Managing money KNOW THE INS AND OUTS OF BUDGETING MONEY FOR A PROSPEROUS YEAR mia shelton ASST. OPINION EDITOR
You’re finally free. You are a new college student ready to take on new challenge amd experience new people, places and things. But, in order to have all that experience, you need to know how to manage your money properly. Be smart with how you spend your money. First and foremost, you need to buy necessities: food, books, school supplies, etc. Get your own priorities striaght before jumping in. Books are the first things you are going to have to buy. Buy your books cheaply wherever you can at the cheapest price or the best convenience. Find out whether you even need to buy the book because nothing is worse than spending hundreds of dollars on a book and you don’t even need it. Food is the second most expensive thing you will spend your money on. There are tons of on-campus dining locations and there are even more off campus restaurants close to campus, like Toppers Pizza, Chipotle, Papa John’s, Jersey Mike’s. However, try not to dine out frequently because you will run out of options very quickly. I suggest cooking your own food if possible and utilizing your residence hall’s kitchens if you can. It is much cheaper to make big ‘one-pot wonders’ that you can eat and have lots of left overs than to
buy Chick-fil-A and Chipotle every day of the week. School supplies are yet another expenditure, but they are not a huge portion of your budget if you know where and how to buy them. It is better to buy things in bulk for a number of reasons, as it’s cheaper and you get more quantity. There are plenty dollar stores in the area, so you can buy smaller quantities and at a lower price than the ‘Back to School’ sales at Walmart and Target. After you get your necessities out of the way, you can have your luxuries like additional clothing, shoes, jewelry and other miscellaneous things. I know how easy it is to go hang out with your friends at the mall and blow all your money, but that is a recipe for disaster. Something unexpected always happens to mess up that “perfect” plan. If you drive, you need gas to get to and from your destination, adding more to your expenses. It’s okay to splurge every now and then on luxuries, but do your best to keep it to a minimum. Don’t go crazy with the frivolities. Set aside money for a rainy day or an emergency, you never know when you’re going to need this money and having it ready comes.
SURVIVAL GUIDE
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