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.

So you’re thinking on furthering your studies abroad, now that your all done with high school. Hope you like big surprises. Once you get there it will be as if everything is one big chaotic mess, at times you don’t receive your monies on time, your boarding room is a mess, you don’t have no friends and even worse you have no clue what to do.

How can you make it when the odds are against you?

Let’s be honest, the odds isn’t against you, they are in your favor, that’s why you’re there in the first place. You wanted to be there and that is why you took the first step and applied for a scholar ship to go abroad and further your studies. Now, what you have to realize is that everything what you didn’t learn at home is what you will need to learn now to make it. The first thing you have to do is try not to loose your focus, and see every little thing that you do as a great accomplishment. Everything new that you learn will make it more exciting for the next thing that you have to learn.

Your Momma nor Papa can’t help you now, your on your own, and you will have to make mistakes and learn from them, you will have to do things you never did at home and you will have to learn to cook. Yep, you must do chores, clean your own room, wash your own clothes and you have to do it each and every week.

Things will be very difficult the first couple of months, but you will have to try and keep your cool and really focus on your goal, the reason why you went there in the first place, the goal of graduating and getting that degree you always wanted. At times you will want to give up, but stick with it, you’re not alone and you know you can do it.

My survival slogan was: “Many did it before me, and I know that it was easy, so that mean I have a chance also.”

Getting Set Up And Making Your Room A “Petite Casa“

You first have to get comfortable, and that is feeling at home in your little room. I know what your thinking; “Wow, this room is small!”. Yes, it is, but it isn’t forever, so don’t focus on that, it is only for a while, and we want to do what has to be done, to make it without failing any year. You will have to make it livable, and that means getting down and dirty and scrubbing the place clean. If the walls looks like a scary movie, go get yourself some paint, and paint the room in the week-end. Make sure that you go by a friend and stay for that weekend. Give the room enough time to dry, it is really bad for your health if you go sleep in a newly painted room.

Make sure to buy a new mattress and a couple new pillows, you will need all the rest you can get. A fresh brain produces the best results. Get your self a little radio, or use your PC/laptop or tune in with your MP3, and I do hope you brought along some music cd’s with you, because you won’t find the type of music you like in some of those foreign countries. You need to have some kind of entertainment to keep your mind off of school and stress free. You need a distraction. If, it’s playing PSP or game-boy you like, then I hope you brought it with you.

A Golden Tip:

Get to know the place, while your there, understand how to take the bus, look at the different ways you can get to your place. Check the time schedules for the buses and make sure you know when is the last bus.

As time goes by, and you start meeting friends, try and get a apartment, where two or three of you can hook up and share the rent and live together. Make sure you know them well. If your a cleanly freak, then seek friends that has their little rooms in the same conditions.

Only seek friends that are in school, and make it clear that if they drop out, then they would have to move or find a job quickly, else they would have to move. Be specific with that from the beginning.

Time to cook up a pot of steam

As the saying goes, you can’t burn water, well that’s not true, I have burnt any and everything you can think of. I couldn’t cook “nada”, absolutely nothing, so don’t you worry if you can’t either. You will learn, once you start seeing your friends cooking for themselves, just ask questions and they will be glad to show you.

Some kids were lucky they knew how to cook when they got there, it made things easier for them. Making friends and using your judgment will be your survival guide. You will have to know who or what is tolerable and don’t bend your own rules. You have to set standards that you must stick with or else everyone will walk all over you.

As you advance and your cooking skills improve, try new things, make some exotic dishes and try to make it pleasing. Even if it’s no good, your the only one who will know how bad it was, just enjoy it.

Be very Careful!!!

While studying abroad I want you to always have your guards up and think twice before you do anything. Don’t give your trust 100 percent to anyone, but yourself. If you feel bad about a certain situation just leave, don’t get caught with your pants down, otherwise things will happen that you don’t wish for, and that would be the end of your dream.

Things that you would do at home won’t be possible now, please analyze the situation before doing any common things in a foreign country. You are not sure about how things works there, so don’t feel free and think like when you was at home.

Date rape…

Many girls have gotten raped while studying abroad, because they were walking through a dark tunnel late at night or taking a ride with a stranger. Keep track of your time, and leave earlier if you have to, just don’t take any chances. Many refuse to report it, but I don’t believe that is wise, you will be putting too much strain on yourself.

Another overlooked aspect of life, and one that you will have to pay good attention to. As I stated earlier, it’s all about trust. get to know that boy well, before you jump over to his room or invite him to yours. It all seemed great until the guy you was dating raped you, and then what? Don’t become another statistic, pay attention and keep your guards up.

Let’s see how to spend the little money you get

You never have enough money, and this is what will make you or brake you. You have to learn how to budget your money and keep a list of what you need to buy. Make sure you don’t go on no spending spree and buy the nice clothes that catches your eye. Every penny counts and you will need those pennies to eat and survive for the first three to four months until you get accustomed of handling your own money. I have written how to spend money wisely while studying abroad to help you do just that.

The hardest part about budgeting is knowing how much you can spend monthly. It is very important that you pay all your important bills first, like your rent, electricity and to put aside an extra fifty or a hundred for unforeseen expenses. Next you must make sure you know how much you spend on food, and keep a tally of how much your spending. Don’t go eating fancy meals and falling short every month or you will end up in serious money problems.

Be very careful for the leaches, these are the students that always say they are broke and try to make you spend while they save their money for when it is needed. You have to be tough and just say no, as a student you can’t afford to support no one.

Many students get in serious problems because of high phone bills. Stay away from your phone, try and keep calls as short as possible. Don’t try to run up any phone bills. I can’t think of one student who didn’t. I did, and I still have a copy of my 1500 (yes fifteen hundred) guilder bill. That was the price I had to pay for calling a girl friend. And to believe we didn’t even stay together, so you can see the price I paid. Learn from my mistakes, keep the boy/girl friend on a short calling limit. You won’t have to suffer for months thinking how your going to pay that back.

Studying habits that succeeds

Your number one goal is to make it and get that degree. You will have to learn how to plan and set schedules. Your schedules are what will make you pass your grades while others struggle to make it. You have to try and make home work on a daily basis, you don’t want to drop behind.

Learn to study in small periods of time. Don’t study for hours on end, break it up in one hour studying segments with a half hour break, then another hour and so on. You have to keep yourself busy, and when week-end comes along is when you take a little break. Just make sure you keep everything noted in your journal “agenda for you students”. Yes, actually make your plan and show how you will study the subjects broken down in time and amount of hours. Don’t skip no detail, plan your projects/rapports in a timely fashion. and get them done on time. They should’t hamper your studying time. Get them done ahead, if you notice you have a test to study. Don’t let nothing overlap.

Going for gold

My method for studying and making it look easy was because I calculated ahead of time how many test we would be getting and I always tried to score very high on the first two test, and the third one didn’t matter. So learn how to go for gold, and keep scoring high, that is the only way to pass your classes each and every year, and return home earlier than everyone else.

Learn how to set you mind for success, stop seeing sixes as great scores, they are not worth your time. You can’t afford to spend hours studying only to get a six. The higher your grades the more it will pep you up and make you strive for even better results.

Parental tip…

While or before your kids are going abroad to study, start saving up enough funds to cover those dreaded days when your kids get money problems. These problems happens often and you should make sure your kids keep in touch with you. Once weekly is over doing it, but once monthly is a must. Don’t let a month pass you by that you haven’t heard how they are doing.

Ask questions and be specific, don’t be afraid to ask. You want them to let you know what is happening, pay attention to detail. You will be able to spot when something is wrong by the way they speak.

Modern times are ahead, get into computers and learn how to use chat programs to stay in touch with them, even better get a camera and make them get one also. That way you will be able to see them and will notice how they are doing. The close camera contact won’t hurt and it will make them feel at ease and not feel that lonely or home sick.