Start Managing Your Finances Before You’re In Over Your Head

Personal savings is the key to financial prosperity. Had we been saving all these years, we would not be in our current economic state. People made bad decisions with their money by spending beyond their means. Banks made egregious choices with other people’s wealth by encouraging them to live past their standards.

In economics, there is an accounting identity, where savings equals investment. The money available at your disposable serves as an asset to future investment. Spendthrifts may not be able to afford that new television set or PS3. By constantly spending, you will not be able to create much wealth because you will not have the necessary capital to produce innovative ideas in your head. In other words, you will find yourself living from paycheck to paycheck.

The best way to make money is to make it work for you. Invest in yourself. Open a CD at your bank so you can start saving for the future. Spend on automation or technology that can increase your productivity or networking ability. Take classes in web design, finance or the sciences to stimulate your mind.

Use www.mint.com to track all your credit/debit card purchases. At the site, set a budget for various categories, such as food, leisure and groceries. This is a good way to track spending. Start practicing now, so you will be better prepared when living on your own in the future.

There are great ways to invest in yourself and make money at the same time. Become a note-taker. Most classes at universities ask a student to submit notes on a weekly basis for students with disabilities. Doing this would force you to pay close attention to lecture material. The only time-commitment you would have is making the walk to drop off your notes (I was actually fired from my only note-taking position because of terrible handwriting).

Seek positions around campus. Share your knowledge and wisdom by becoming a tutor. Try to find something in marketing. Regardless what you end up doing in life, sales is the backbone of any business. Life is a sales call.

Students typically receive their financial aid package prior to their first year. If you are a sophomore or junior, you should contact the Office of Financial Aid to revisit your package. Circumstances have changed for many families over the past year.

“The financial aid office is always open to reevaluating your package,” says Contributing Personal Finance Editor at Seventeen Magazine Farnoosh Torabi. “Schools have set aside emergency money in this recession anticipating that parents will be contacting them at some point during the school year.”

Even if you have a solid financial aid package with scholarship money, the most expensive cost in college is tuition. Take school seriously. Major in a subject that motivates you to get up every morning. The worst thing you can do is study an area you detest, because you will end up skipping classes and cramming for exams.

“Only 40% of students nationwide graduate in four years,” says Torabi.

You do not want to stay an extra year to finish school because of a poor academic standing. That money could be saved – and invested – elsewhere.

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Naresh Vissa — Taking Syracuse University by storm, Naresh is a third-year Renée Crown University Honors Program student, majoring in Finance, Accounting and Broadcast Journalism at the Martin J. Whitman School of Management and S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Previously a writer for the ?Daily Orange? newspaper and Executive Board member of the South Asian Students Association, he is a Junior Analyst for the Orange Value Fund (OVF). Known as "the Ivy League within the Whitman School," OVF students take MBA-level finance classes, learn the ins and outs of value investing philosophies, and help research, report and manage more than 1.1 million dollars of investor money. As producer, Naresh books guests everyday and seeks media and business development opportunities to increase branding and overall listenership. With more than a year?s worth of experience producing more than five business shows at the BizRadio Network and CNN Radio, Naresh has booked more than 400 guests in the fields of finance, economics, business management & consulting, self-help, leadership, sales and marketing. He serves as a member of the Foundation for Economic Education.