Everyone makes stupid decisions in college.
Unfortunately, you could be living with those decisions for a long time.
In July, federal interest rates on new loans doubled, jumping to 6.8 percent.
My own college years were riddled with financial errors. I came out much like my graduation picture on the left suggests; fighting for my financial future.
(Sadly, no helicopters were added post production.)
Since then, I’ve learned to make better choices, but if I had done the smallest bit of planning I never would have been broke in the first place.
Follow my lead and anyone and leave college on firm footing. Take notes. There will be a quiz.
1. Keep Track of Your Fun Money
During the week in college, I was pretty frugal.
I didn’t buy tons of clothes or jewelry, made meal plans before grocery shopping, and didn’t even own a credit card.
But then the weekends came and it was like I decided that money was from some other magic place where I didn’t need to track it.
Pretty much every Sunday morning was spent wondering how I spent fifty dollars on food and drinks the night before.
Don’t plan for the perfect person you aren’t, be realistic. You’re going to indulge, so pencil it in the budget.
2. Have a Significant Part Time Job
If my nineteen-year-old self could hear me say this, she’d be pissed, but the truth is I should have put in more hours at my job.
It was only cafeteria work and barely 15 hours a week, but it felt like an enormous, unholy commitment.
Classes left me so stressed and I barely got four hours of sleep a night as it was. How could I possibly have done more?
Well, if I had added five hours to my work week, it would have cut down on the hysterical calls to my parents.
Which I’m sure they would have appreciated.
3. Don’t Be Obvlious to Student Loans
I don’t know if “oblivious” is the right word as much as “willfully ignorant.”
My student loans were like that scene in Jurassic Park where you know there’s a second raptor out of sight but don’t look until it’s too late.
When I graduated, the university told me if I didn’t meet with a loan counselor I would NEVER EVER get my diploma.
It came a week later because I went to a state school and, let’s face it, they probably need the storage space. So when I did get that first repayment bill six months later I was like, “Wait, how does this work?”
It’s your financial future, so you should know what you’re getting into. Your university isn’t going to babysit you.
4. Don’t Buy Things Because You “Deserve” Them
It’s easy to fall into this spending trap.
I work hard. I finish my papers on time. Don’t I deserve to have something nice every now and then to make myself feel better?
Well, yeah, but before long “every now and then” becomes “getting a $3.50 latte every time I go to a coffee shop.”
Literally, that’s where all my money went in college. If I had just gotten a simgle cup of coffee instead of a latte I would have spent a lot fewer sleepless nights.
You don’t deserve anything. If you want to be nice to yourself in the long run you have to be your own parent.
5. Pay Bills on Time
By now, I’m sure you’re saying, “What kind of an idiot doesn’t pay their bills on time?”
First of all, don’t call people idiots. It’s not nice.
Second, understand that this isn’t about laziness. It’s about anxiety.
You know you have an expense you can’t deal with, so you just let it go until it’s blown out of proportion.
That’s what I did. That’s also how a $200 student health bill landed me in collections. Embarrassing and not great for my credit history.
If you incur a huge bill, paying at least a small amount on time can help you stave off creditors.
Sometimes it’s too much for you to handle, and when that happens to have to eat crow and ask for help. It’s the only way.
Ultimately, most of the problems I had in college would have been an easy fix with some foresight.
Too bad brains don’t fully develop until the age of 25. Oh, and that includes abilities like “foreseeing and weighing possible consequences of behavior.”
Rough. Good luck college kids! You are the future!
What Do You Think?
What money mistakes got you in trouble during college?
Grace Savides writes about personal finances and consumer tips for online check printer CheckAdvantage. Visit their site today to order business checks and see our Licensed Artist Series of personal checks.
Image Credit: 401(K) 2013 via Flickr, Evil Erin via Flickr, Editor B via Flickr, imjoshdotcom via Flickr, wsssst via Flickr.
