Being a student comes with multiple challenges, some can be academic but there is a significant challenge every single student faces such as savings which requires a lot of work and discipline rather than just mere wishes. There are a lot of students who wish they could save but don't know how to go about it, while some save because they want to spend more. While the academic journey can be fun, it is also important to build a good financial stable future. As a student the idea of saving is not so you have a lot of money but it is a journey of growth, discipline and consistency. It enables adjustment and guides you to make an informed choice paving way to a financially secured future.

One of the reasons why some students find it hard to save is because they are afraid of failing on the way. The burden of leaving the comfort of your parents home to school is not always fun, it simply means taking some responsibility for yourself, which includes financial management. There are students who usually run out of resources and money on campus not because their parents didn't give them money and food items that would have been enough to take care of them for some period of time but because they couldn't manage the money properly, they fail to make an informed decision thereby end up spending recklessly.

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Understanding Expenses

The first thing a student should know is to understand the term expenses, a student should be able to sort out his/her expenses for at least a session, this includes tuition fees and textbooks to accommodation, feeding and transport fare. Analyzing this will help in budgeting correctly and then know what to spend on and what not to, things like entertainment should come after the basic necessity has been met, this is where most students fail, they fail to prioritize what is want and entertainment over their basic necessity thereby ending up begging and becoming stranded.

For me I think the very first thing an academic institution should teach students as they start their academic journey is the basic foundation of financial management, but it is sad to see most students who have been in school for some good number of years still don't have the knowledge on how to manage their personal finance. This is one of the problems I have come to discover in the academic sector here in my country. They fail to teach students what the real deal and things they can be related with to life, but focus more on shadows, theories and big grammar that have no real life application and utilization. So you see a lot of students graduating from the university and get to see that the reality is quite different from what was taught in school.

What Does saving mean to a student?

Saving as a student simply means the act of managing the monthly , or weekly allowance allocated to you in the right direction. Saving doesn't necessarily mean you should keep a big amount, one can save as little as a penny as long as there is Consistency with time it will yield great results.

Strategies of saving as a student

Create a Budget
Budgeting means making a comprehensive list of what to spend your income on, fistly you have to know how much is coming in, and the you make a list that has your basic necessity first and then carefully allocate your income to them properly and then set aside some part for savings and some for
discretionary spending. Budgeting helps a student to track and keep a good record of his/her spending ensuring that you stay within your budget and avoid unnecessary spending.

Seek Student Discounts and Deals
One of the best ways to save is to use some of the things that have been made available at their discount rate. School make some item cheap so student can buy the benefits of being a student is that in campuses there are lot of things that are sold in their discount rate, so as a student you have to embrace the idea of going for it, always go with your students ID card has a means of identification and enjoy the available discount.

**Cook your meal
If you live in a campus that allows students to cook, it is better to prepare your meal, though there are some campuses that don't permit that. Cooking your own meal will help cut down expenses as eating out frequently can drain one's finances. Buy your groceries in bulk, do a weekly menu plan and stick with it.

**Limit Unnecessary Expenses..
This is what budgeting helps you do, identify the area where you can comfortably cut out without it affecting you. This could minimize your service subscription, visiting the library to read or borrowing them instead of buying new ones.

Save Regularly
A penny saved is a penny earned, even if it is a penny, start saving and be consistent at it. Savings should always come before spending.

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