Life Improvement Tips For The Wise Few

A lot has changed since I did my studies in Holland, but the principle of how to go about spending your money wisely still remains the same. There will always be students struggling, that is why they call you all students. Many of the new students that go abroad have money management problems and that stems from the fact that they have never really managed their own money back home. Mom or Dad was always right around the corner to give a little hand out.

Your in the big leagues now, and you don’t have any parents around to keep passing you extra handouts to help you get by. That means you will have to come up with a better way to get by with what you have.

First couple of months

The first couple of months are the toughest, because you have no clue where to shop, where buy cheap stuff or how to balance your money. It is like living with no end in sight, nothing makes sense and most of all it seems like your money keeps running out before the month ends. It’s like your living off penny’s and can’t figure out how others are making it. Want to know their secret? Pssst, you listening, they are also struggling.

What you master now, is what will make the difference when you move on from studying to working. There are people who are way older than you and they still don’t know how to budget money, think if they read this article they would have gained much insight. They still live life like when they were students.

You have to become a bargain shopper, and a good one if I may add. No brand name products, your buying what you need to survive, it’s what I call survival of the fittest. You don’t want to live like a miser, but you do want to count the little bit of money you get each and every month. Eat plenty of fruits, even if you only buy them in the weekend. You have to stay healthy, so buy fruits once a week, especially oranges. I have heard that kiwi’s packs more vitamins than oranges, so start adding them to your weekly shoppings, just one orange or kiwi per day will do.

Putting a spending plan in motion

You have to setup a budget plan and stick with it at all cost. At first you will have to learn how to use pen and paper or whatever means you have. If toilet paper is the only writing material available, grab yourself a couple sheets, it will do just fine. Just kidding…

But, I am very serious about putting it all on paper, as a matter of fact maybe you should get yourself a cheap journal and keep track of what you do on a day to day basis, showing exactly how much money you spent. That way you will be able to spot how much money your wasting on useless items.

Your goal here is to establish how much it will cost you on a monthly basis for food, electricity and any other expenses you may have. For now those two should actually be your only expenses. You don’t want any useless or foolish additional expenses. I do know you will have a phone also, but try to keep your monthly spending to the minimum needed that will keep your subscription and your phone number. You don’t want to be changing numbers every month, and please go with a pre-paid card. I can hear you saying that you have control, but you might have many friends who don’t and they will all lend your phone to make a call to just one friend, but it all adds up, and your paying, so only pre-paid.

With a pre-paid, all you have to do is say: “I am low on funds, so just ask them to call back.”

Don’t act like you have money, they all know what student life is like, so act like a student, act cheap.

Knowing how much money you need to survive on per month basis is what your after. If your food cost is on the high side, shop around and see if you can’t find a cheaper place to shop. There are many places to shop for food, try the market if you have to. Just make sure you get better prices for common items. Ask your friends who has been there longer, where they shop.

If you don’t have any friends, then it’s time you “break out your shell”, I got this one from my little cousin, “Lilo”. You can’t survive in such a big place without friends, you need to make friends and you have to start asking questions. Anything you see or like, just ask where they bought it.

The smarty pants makes it without struggles

You and everyone else out there studying have something your great at. You have to use your talent to make some extra money during the week-end. If you are having a hard time balancing with what you got, and you can function well under stress, find another means of earning some extra bucks. You want to stand out and not have to rely on your parents. This is the only way to make yourself stronger, and if your parents sends you extra cash, open a separate account and keep saving that money for emergency purposes. Just don’t let them know that your doing that and every time they send extra, just bank it. Learn to save, no matter how little, try to put aside something every month.
There will come a time when you will need it, I have never met a student that didn’t have a hard time during there studies.

Some money making student tricks

One money making kicker, and it is for those who wants to be go getters. I did this for years, and always had money in abundance. Prove yourself by getting top grades and then start advertising that you will give extra classes, all by word of mouth. You will be surprised what you can charge and they will show up by the dozens. I charges prices as high as 100 guilders, and they paid with a smile. It also helps because your studying and teaching while you make money. teaching is the ultimate strategy of proving what you know.

I know many girls who braided hair for extra cash during the weekends, and even during the week when classes wasn’t really busy. So if your good at braiding, then show off your talent by offering to do a couple heads for free. That will create the eye opener.

Now a couple of my friends did this, but I just couldn’t cut this, so be careful with what I advise here. Get a part time job, working on Fridays and Saturdays. some of my buddies worked even on certain days during the week. They worked at Mc. Donald’s, Burger King, Babarella, Hema, even at sport schools and many other franchises.

As a student there are many different little ideas you can come up with that can make you extra money, just be creative and give it a try. If it’s not working drop it, follow your own rules and guide lines, and test what works for you.

The best advice I can give

If I was to ever do it over again, I would get a group of guys or girls together, please notice I said a group of the same sex and get a place to rent and then share the rental for that space. Look for a space with three or four rooms. You will split the rent three or four ways, and each member will cook on a rotation schedule. Pool the money for food and use that money to live with. It will be way cheaper on each of you living together. You will only be able to get this going once you’ve been there for at least a year or two. If your family is big, start with your family only and add a friend or two later. This is the best way to live, and I can guarantee you that boredom won’t kick in, but distractions will. So you have to be strong or this won’t work.

You don’t have to do any of the above

Nothing above is engraved in stone, but I have seen that those that are comfortable with less money problems gets along better in class. I have seen many of my friends graduate without doing any extra money making activities. So it doesn’t matter, if you want it bad enough you will get it, it’s up to you, and you don’t have to do anything else but study hard and try to be a little better than the best.

Learn to take breaks and don’t study until you go crazy, find little outlets for fun and relaxation.

If you do follow my advice, please pay keen attention to what your grades are doing. If they are going down, drop the extra activities and get back to basics. Your there to accomplish one goal and that one goal only, and that is to make it.

This article is dedicated to my cousin, it was all her idea, she is doing OK, but it looks like she is having a hard time keeping her money in her pocket. I do hope you read this and it puts your head in a spin, now go focus on getting that diploma. You can do it, just keep going “Dutch”. That means, in simple layman terms, stop living like your in St. Maarten. You have to learn how to save and spend like a real dutch person.