In our world, we cannot live without money. Our social status, quality of life, and even our surroundings depend on how much money we have. Our wealth affects our today and our future. That is the reason why it is vital to be good at saving money. This topic is especially actual for the students because it is the period of life when they have to learn how to deal with money properly. As a rule, students start with a pretty limited budget, so they must operate with money smartly. They have to find the best places where they can buy food, go shopping, buy textbooks, make and custom essay order. Furthermore, they have to learn how to say “no” when it is needed. The ability do not spend money on the stupid and unnecessary things is vital. If you are a student and you do so, you will not find yourself in the situation when you really need your money but you have already run out of them.
How to distinguish needs and wants
Before you start planning your budget, it is important to understand the difference between what you need and what you want. For example, you know that you have to buy the textbooks, to pay your rent, pay utilities, and buy groceries, some hygiene stuff, and clothes. It is what you need. On the opposite side, you want to buy the latest iPhone, to go to the cinema or restaurant every day, do not to wear the same clothes twice, and to throw parties whenever you want. These are your caprices. You cannot manage your budget unless you learn how to distinguish them. You have to understand what you can afford when you are a student.
How to manage your money
If you realized the difference between needs and whims, you can get down to the budget management. First, use the mobile apps to control your financial status. There are numbers of such apps, where you can sign up, enter your data related to money, and monitor all your expenses, savings, and earnings. It is highly useful because you can control your budget, you can see how much money do you spend for one month, the charts and graphs to analyze on what do you spend your money. When you operate with such information, you can plan your budget and your purchases. Moreover, you will always know how you are fixed with money to avoid overspending.
The next recommendation is – always have your backup plan. It means, that no matter how little money you have, you always have to have an additional saving account that you do not touch. Put some money in that account each month to make sure that you have some when you really need it. It is expedient to put aside about ten percent of your salary each month. You can set the purpose, as “My summer vacation” or “New laptop” and set the target of how much money you need for it. It will help keep on your way.
If you have some regular expenses every month, have different accounts for each of them. For example, you have a big family and many friends, so almost every month some of them celebrate Birthday. Make a separate account for that occasion to know how much money you can spend on gifts. Do the same for your rental and utility payments, for your groceries, and for the other stuff like a membership in a gym, transportation, a personal care or different entertainments. Thus, your money and your expenses will be more visible and manageable.