“When it comes to money, ignorance is NOT bliss. What you don’t know CAN hurt you.”
― Sandra S. Simmons
As a student, financial literacy is more important than ever in today’s world. Having the knowledge of budgeting, investing, saving, and borrowing can equip young people with the skills necessary to secure their financial future. Your time in university is an exciting bit of every young person’s life, but also it can be an expensive time too. It is important that students are equipped with the knowledge and skills to succeed in today’s economy. Some skills you need to adapt are:
Having a Budget and Following It
Simply put a budget is a plan on how to spend your money. Many student budgets go to discretionary purchases like clothes, gadgets, entertainment, and snacks. Impulse purchases may seem cheap in the moment but they tend to add up fast. A coffee here, a concert ticket there, and you might find you have depleted your resources barely halfway through your semester.
Students should be able to differentiate between needs and wants. Necessities are things you cannot do without and wants are things we desire to have though not necessary.
Learning How to Save Money
Saving is an important skill every student or rather person should embrace in their day to day lives. It is an important part of money management. Not only does saving provide financial security but also guarantees you extra income in the case of an emergency.
An important point to always remember while saving is that what you save is more important than the interest you will receive. This is because no amount of interest or investment returns can make up for not putting away enough money in the first place.
Cultivating the habit of saving now is better than not doing it at all. In order to have even more discipline you can open a savings account that can also earn interest as you save and motivate you further.
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