Financial Tips For Students — Part 4

If you know of ways to save money – please email them to us at Tips@BeatTheRecession.com.

Today we continue discussing financial tips for Students and Young People. Previously we discussed Managing Your Money, and Organizing and Planning Your Finances.

Today we discuss Making Money as a student.

As we mentioned in the previous series, as a student, you tend to feel you have “forever” to earn money, so you might as well spend what you make now – and you can always save later. For most of you, however, that is the wrong advice. In fact, the earlier you start out taking care of yourself financially, the much better off you will be. So let’s start with some lessons in money management for students and the recently graduated. Personal finance may seem complicated, but it can be easy, even if you’re just starting out. You just have to know how it works. All of the following are concepts I wish I had known before heading to college.

Let’s be honest -The more you make, the less tight you have to be on spending, so here are some tips to help you get there. If you can master even one of these, you’ll have a head-start on your friends. Master all four, and you’ll be on the road to wealth. No kidding.

* Be a truly great employee. If you can develop good work habits, the dividends are great, and can lead to recommendations and contacts that you can use after you’re out of school. On the contrary, poor work habits of showing up late, missing work, or even leaving the position without finishing what was expected of you can create ill-will with your boss and lead to either no or negative recommendations. We have several friends who turned work-study jobs into launching pads for future careers and internships into positions at top places.

* Be an entrepreneur – Start your own business. Can you do computer networking or install a hard drive? Can you remove spyware and viruses from a computer? Are you a whiz with the engine of a car? Are you creative to create and sell school related products? (My roommate and I created very funny buttons for our school’s football games and sold thousands a year. – We had a staff sell for us, including the lunch ladies) Whatever you do, charge cheap rates and exceed expectations. Then word will spread and when you’ve built up a customer base, you can raise your rates a little. This is an amazing way to make money. But the real key to entrepreneurship is delegating. If you and a friend start a small moving business, when things pick up, hire some friends – and then watch as the money comes in.

* Learn to invest while you are still young. Find a online broker with discount prices and begin making regular investments. Check out Sharebuilder, which is good for college students. It costs very little to make a scheduled stock purchase, and you can invest any amount of money, even $20. Don’t worry over the details yet. You can worry about high returns and low fees later. Right now the most important trait to develop is the investment habit. Twenty years from now, you will be thankful you started so young. If you can find a way to invest $1000 a year for the next ten years, you can set yourself up for life.

* Spend less than you bring in. If you can’t or don’t want to work or don’t earn much – there is only one proper solution – Don’t spend much. If your cash outflow (spending) and cash inflow (income, grants, help from parents) are basically even, you simply have two choices: earn more or spend less. Going in debt is not a good idea, so start earning more – or cutting back.

* Check out the free download “40 Money Management Tips Every College Freshman Should Know” from Scholarship America.

Remember to have fun.

Have a great Tip? Email us at Tips@BeatTheRecession.com