Students during their first year at university find themselves in an extremely different environment. They learn to take care of themselves without the constant supervision of their parents. The financial decisions are theirs to make from the limited income or, in most cases, monthly allowance.
The time and energy without the experience often lead to disastrous decisions. Financial education is critical to make better decisions and avoid common mistakes. Here are some dos and don’ts for freshers to manage their finances at University.
Financial Dos for Freshers
You will face the constant struggle between temptations and smart decisions during the first year at University. The focus should remain on ways to increase savings and limit spending. Here are some tips for managing finances for freshers to help them manage the finances.
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Look for Student Discounts
You will find numerous offers from brands targetting students to buy their products. They offer special discounts on your university card for the essentials. Look for student discounts online before adding a product to your cart from a store.
You will also find these offers on entertainment sites and service providers. Streaming services such as Prime offers a special discount to students in certain areas. Similarly, the online ticket booking platforms often come with a promotional event to give tickets at unbelievable prices to young audiences.
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Create a List of Needs
A major reason for overspending is the difficulty to differentiate between needs and wants. You cannot afford to spend your money on unnecessary expenses to increase stress on your limited budget. Therefore, create a list of needs before the month starts to save enough money for them.
Also, make sure you have everything you need in your backpack before the first day of your college. It will help avoid the last-minute run to the store to find products with an increased price tag. The early preparation will allow a timely application for 100% acceptance loans.
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Find Cheaper Study Materials
New books from famous authors are expensive because of their helpful content and popularity. As a student, they are not affordable every time because of the limited balance in your account. Therefore, you should search for alternatives in the market to find them at a cheaper price.
You can download their eBook version for a comparatively low price if you own a Kindle, iPad, tablet, or even laptop. Used books are very popular among the students to get books at a discounted price or raise money for the next year. Or, use the library to get your hands on those titles without the need of buying them.
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Create Source of Income
Students can earn money to increase their affordability while studying full-time at a university. Plenty of opportunities are available for skilled students to make money with a 9-5 job. However, they need to check with the university policy before starting a job.
You can use your creative skills to start working as a freelancer for corporate clients. It is a rewarding job with flexible hours and a varying workload. Or, you can work part-time after college to gain industry experience in your field.
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Take Help
You should not hesitate to call your parents for help during a financial crisis. They may provide the required support without the need to take a loan from a financial institution. However, you should consider it as a loan and repay it whenever you find yourself capable.
If they cannot provide the support, ask for guidance to manage the trouble with the limited resources. They may suggest some ways to raise money or avoid the mistakes in future. In the end, you should consider help from a direct lender with a quick loan for students.
Financial Don’ts for Freshers
You should learn from the mistakes of others to not repeat them. If you are aware of the outcome, the problems become avoidable with the right decisions. Here are some don’ts for college students to make sure they avoid the common mistakes to make the right financial decisions.
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Use Credit Cards
Credit cards are the major reason for overspending and debt situation. You fall for the temptations because of the false impression of affordability. Thus, we buy products outside our budget only to end up with a heavy bill for the next month.
Furthermore, the interest rates on a credit card are often unreasonable compared to simple loans. Banks may not offer credit cards to students because of their risky profiles. But you can avail one for your student loan or use someone else’s for the purchase.
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Manage Everything on Your Own
You don’t have to manage every bill and other responsibilities on your own. Remember the purpose of shared responsibilities as being part of a study group in your class. You can use the same principle to manage your finances while living with your roommates.
Ask them to share the bills to avoid the constant struggle dealing with the service provider. You can also share the groceries to save money on bulk purchases. However, the consumption may create dispute if you are eating way more than your half.
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Use Student Loan for Non-Essentials
A lender may send the entire amount of student loans in one installation to your bank account. It is a huge sum that requires proper management for a long period. Otherwise, you will end up with no money to manage the essential costs such as rent, books, and fees.
Therefore, use the student loan only for essential expenses. You can rely on allowances or secondary income to manage the amenities in your life. The weekend parties with friends can wait if you cannot afford them.
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Invest
Investment may seem like a great way to increase your net worth while focusing on your studies. It gives the false promise of income with minimum involvement, such as buying cryptocurrencies or stocks in the trending businesses. However, a downward trend in the market may result in losing the amount or major losses.
You should only invest the money you can afford to lose. Therefore, avoid investment from your student loan or limited allowance to focus on the essentials. Instead, spend your time creating an emergency fund to manage unexpected expenses.
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Overspend on Special Discounts
In the earlier section, we recommended you should look for special discounts while buying stuff to save money. Many people often lose control over their spending because of these special discounts. They purchase needless items only to create financial troubles in the long run.
Always create a list before visiting the store to buy items of your need. Stick to the list even if the store is offering heavy discounts on some other items. Moreover, do not fall for the bulk purchases if you have any doubt over the consumption of the product.
Conclusion
To sum up, the life of a fresher may seem intimidating with numerous things to manage on your own. It will take time to settle in the new environment and a few failures to hurt your determination. However, you must learn from the experience of others to stay motivated and prepare for the upcoming problems.
Jessica Rodz is the Senior Content Writer at Cashfacts. She has a long career in the field of content writing and editing. Jessica has the expertise in the UK lending marketplace where she has worked with 7 different lending organisations and acquired many responsibilities from preparing loan deals and writing blogs for their websites.
At Cashfacts, Jessica is managing a team of experienced loan experts and doing a major contribution in guiding the loan seekers via well-researched blogs. She has done graduation in Business (Finance) and now currently doing research papers on the UK financial sector.
