Spending ridiculous amounts of money that you probably don’t have is just part of the college experience for most students, these days. If you don’t have a nice little nest egg or a college fund that your parents have been adding to all your life, it’s pretty much expected that you’ll be paying for your college education with loans, financial aid, and every spare cent you can scrape together from your part time job. And that’s okay. College is expensive; you have to do what you can to afford it.
With that in mind, though, you need to keep a tight hold on your wallet and make sure you’re not spending more money than you need to. During school, when you have fewer bills to pay and no student loans currently in repayment, it feels like you have more money than you actually do. That will end pretty much as soon as you graduate, so you definitely shouldn’t be wasting any money on these things while you’re in college.
8. New cars.
The only money you should be spending on your car is when you absolutely need to: gas and essential repairs. A car is nothing more than a method of getting you from point A to point B — remember that! It’s not a status symbol, it’s not a reflection of your personal style. It’s a vehicle. So don’t spend money on a nicer car that you don’t need. Don’t spend money getting a kick ass stereo installed, and don’t you even think about taking out a loan for a car.
Photo Credit: Nissan
7. Designer anything.
Clothes, jewelry, accessories, shoes, electronics — whatever. Now is not the time to flaunt money you don’t have, so you need to swallow your pride and only dress yourself in what you can afford and what’s sensible.
Photo Credit: British Council
6. The latest Apple product.
Maybe you talked your parents into thinking you absolutely needed a high end Macbook Pro for college. If that’s the case, hang onto that laptop as long as you can, no matter how enticing the latest model is, or how badly you think you need to upgrade form the iPhone 5S to the iPhone 6. We all love our gadgets, but if your phone and laptop are still working, do not, I repeat, do not spend money on a new one.
Photo Credit: Replace Base
5. Credit cards with annual fees.
Don’t let credit card companies entice you with their fun little rewards and neat perks. At this point in your life, there’s no reason for you to spend one penny on credit card fees since there are plenty of free ones out there. If you absolutely must have a credit card, find one of those free ones.
Photo Credit: WordPress
