Happy new year, Highlanders! I know all of y’all are broke like me, so this year let’s get that bank account into the quadruple digits. Look at your bank account and reflect; screw your Spotify wrapped, show me your Chase wrapped. In the spirit of the new year, it is truly time to make a change to yourself. Here are a few finance tips to aid you on your quest to afford life when inflation is keeping you down.
Make a budget…and stick to it
If you do not have any idea how much money you are spending and making, then you don’t have a shot to get your finances together. Take a look at your 2024 finances in review. Calculate your monthly income, yearly income, and how much you are spending.
Now that you know your base financial state, it is easier to tell where to make cuts. If 70% of your income is spent on eating out, it’s time to cut back. A good rule of thumb is to budget out your money, set all of the cash you need for essential living expenses to the side, save 50% of your remaining income and leave the rest as disposable income.
Stop being tied down by consumerism. Stop purchasing everything in your sight, putting moola in the pockets of the rich and powerful. This year take control of your finances and, and in-turn, gain control of yourself. Break out the system that controls you.
Open a savings account and leave the money there
Instead of switching $20 in and out of your savings account every time you make a purchase, let your money marinate a bit. If all you do is take the money out, you really are never going to save anything, and you will spend the rest of your life penniless.
Enough with the doordashing when your fridge is fully stocked and stop falling for the targeted advertisements on your Instagram feed — the cost of living is already exorbitant. Let’s not add to our brokenness with unnecessary financial stress. Open that savings account and actually start saving your money. You only have a short time left before you being a “broke college student” turns into you being a “broke adult.”
Figure out how long it’s going to take you to pay off your student loans
I see you, and you’re thinking, “She can not be talking about me. I have years to deal with those.” Well guess what, I am talking about you! You do not have years to deal with this — you have today or a lifetime of death spent paying a $1,000 monthly minimum payment that will haunt you till you die. Open your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) account and see your balance. Whip out that handy calculator and do some math cause I do not want you to be stuck selling your soul to your loan provider. If you are a senior, you have to start paying those loans off one year from now, so get yourself together.
Stop buying unnecessary crap
You do not need another pair of pants. You do not need three different shampoos. You do not need that stuff you saw on tiktok that you are never going to use again. If you have groceries, eat at home. If you have a meal plan, use it. Stop spending money you do not have and live within your means.
