2008 Woodie Awards
Budgeting 101: Coffee, Metrocards, Cigarettes, Pizza-It Adds Up!
Daniel Mannarino
Issue date: 3/23/05 Section: Features
- Page 1 of 2 next >
Clothes, gas, pizza, beer, concert tickets, cigarettes, partying every weekend...before you know it, you find yourself unable to pay your credit card bills. Your savings account has shrunk to single digits and you cannot afford your school books. On the contrary, you could be strolling along just fine for some time thinking money will not be an issue until you realize there is nothing left to pay off those bills with, and you too are in debt. Students figure they can spend now and make up for it later once they land a substantial paying job. Most college students are usually surprised at how much the little expenses add up to large bills. Now before you say, "Well, this is boring, I don't need to read this frivolous, boring article," think again. You are most likely a culprit of thinking money grows on trees, and will soon find yourself adding up your pennies. I don't care where you read this, but get set for Budgeting 101.
As kids, we anxiously ran up the toy aisle with the newest remote control car or Barbie (today it would be seen as the Lindsay Lohan doll) in hand just to be shot down by our parents lecturing us on how money does not grow on trees. And we would walk away thinking "Yes it does, its paper, and paper comes from trees...so there." According to Deborah Fowles of Financial Planning, the main problem is that college students do not understand how much bad credit affects them later in life. We still think that money does grow on tress, and then the threat of debt looms over our heads. A commercial recently aired for Caldwell Banker showing an old man surrounded by an old radio from the 80s and other small thinks he purchased in college. He says "In college I spent a lot, I had the key to the money tree and I just kept shaking it and shaking it. Man, I wish I knew when I knew now." The commercial then shows a financial planner explaining how good credit history can affect your future down the road when buying a home or a car.
How does one control spending? We see the latest fashion, technology, and cars and decide right away that they are a "must have." College books van be put on hold as long as we have the newest iPod mini or the latest pair of shoes. A good solution to this impulsive spending is to use cash as much as possible. When using cash, you gain a sense of how much you are spending, whereas when using a credit card, the reality of how much you are spending is suppressed and hidden. Cash gives you the feel of spending "real" money. To adopt this new idea, leave your credit cards at home when you go shopping.
As kids, we anxiously ran up the toy aisle with the newest remote control car or Barbie (today it would be seen as the Lindsay Lohan doll) in hand just to be shot down by our parents lecturing us on how money does not grow on trees. And we would walk away thinking "Yes it does, its paper, and paper comes from trees...so there." According to Deborah Fowles of Financial Planning, the main problem is that college students do not understand how much bad credit affects them later in life. We still think that money does grow on tress, and then the threat of debt looms over our heads. A commercial recently aired for Caldwell Banker showing an old man surrounded by an old radio from the 80s and other small thinks he purchased in college. He says "In college I spent a lot, I had the key to the money tree and I just kept shaking it and shaking it. Man, I wish I knew when I knew now." The commercial then shows a financial planner explaining how good credit history can affect your future down the road when buying a home or a car.
How does one control spending? We see the latest fashion, technology, and cars and decide right away that they are a "must have." College books van be put on hold as long as we have the newest iPod mini or the latest pair of shoes. A good solution to this impulsive spending is to use cash as much as possible. When using cash, you gain a sense of how much you are spending, whereas when using a credit card, the reality of how much you are spending is suppressed and hidden. Cash gives you the feel of spending "real" money. To adopt this new idea, leave your credit cards at home when you go shopping.