As a college student, there are many things you have to take care of when it comes to finances. Even if you find yourself working a well-paying job (or a decently-paying job), you will still never be living the rich life because of the many little factors that come into play- tuition payments, housing, food, saving up for a new car, going out with friends. When this is the case, you find yourself stuck in the ironic position of being well-paid... but poor at the same time. When you're in this phenomenon, there are a few things you get used to doing differently than other people.
1. You do your laundry less often and stuff the machines full.
You think that waiting a longer period of time to do your laundry means you won't have to spend as much money on it every week, when really you're just playing yourself because your clothes are less clean if you stuff them to the brim of the washing machine and use the same amount of detergent you would for a normal load. Yet, still, you hold off on doing that laundry for as long as you possibly can.
2. You compare prices at the grocery store, then load that cart up.
Never again will you go back to buying brand name cereal when you can just get the huge bags of it ridiculously cheap. Because you buy the best priced products, you can afford to get more of them and fill your cart up... at least, that's what you tell yourself.
3. You refrain from going out shopping... so you turn to online shopping.
Going out shopping with friends often is too expensive for a college student budget to handle, so you figure online shopping will have to do. Hey, it's cheaper, right?
4. You spend money only when necessary, but are constantly convincing yourself you HAVE TO HAVE this one thing.
You've got a strict "only if I need it" policy going when it comes to food and clothes and accessories... but come on, that top is way too cute to pass up. And it's on sale?! Oh, you HAVE to get it. It would be a crime to let that low price go to waste.
5. Your hangouts with friends are usually pretty low key, which forces you to get creative.
No more going out to dinner every night or seeing movies every week or, again, going shopping all the time. Because you're ballin' on a budget, you have to be conservative when it comes to hangouts. This forces you to come up with all kinds of stuff- park picnics, strolls downtown, days by the pool, etc.
6. You can't splurge on big things, so instead of buying a new laptop, you buy chocolate.
The urge to splurge comes up every time you get paid, because whenever you take the bills, payments, and savings aside, it seems like so much money! Thankfully, common sense gets the better of you, so instead of buying a new Macbook Air, you splurge on a pack of Lindor truffles- much more affordable.
7. You go right back to being broke the day after payday.
Payday is ridiculously exciting. You've waited two weeks for this and at midnight, a fat check gets deposited into your account... only to be taken apart piece by piece the next day to cover all your bases. The day after payday is a very sad day, because you go right back to being poor.
8. You make plans crazy in advance.
Spontaneity is cool and all, but when you never have a huge amount of money in your account at any given time, you're kind of awful at being spontaneous. Vacations and weekend plans must be scheduled MONTHS in advance, or there's no chance of them happening. Better start your spring break planning now!
