Ignorance is bliss, so the saying goes. But when it comes to managing time and money, a student’s ignorance is no laughing matter. Learning effective ways to manage time and money is not only beneficial in college, but in life. Successful students must learn how to budget time and spend money according to their priorities to ensure they use both effectively.Here are some tips that will help you manage your time and money.
Time crunchersKeeping a log of your daily activities will help you identify the time-wasters in your life. Analyze your log by deciding which activities are most important to you. Once you’ve set your priorities, don’t add a new activity unless you subtract one.Delegate responsibilities you could pass to others. It could save you both time and stress.Resist the urge to do things yourself because you think you’ll do it better than anyone else. Don’t leave it to chance that you’ll spend a nice evening with that special someone or pursue a personal interest. Put them on your calendar, and don’t let other things interfere.Learn to say “no” to close friends, relatives and even professors. Money MattersEstimate what you expect your total amount of assets or income to be over the academic year.” Add up sources that come from your work, your financial aid package and gifts from family and or friends.Determine what your expenses will be over the year. You will need to budget for tuition, room and board, and a variety of miscellaneous expenses.Differentiate between what you want and what you truly need. It is easy to confuse the two. Be extremely careful with credit cards. This again is an area to distinguish between wants and needs. Being able to defer gratification is an extremely important aspect in money management. A bad credit rating will come to haunt you in many ways.If you pre-pay for your meal plan, be sure to use that plan appropriately. Spending money in other places for food may be like charging yourself twice. Remember time is money. The more things that you buy that you truly don’t need, may require you to spend more time earning money to pay for those things.Remember that money and time management are really important. “If you manage your time, you manage your life,” said Richard Boyum of the University of Wisconsin. “If you waste your time, you waste your life.”
LaShawnda McCloud, 22, is a senior Public Relations student from Jacksonville.
SourcesRichard BoyumUniversity of Wisconsinwww.CampusBlues.com
Jane McGrathRio Salado Collegewww.rio.maricopa.edu/distance_learning/tutorials/study/time.shtml
Susan Crites PriceManage Your Time in Ten Stepswww.Familyeducation.com