As a college student, managing financial responsibilities can be stressful.
If you’ve found yourself spending a lot of time thinking about your finances or feeling overall anxious about your financial future, you’re not alone. in a survey78% of college students who reported financial stress had a negative impact on their mental health, and 59% considered dropping out of college. While finances can impact overall stress, taking steps to manage your finances can help your mental, emotional and physical well-being.
When it comes to money, sources of stress may look different for each student, but identifying the underlying causes and setting goals accordingly can help you feel more confident about your financial future.
Consider these strategies to help improve your financial well-being and reduce stress.
- Understand what causes financial stress
While everyone’s financial situation is different, several common sources of stress have the potential to put a strain on your financial health. These include financial and economic uncertainty, existing debt, unexpected expenses, and mental or physical health changes. Financial stress can vary from situation to situation, but understanding the factors that contribute to it can help you design a plan for your specific circumstances. - Set your financial priorities
Start by considering your financial priorities. For students this often includes paying for school or paying off student loans, studying abroad, saving for spring break, building an emergency fund, paying off credit card debt, or buying a car. Name the milestones that are most important to you, and plan accordingly. - Make a plan and stick to it
While setting actionable goals starts you on the journey to better financial health, it’s essential to create a plan to execute on it. identify and commit to savings plan You may feel more in control of your finances, which can help reduce your stress. make and stick to budget This allows you to better track where your money is going so you can spend less and save more. - repay the loan
Many students have some form of debt and want to make progress toward reducing their debt obligations. there is an option debt avalanche methodWhich focuses on paying off your debt with the highest interest rate first, then moving on to the debt with the next highest interest rate. the second one is debt snowball methodWhich builds momentum by paying off your smallest loan balance, and then works your way up to the largest amount. - Build your financial flexibility
Some financial stress may be inevitable, but building financial flexibility can help you overcome obstacles more easily. For example, the more you learn about managing your money, the more prepared you will feel when the unexpected happens. Increasing your emergency savings can also increase flexibility because you will be more financially prepared to cover unexpected expenses or pay your living expenses. - Ask for help and support
Many colleges have resources to help students facing financial stress, such as financial literacy courses or funds that provide some assistance to students in need. Talk to your admissions counselor or advisor about your concerns, and they can direct you to sources of help. Your school’s counseling center can also be a great resource for mental health support if you’re struggling with financial stress.
bottom line
Financial stress can affect the health and well-being of college students, but it doesn’t have to derail your dreams. Setting smart financial goals and developing simple plans to achieve them can help reduce your stress. To make sure it continues to work for you, revisit your plan and adjust it as needed, and seek additional support on campus as needed to help keep you on track.
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