In ten years’ time you’ll look back on your college self. When you do, there will be things you’ll wish you had known about money. Here are the top ten things you should try and learn as early as possible:
1. Your first full time job after college is the biggest pay rise you will ever get in your life. Make sure you set up good habits from the start.
2. Saving is a habit. You either save or don’t. “There is no try”.
3. Saving even a tiny amount every time you get paid, is better than saving nothing. Save at a level that is comfortable to establish the habit and then turn up the volume each and every pay-packet.
4. If you decide to take up part time work during college, then remember this - you got by financially without the money in the past, you got by because you were not used to having it. Don’t let lifestyle creep kick in. Lifestyle creep is where your lifestyle expands to fill the income you have. If you are in the fortunate position to be able to earn money during college, teach yourself now not to spend all of it every week.
5. Never get accustomed to spending all you earn, no matter how little you earn.
6. Ideally during your college years you will learn how to live on very little. This teaches you the value of things. It is an ideal time to learn what is important to you and what isn’t. When we are stripped back to having very little money, we learn what we have to spend our money on very quickly. Carry the lessons you learn about this into your life.
7. The experiences you have in college and the friends you make, are what you’ll remember, not the things you buy - I’d rather have the same friend for life than the same pair of shoes for life.
8. Little things done regularly have a big impact over time. For example, say you plan on going on holiday next summer and it costs €800. If you start saving for it 4 weeks before you go, you’ll need to save €200 a week. However, if you start saving for it a year in advance, you’ll only need to save just over €15 per week. You could save €15 a week by not having those three extra pints, by cutting one takeaway or by only having your morning coffee two days a week instead of seven.
9. Finally, and this is absolutely crucial, being broke can cause you serious anxiety, stress and upset. You can be loaded and still be anxious, stressed and upset. The sooner you realise money doesn’t equal happiness, the sooner you’ll make better money decisions and take control of your money.
10. Your student card is your passport to a life filled with discounts, so don’t leave home without it. It entitles you to savings on travel and food. So always be sure to ask if there's a student discount no matter where you go.
11. Explore exotic shops in your locality. If you want to save some money on shopping, don't be afraid to go a bit off the beaten track. You'd be amazed at what you can find. For example, some Asian shops have five kilo bags of rice for the same price as a small box of your local newsagent.
12. Brand new clothes aren't the be all and end all. Macklemore praised the humble thrift shop through song and we're inclined to agree with him. Rather than dropping fat wads on generic clothes, charity shops are full of great options for a tenth of the price of the big retail stores. Instead of spending €75 on a new shirt, you could use the same money to outfit your entire wardrobe for a full semester.
13. Get into the habit of having healthy snacks. Porridge is filling (true), tasty (debatable) and cheap (true). This is a great habit to get into and it’s infinitely preferable to wasting money on expensive takeaways or fatty snacks.
14. Learn how to cook. A human cannot live on microwaveable chicken teriyaki and oven pizzas alone. Well, they can try, but their body won’t thank them for it. Start small with something like spaghetti bolognese and work your way up to a stir fry. If you're a culinary prodigy, you can start baking cookies. This little skill will endear you to everyone you know.
