts. Like every good thing, limits and boundaries need to be set. You have to have confidence in yourself to realize you can control your spendings and savings, and in the end, I believe confidence will overflow to fill other areas of your life. It’s a win-win situation. So, let this be your motto for the rest of the year and into the next: keep confident and save on.
Thanks to my group members Alec Rademacher, Kristopher Baumgardner, Andrea Raby, Elizabeth Izzo and Catherine Kanka for their contribution in this idea.