Youth Tips - Finance Tips for College Students
Power of Time
Making a ton of money probably isn't happening now and not a big deal right now. What is a BIG deal? In this moment, in the past and future, is TIME! Time is one thing you can never get back so make sure every moment in your time counts! Going to college is a big deal, expensive and a very important time in life. Preparing financially and planning logistics for college is crucial for the transition to becoming completely on your own.
Here's some advice to think about when preparing and planning for one of the most impactful times of your life…. COLLEGE!
Creating a Budget
Tracking money earned, spent and saved helps you create a budget. You may be working a job that pays in cash which is hard to track, it tends to burn a hole in our pockets. Best way to track cash income is to establish a relationship with Unity Catholic Federal Credit Union. There are so many benefits of being a member. In the future when you are ready to purchase a home and need a loan, a long track record with good history with your financial institution can be very helpful. Research various types of accounts offered, you will find some types of accounts charge fees for not maintaining a specific minimum balance or may require a minimum monthly deposit amount. You will want to open a checking and a savings account. Remember, your goal is to save half of every dollar you get. Half goes into checking and half into savings. Spending money comes out of your checking account and never withdraw money from your savings account, only deposit money! Debit Cards for your checking account can be used for purchases, paying bills, withdrawing cash from ATMs and making account deposits.
Habits
Practice saving and investing money now. Saving early in life helps build healthy saving habits that will stay with you throughout life. Take advantage of the time you have today, every dollar you earn from a job, an allowance or even if it’s a gift, practice the habit of saving a portion and investing in your future today!
Get Educated
The more you know about money and finances and your money and finances the less stress you will have throughout life! There’s tons of money budgeting apps, and online resources to help expand your knowledge about saving and investing and help guide you in building your portfolio. Unity has great tools to help you get started and are great for beginners and easy to use.
It’s So Early
If you ask people older than you what their biggest financial regret is, a lot of them will tell you that they wished they had started getting serious about money much earlier than they did. Remember, putting off saving and investing your money now gets more difficult the older you get. Don’t have the same regret decades down the road that so many adults have. Start saving now!