Perspectives on Money Archives -

Top 5 Saving Tips for Budget-Savvy College Students (To Save Even More)!

July 3, 2019June 20, 2019 by Anj.

Today’s guest post comes from Valentina Wilson, personal finance blogger at Bestdebtconsolidation.org.

Are you a college student?

Do you have a tendency to overspend? If yes, then you might fall into the debt spending trap.

In our country, student debt crossed $1.5 trillion last year, becoming the second source of consumer debt.

According to the U.S. Federal Reserve, about 75% of college students use credit cards, and the average card balance is about $3,173 dollars.

Since summer is underway, it’s the perfect time to start thinking about savvy spending!

First and foremost, set a budget for yourself and differentiate your needs from your wants. You should be primarily focused on your needs rather than wants. Budget-savvy students manage their finances well, and you should borrow some ideas to achieve financial solvency.

While choosing a degree program, make sure you evaluate the associated costs too.

What I Wish I Knew Before Going To College (Money Management Included)

November 14, 2018November 13, 2018 by Anj.

I actually started this blog because of my student loan debt. Living with so much debt impacts your life—where you can live, how much you can save, whether or not your ends will get to meet one day.

If and when I generate any income from it, I’ll give all of it to Navient. Every last cent.

If I never make money from it, I’ll be content with the personal finance knowledge I’ve gained since I first started.

I’d really prefer to make money though.

Recently, I asked a few friends to share their perspectives on college. Given what they know now, would they do everything the same?

Here’s what they said.

Let’s call them Mike and Natalie.

What was your major, and did you stay in-state for school?

Mike: I double majored in History and Japanese Studies. I stayed in-state.

Natalie: I double majored in Biochemistry and Spanish. Yes, I stayed in-state, but I didn’t want to.

Why did you choose the school you did?

Mike: I liked that they had a language program on campus since I wanted to learn Japanese and possibly study abroad for a long time.

Natalie: It was the best option for me at the time.

Given what you know now, would you approach college the same?

Mike: Yes, I would approach it the same because I had the privilege of attending a college prep school that assisted me with the process.

They made sure to motivate and encourage us to always have college as the end goal after high school. However, one thing I would change would be to apply to more scholarships. I applied to a few but felt that I could’ve had less loans if I buckled down and applied to more.

Natalie: No, I would not approach college the same. I would have done a more practical major through another university.

What Do You Know About Trading and Investing?

October 10, 2018 by Anj.

What resources do you use to learn more about trading and investing?

I first wrote this post on April 12, 2017, more than a year and a half ago. I had just discovered Robinhood, had about $50 of disposable income, and was itching to get started!

I share this post again now to show my first misconceptions and early questions about stocks, trading, and investing. And, hopefully, to track my learning curve in the days to come.

In a follow up post, I hope to adequately answer my own questions.

What do you already know about trading and investing?

What do you want to learn?

How Do You Feel About Money?

September 13, 2018September 12, 2018 by Anj.

Since I started this blog a few weeks ago, I’ve been asking friends and family to share their perspectives on wealth, personal finance, and money. When you were younger, what did you learn about money?

How do you feel about money?

Like most broke people, I hate money. From a historical standpoint, money was basically just made up.

What were you taught about wealth and money when you were younger?

Nothing: Go to school. Get a good job.

What do you wish you knew about money when you were younger?

I wish there was more emphasis on saving money. I don’t know if I would’ve ever listened. There are certain concepts I wish I knew earlier because a lot of things are time-based. I wish had learned better business sense too.

How Do You Feel About Being Rich?

September 13, 2018September 8, 2018 by Anj.

How do you feel about money?

It’s just a thing that’s needed to live within the current society. It’s neither evil nor good; it’s just a tool, and people use it for their own devices.

Should billionaires (or millionaires) exist? Is it right to aspire to be a billionaire (i.e. rich)?

I don’t see any moral or ethical issues with billionaires/millionaires existing because they are not all inherently bad or good. It’s their actions that reflect who they are as people. We have people like Bill Gates who donate a lot of money to many good causes, and then we have people like Trump who are just in it for the money/power.

We can’t even blame it on our capitalistic society because even economically socialist countries like Sweden have Ikea and Spotify, whose leaders make millions of dollars. That said though, there shouldn’t be preferable treatment towards these individuals, but there is, and we have to change that norm.

I think the proper idea to have is to be financially free.