INTERNATIONAL STUDENT MONEY TIPS

Traveling abroad for your studies is an exciting yet challenging experience. For some of you this is probably the first time that you will be experiencing a true sense of independence from your parents and as exciting that may sound, it can also be very terrifying. For example financial independence is one of the greater responsibilities that are now added to your plate.

Money talks:

Unfortunately, Mommy and daddy’s wallet is no longer as easily accessible as it was, so now its time for you to take charge!But worry not, these 4 easy steps will help you in managing those finances like a pro.

Step 1- Have a Budget:

Do you sometimes ask yourself, “where did all my money go? I barely used it, so where did it all disappear to so quickly?” the chances are you just spent it all way too carelessly. There is a popular saying that goes, “A budget is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went.” In order to get a clearer picture as to how you are spending and how you can improve on that spending is by creating a budget.  List down all your monthly expenses and allocate the costs accordingly, this way you also avoid having to miss out on important payments.

Step 2: Prioritize your expenses

Its very easy to get carried away with the spending since you now don’t have that parental guidance or restriction that you used to have when you used to live at home. When I first moved to Canada, I found myself falling victim to this. I used to mostly spend my money on eating out and shopping, which would in most cases leave me broke very fast, even before the month reached halfway or even before my parents would be able to send me my allowance for the next month. To help me through this, once I created a budget, I created two separate columns which was bills and luxuries. By categorizing the two, it helped me see what was necessary to have and what wasn’t. Although I still spoiled myself once in a while, this helped me cut down my spending on luxuries by at least 30%.

Step 3: Textbook spending

Unfortunately text books are not included as part of your tuition so in most cases you will always find that every semester you have to buy new textbooks, since there is a shift in the courses that you are taking. Yes brand new textbooks can be vey expensive but some of the ways you can possibly avoid paying those hefty fees is by ;

A.      Buying 2nd hand/ used books : (either use Kijiji or school social media sites most specifically Facebook)

B.      Borrowing the book from the library if available

C.      Make a friend in the class and possibly split the cost of the book and agree to share

D.     Rent the book instead of buying it from the bookstore

E.      Buy a paperback copy instead of hardcover copy if available : (Amazon is your guy for this.)

F.       Buy and download a kindle version of the book if available.

Step 4: keep an eye on those Student discounts.

One of the advantages of studying in Canada is that there are a lot of student discounts that are usually offered by different retailers on different days. One classic example is grocery retailers. On Tuesday’s and Thursday’s, the Loblaw company stores such as Loblaws and Independent always offer students 10% discounts on their grocery shopping provided that they show their student ID card at the checkout. I find this discount saving to always come in handy especially when you are not trying to spend too much on groceries.

Learn more on different Student discounts offered by clicking here : https://www.narcity.com/life/60-essential-student-discounts-across-canada-you-need-to-know-about

Conclusion:

Managing your finances is a life long journey that is unavoidable. so why not start now by applying these easy steps ? With time It will you will see that you will get better at it and it will get easier to navigate through.