College is a place where a student grows to be a better person while striving to achieve his set goals. The most memorable and happy moments of our lives are spent during college days. Some people attend college to pursue their dream job in near future and some attend it to grow personally and gain new experiences from life. During college days, one must be cautious about the expenses incurred on the college fees and tuition fees that a student has to pay. There are many mistakes one ends up making, oblivious to its future repercussions. Here are some of the common mistakes a college going student makes if he does not have college savings plans.
Choosing Loans to be an aid
This is a very common mistake a college going student makes to meet his study expenses. Students resort to loans as a rescuer from the educational debts, eventually ending up having more debts to be paid. Students should go for college savings plans and apply for student loans which are provided by their own universities with lower rate of interest. When a student takes private loans for buying study material and writing papers, they end up with loads of debt after they finish college and which seems more problematic than taking student-friendly loans.
Starting without a prior plan
Most of the students believe that college years are for having fun with friends and living independently. They tend to forget about the expenses that come along with the normal fees of the college. Students come without proper organized plan about the monthly budget and spend money without thinking about the debts they are hoarding for their future life. Along with enjoying with friends, they should also maintain a proper plan of spending money. They should be an active participant in college events which further leads to strengthen their professional networking.
Not being budget-friendly
There are times when students come with a proper planning about their monthly expenses but after some time they lose the ability to save according to the budget created. Monthly expenditure should be calculated according to the money spent on books, food, transportation, rent, etc. which makes 80% from your budget. You should not be careless during their college days because that is the time when you can do part-time college-oriented jobs and also internships, which would help in building up the resume and also lessen the financial burden. If you have decided to save 20 % of your money per month, then you should strictly follow the budget.
Ignore the attainable college savings
Many colleges provide students with lot of profitable deals and benefits which a student should be aware about. Many students remain confused during their starting days and lose the opportunity to attain college savings which are provided by their own colleges. Colleges provide access to many costly books, scholarships, dramatic performances, journals, magazines, etc. Students should carry their identity cards everywhere as they can get discount in restaurants, transportation, cafes, etc. You can easily save up 15% of your expenses by being aware about the benefits you can avail from your university.
Possessing updated technology unnecessarily
When students take admission in a college, they make preparations by equipping themselves with the latest technology. They purchase laptop, I-pad, mobile, etc. to furnish their studying habits. The normal college fees reaches more than $31,000 for a student and tuition fees hikes the expenses to almost $50,000. Students should try to lower unnecessary expense by purchasing only important things for their studies. Instead of laptop they can study on I-pads and libraries, as most of the books prescribed in syllabus are available in college premises.
Identifying the mistakes help a person to rectify it sooner than never. Avoid these common college savings mistakes and build your future on a positive note.