You cannot know what lies ahead. In ten years, you could have a thriving career in your intended field, you could be in a completely different discipline from the one in which you graduated, or you could find yourself unemployed for any number of reasons. If you are not careful, by the time it takes you to graduate college you can find yourself with piles of debt and no way to even start to pay it off. These are all reasons why it is essential to start saving now, while you are in college. There are several ways in which you can do this, what follows is a couple.
1. Open a Savings Account
Most banks offer you the chance to open a savings account. What this usually means is that a small portion of your account will be transferred and kept in savings so that you can start to build up a fortune of your own. You don’t have to devote chunks of your wages to savings if you start saving now, it can be as little as a dollar, and by the time you want to retire, you have saved up enough to do so without difficulty. We don’t know what the economic future of the country will be, but you do not want to get to the age when you would like to be retired, and find that you are unable to do so. If you start saving now, you will be glad that you did in years to come.
2. Be Frugal
At the best of times, we should be watching what we spend, but in college, it is even more important. You may think that those gold-plated sneakers are a good idea when you are buying them, but your bank account (and feet) will regret it later. Cut out any spending on anything non-necessary. That is not to say that you cannot treat yourself once in a while, but make sure that it is not every day or even every week. You can even cut back on spending on necessary items. Watch the amount of time that you eat out each week, and look for ways to save money when you are buying groceries.
If you start to save money now, you will be thankful for it later. It may seem like it can wait until you are older and have a career, but it will be less painful if you are prepared for the future and make wise money choices now. And even if you do win the lottery or come into an inheritance, you will be happy that you learned money-saving techniques when you needed them, so that you can reap the benefits when you don’t.
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