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Student Financial Diets
It's a well known fact that college students are graduating
owing more money than ever. Not only are college tuition costs
are rising faster than inflation, but credit card companies, car
manufacturers, and a slew of other wolves are at the door for
the student wallet. Paying off this debt takes serious
self-control and some math calculations that even art students
should be able to handle.
The first step: Plan your expenses.
Think of this as a diet for your budget. What does one do when
they want to lose weight? They carefully record their calorie
intake and exercise levels and use the tried-and-true principle
that you simply have to burn more calories than you put into
your body in order to lose the extra weight.
This excerise is a one-month study of your financial habits.
What you learn about your spending may surprise you.
The first step is to purchase one of the major finance programs.
Quicken and Quickbooks are two very good choices, and shouldn't
cost you more than $60 for the personal editions. Before heading
to your local software store, check in at your campus student
bookstore; they may be able to offer you as a student a
discounted version for much cheaper.
Most of the advanced functions of these programs are more
relevant for running a business and preparing taxes; try and at
least skim these areas of the software first for later use,
however for now you simply will need the 'ledger' functions.
This is spreadsheet-type area of the software where you can
enter your daily expenses.
For every single thing you purchase in the course of the
one-moneth period, you need to first GET A RECEIPT. No one can
be expected to remember everything they buy, get into the habit
of asking everyone, down to the coffee shop clerk, for that
little piece of paper, and stuff into your wallet right away.
Pockets are a no-no, when you pull your paper-shred covered
laundry out of the washing machine the next weekend you will
understand why.
Each weekend of the month, fire up your computer and input these
receipts. Yes, it's horrible, tedious work, but bear with it;
it's one month of a little self-reflection that will free up
your cash in the long run.
At the end of the month, most people will be surprised at the
amount of 'convenience spending' they have made. Stopping at the
coffee shop on the way to class every day and getting that
triple-double-half-decaf sure does get you wired quickly, but
the price of one month of these coffees you can buy a machine at
the department store and a thermos. For the terminally lazy most
machines now even offer an automatic start function. Think how
much easier that is, your coffee machine will be much more
effective than that alarm clock with it's tempting snooze
button.
This of course is only one example of where to put your
financial weed wacker to work on convenience spending. Sneaking
food into the movie theatre, taking the bus instead of the car,
vintage retro 2nd hand clothing instead of shopping mall, and
buying your groceries in bulk at a warehouse store are all
examples of concious convenience spending reduction.
For many students, post-secondary school day-to-say life is 'in
the fast lane'; stopping to thinking about shaving a few dollars
here and there is not really seen as cool, after all, there is
so much else to do than worry about that ever-growing credit
card payment. You can always justify it with 'when i'm out of
school I will get a a great job and pay these debts off in a
snap'; the sad reality it is 2004 and the economy is in poor
shape. Planning now will save you much stress later.
Why Most Diets Don't WorkEver thought of, known someone, or gone on a diet? You probably have. The word diet seems like a .....
About the author:
Article reprinted courtesy www.hungrystudents.com. Copyright
2004 HungryStudents.com.
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