A common misconception for college students is to believe that they’ll save more money once they finish school. Sure, as a college graduate, you’ll be making more money. Your paychecks will be much higher than before. The reality is that you won’t always save more money once you enter the field. Why won’t you save more money? Lifestyle inflation creeps up on you when you start making more money. You rent a nicer place, you buy a new wardrobe, you replace the old car, you drink better booze, you eat better food, and you generally spend more money.
When you finally decide what to do after college, I highly recommend that you get into the habit of living like a college student. My experiment for today is that you try to continue the same lifestyle that you had in school once you start working.
Why should you live like a student?
- Save money for the future.
- Avoid lifestyle inflation.
- Maintain the simple lifestyle.
- Decide what you want to do next.
- Save up for future travels.
- Figure out the rest of your life.
Once you decide to live like a student as an experiment, you can continue on with this post.
How can you live like a broke college student?
There are many ways to continue living like a student. I wanted to highlight how you can save money by pretending to still be a student. Below are a few quick tips:
- Avoid eating at fancy restaurants.
- Buy your food at the grocery store.
- Take the bus to work.
- Pay yourself first.
- Drink and go out on the cheap.
- Stay in student housing.
- Avoid that brand new car.
You can stay young forever and save money as you plan for your future expenses in your 20s. You can also have as much fun as you did in college.
How long should you live like a student for?
Should you live like a student forever? How long should you maintain this lifestyle? I suggest that you maintain the student lifestyle until you hit your savings target. Whatever this number is it’s your call. We all have different goals. If you want to have kids in the future, you’re going to need to save more. Your savings will also depend on your future employment plans, if you plan on starting a business,travel plans, and whatever is on your mind.
The good news is that you can enjoy the ride. We often forget to enjoy the moment. It’s not about the destination. It’s all about the fun that you have getting there.
“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.” — Greg Anderson
That’s how you can live like a student. Hopefully you’ll reach your financial goals and set yourself up for your 30s and the rest of your life.
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