| Money management for college students is not as hard as it may seem
By
Mario LaBeach
Is your meal card low? Is your bank account empty? Do you have a job, but always broke? Those are some of the questions that were on the fliers advertising a program on budgeting held recently by the brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity Inc.
Kenisha Brown, from the Conscience Investment Club, showed a video that emphasized the importance of making sure expenses do not exceed income . The Conscience Investment Club is for economics and finance majors, to discuss different ways of investing wisely and achieving profits, by using responsible investments.
This program was very effective because most students don't think about the future and how to manage their money, said Craig Harrison of Alpha Phi Alpha. They just keep spending, not knowing where they are going to get their next penny from.
An exercise that the students enjoyed was when Brown asked them to take 20 minutes to mentally walk through their day. Brown asked:
- Will you use the meal plan for lunch?
- Will you buy snacks?
- Will free periods involve any expenses?
- What are your typical weekend plans?
- What might they cost?
The purpose of the exercise was to make the students concentrate on their spending habits and realize that cash management is sometimes tough, because students don't utilize all the resources they have available . For instance, only five of the 35 students who attended the program actually eat in the cafeteria, the rest of the students order out practically every day. All the students agreed that they buy snacks throughout the day from the vending machines, adding on to unnecessary expenses. They also all admitted to going out on the weekends, and spending at least $5 to get into a club or bar; not to mention what they spend on alcohol.
This was a great exercise, junior Otis Collymore said. I never realized how much money I wasted every day.
Brown made a list of non-tuition expenses that parents and students should recognize, and try to limit. The list included:
travel expenses to home, friend's houses or for holiday vacations
entertainment
food
clothes
sports equipment
phone calls
cell phone costs and bills
postage
haircuts
newspapers and magazines
Internet service providers or other online access
medical and dental fees
insurance
Brown also handed out a flier with an exercise that students can practice now to improve their expense management in the future. She recommended that students keep a journal, record their money habits for three days and then:
Write down every penny that they spend.
See how much goes to newspapers they never read, candy they never eat and cigarettes they shouldn't smoke.
See how much goes for meals eating out, when they have a pre-paid student meal plan.
See how much money goes for things like cab rides or dry cleaners.
The idea of the exercise is to help the students learn all their spending habits and correct the bad habits.
The students walked away from the program with a strong sense of urgency about the way they budget their money .
I am more aware of my terrible spending habits now than I was when I attended this program, senior Laurian Kidd said.
Brown said she was very satisfied with her speech, knowing that she was able to make the students understand how important managing their money is.
I just wanted them to realize exactly how much money they could be saving, by spending more wisely, Brown said. I wanted them to realize that managing their money is not as hard as it may seem.
http://www.buffalostate.edu/
depts/economics/
http://financialplan.about.com/
library/blcollbudget.htm
http://bardichall.freeservers.com/
Email: MrDainty1225@aol.com |
