Hey everybody! I just finished up my first semester at ASU, and not going to lie, it feels like it has been the longest five and a half months of my life! They aren't lying when they say that college is simultaneously the best and worst time of your life: I've learned things and forgotten things, eaten more than I should, explored some new interests, and most of all been inducted into the hallowed, endlessly terrifying and overwhelming realm of adult life. Specifically, I have learned that there is a lot more that goes into money management than no spend -- spend bad.
Money is something that everyone tells you is super important when you are a kid. Like, if I had a kid (god forbid), I would make sure I taught them the importance of money from a super young age. And yet, nobody really formally prepares you for all the random, seemingly insignificant expenses that suddenly pile up and feel impossible to manage. As a disclaimer, I should say that I live alone (haha, nerd), so my money expenditures are limited to my car, my schooling, and lots more food than I should ever eat. Even so, I will look at my accounts sometimes and think:
"Wow. That's a small number. Guess I'll work more next week."
With that unfortunate reality and my lack of impulse control in mind, I think the budgeting section of the ASU 101 course I took this fall was really helpful in getting me to think of money not as a strictly static resource, but as a flow that can be split and redirected. I feel a lot better knowing that I am the one in control, and that there is almost always a way to stay on top of the money I make and spend.
After learning this budgeting knowledge, I took on my spending in a whole new light, making sure I kept food spending at a minimum and started cooking more than ever before (even though I already cooked pretty much daily and love doing so). I also started planning more efficient routes to get places so my gas money went further.
While budgeting is not really new information, it helped me see my spending in a new light -- as something I can improve and control, rather than something I had to fight. College life being what it is, I could use one less thing to contend with, so mastering my spending habits has really helped me be more confident in what I do and how I do it in general. I wish I would have been taught this stuff before it became necessary, but then again, nothing motivates me like the prospect of crushing and irreparable failure, so I guess I'll take it.
That's just the thing with college life, as I have come to learn (and am continuing to learn). Sometimes, it feels like a walk in the park compared to the rigorous schedule of high school, but most of the time, I just feel lost. While being lost is not a death sentence or anything, it does tend to make me feel a little more uneasy than I would like, and anxiety does not breed positive self-talk. At least in a more structured schooling setting, it is hard to have existential crises.
Overall though, I think I am definitely a changed man after my first semester in college, and for the better. I now know what it takes to get through the bog of assignments and money problems I will probably face for the next three and a half years, and y'know what? I think I'm ready!
Here's to a good seven semesters to come! ASU, get ready :D