Remember, back in high school, when we were always lectured about how to save our money in some sort of business or grad transitions class? But we actually never really learned how to?
I remember hearing about “financial literacy,” and being immediately turned of because I could care less about saving money or budgeting. However, these things come back to bite you in the butt when you’re older because you have no money saved up! Now, as a university student, I’m struggling to save and budget my money. I’m constantly learning things about the bank because I’m always forced to go talk to my teller to figure out why I’m always getting charged stupid fees!
Through my struggles of managing money, I have come to realize that there are always small steps to help budget and save. Here are a few tips I learned along the way:
1. Get to know your bank account
I remember walking into a bank with my mom and getting my own bank account. However, I never really cared to know about what accounts really did. Having a savings account is a great idea—especially, a tax-free savings account. These accounts allow the bank to pay you interest by holding on to your money. If you want to save more money, I suggest you also look into having a set amount of money being withdrawn from your chequing account to be placed into your savings. If you do that with $5 a week, you’ll save $240 in a year. And if you keep increasing the amount, you’ll save even more!
2. Use apps to track your spending
There are countless apps out there that show you how much money you are spending. They can also keep track of your budget for the day, as well as informing you of where you can invest your money to earn and save more. My personal favourite is MINT. They have an app and a website, which allows you to pay your bills and also to track your credit score. It’s definitely worth using, especially when you have multiple bank accounts and want to view them all at once to see what your balance looks like.
3. Keep your receipts
Something I noticed about myself is that I never bother keeping receipts. This is probably why I always end up spending so much money at the end of the month. So, I decided to try to keep all my receipts for a month—you would be fascinated to see how much money you’re spending on food, clothes, and other unnecessary items!
4. Collect coupons and discount cards
As a student, I would highly recommend looking for cards, such as the SPC, to save money. I think the SPC is great because you get discounts at multiple stores and food places. It might not mean a lot at first, but being able to save 10% on certain items definitely makes a difference in the long run.
5. Keep your spare change in a jar
I absolutely hate having spare change because it is so heavy in my wallet. If you’re like me, I usually put everything into a “tip jar” at restaurants because it’s such a hassle to carry around coins. A solution I came up with was to have a jar at my desk and to put any spare change in there. I did this for a few months and ended up collecting $25 dollars in coins!
Even though we are all busy students, it is crucial for us to adopt money-saving habits now. The earlier you start, the more money you will save up. No one wants to be in unnecessary debt after university, especially when some of us have student loans. If you’re not already trying to save money, you should start!