As teens, and even humans, we tend to waste money on unnecessary things that provide almost no practical benefits to us. For example, a person can spend up to $30 for just a single person to go to enjoy the movie theaters. Do you need to go to the theaters to survive? No. Could you use that money for something else, such as a car? Yes. In order for you to not end up on public transportation forever, you need to budget and save or invest your money.
You may think investment? Budgeting? What are those things? These are things only adults do?” You are incorrect. According to Lois Rakov, former consultant at several nonprofits and EAC volunteer, “I recommend that students should look into investing, and they should invest in things that interest them.”
Budgeting is making a plan balancing your income and your expenses for a set period of time. A budgeting plan is one of the fastest and easiest ways to start saving money. Fan Xuan Peng, senior at Northside College Prep, says, “There are a lot of resources that help students with budgeting. I use Mint which is an app available on both iOS and android. Using the app helps me with my budgeting and has also helped me become more financially aware.” There are approximately 4 weeks in a month. If you have 100 dollars per month and your budget to spend every week is 15 dollars, the money leftover, 40 dollars, can be saved. Rather than just wasting your money at once, try to plan how you will use your money for a certain time period so you can reach your money goals.