We’ve put together a few tips for you to help you start spending like a grown-up.
Sign up for financial literacy courses
At the same time, you will spend the summer with benefit – there will be something to tell in the fall! There are many online courses about money: for starters, we advise you to choose something not abstruse and practical. For example, the Summer Financial Literacy Program from the Skysmart online school, designed for teenagers aged 13-18, provides knowledge that will be useful not at the university, but here and now. They will tell you whether it is possible to save a million, how to understand that you are being paid too little, whether it is worth taking loans and buying cryptocurrency, and how marketers fool us.
Plan your budget
If your parents give you pocket money every day, ask them to change the schedule – instead of small daily portions, let them give you a larger amount, but as a salary, twice a month. Having more or less substantial money on hand, it is easier to plan expenses.
Try to calculate how much money you can spend per day. What if you buy that tennis skirt and a jar of sequins? What if, on the contrary, you forego a purchase that you can do without and save some money for the end of the month?
Try to set yourself specific goals – for example, save up for a new iPhone by the new year. To really save up for it, clearly define how much you will save per month and think about where you will take the money. Go to the intended goal without turning off! You can even visualize this goal – take a photo of the phone and draw it into squares according to the number of months separating you from your dream smartphone. Color in each box when you save money.
Use the “Pay Yourself First” rule—as soon as you have money, first set aside the amount you need to save up for your dream, and then spend the rest. You can use the method of different piggy banks. Lay out the money in different envelopes or boxes.
Money is sent to the first for daily expenses, the second is what you save for your phone, and the third is for holidays in St. Petersburg, for example.
In the refrigerator and in the nearest supermarket there is food that is healthy, satisfying and several times cheaper than dishes from restaurants and cafes. Moreover, before heading to the grocery store, check the refrigerator and kitchen shelves again – there are probably still enough supplies. Eat before going to the store. Being hungry, we buy a lot of excess.
Focus on a simple rule: you need to go for groceries when there is no food in the house. This helps to cut down on food expenses.