Welcome to the Gen-Z Money Blog.
Learn about the direction of this platform and what it will do for you!
I am a current college student attending a private college to receive my bachelor’s degree in accounting. I am creating this platform for common college students and young adults who are entering the world of money and have little to no knowledge of the market’s terms and effects.
As a business student, I have learned a lot about the market and what the numbers represent. I have found that the numbers represent their very own language, and it can be hard to interpret, especially when you are thrown right in with barely anything to work with. In addition to little resources, many companies, and Universities bank on your limited financial knowledge to make their own money. I’m here to guide you through this market while receiving the same benefits (if not, very similar), and save you as much money as I can!
Relevance
Why learn about the market and its terms?
There are many reasons to learn about the market and how it can help you. Some reasons and explanations include:
- Having enough money to pay for school.
Student loans don’t always cover all expenses, it is good to know where you stand financially and how long you can keep up the loan payments. There are a lot of opportunities out there to help prevent large loan payments that you’d have to pay off for much of your life after college.
Sometimes your education looks different than the ordinary university path and you don’t know where to start to fund a 1–2-year program needed for the profession you want to go into. I am here to provide you with tools that can help with these unique programs.
Nowadays there are many online opportunities to receive degrees and certifications. It is good to know where to look for them and what they can offer. They tend to be much less costly and present many opportunities.
- Budgeting so you have enough money for monthly expenses.
Budgeting may sound daunting, but it is a lot easier than it sounds. I have made spreadsheets and outlines for specific financial goals that you can use for your budgeting. It is a lot easier once it is laid out in front of you!
I am also available for consultations if you need help understanding how to use Google Spreadsheets or Excel. In addition, I am a busy student with a jam-packed schedule, so I understand how stressful it may be to find the time.
- Not going into thousands of dollars of debt.
In continuation of the first reason, going into debt can prevent so many opportunities and it can cause lifelong stress. Doing little things now to prevent the snowball effect later will get you ahead on your finances and get you out of a stressful position.
Current talks on social media have really emphasized the hardship of debt and how it has poorly affected people. This is a great thing to get ahead on!
- Having money when you graduate.
When you graduate your path will be unique to you, but your opportunities will be based on your financial mobility. If you choose to go to grad school, buy a house, move for a job, or travel, you will need money. To plan for any of these outcomes it is a really good idea to start saving now!
Getting a plan in place to fit your specific goals will ensure success in achieving those goals. A goal is not impossible to achieve without a plan, but it is significantly harder, and the steps to setting a plan are not all that huge. They start small but are important and impactful!
- Ability to increase your money without having to do much.
People who sit well financially have figured out how to work smarter rather than harder. This is important to understand at a younger age. You have more possibilities at a young age than you do down the road. This is simply the reflection of numbers, value compounded from now is worth more down the road than if you were starting at a future point in time.
This will be explained in more detail later on, so stay tuned!
- Alleviating financial stressors so you can focus on your studies or other hobbies.
One of the top stressors of college students and young adults is money. Having to worry about whether you have enough money in your account for coffee or sports game tickets can be embarrassing and stressful. Imagine what your free time would be like if you didn’t have to worry about how much money will be in your account next week.
Life would feel a lot less stressful.
Now I’m not saying that I can guarantee this for you, but I can certainly help you get there with what I know. That being said, I can help you worry less about your finances and a whole lot more about your studying and getting assignments in on time.
- Increase in time management abilities.
When managing your financials, you will see the exchange of your time for money. When you look at time as money your time management will be a lot simpler. This is the language of numbers, and it helps a ton!
When planning for spring vacation, I’m sure you will want to know how much you can spend while on vacation and for the trip’s attire. Having money management simultaneously affects your time management. You start to gain the perspective of time and money in parallel management.
- Increase in opportunities.
Money brings opportunities.
This may mean; playing the sport you’ve been wanting to, taking the internship you’ve been dreaming of, traveling for grad school, or doing other things that require high funding.
Say you want to go to the movies with some friends, but you check your bank account, and you only have $5 when a ticket costs $10. I wouldn’t want to tell my friends that I can’t afford it, but I also don’t want to miss out. FOMO sucks but so does being broke. I could stay home and study, but if I am tired from school I can’t even order coffee to do so.
Having the opportunity to hang out with friends and to order an energy boost often requires money. Understanding your financial position and what you can do to improve it can help with your college/young adult experience significantly. You can’t get this time back, so it would be nice to enjoy it.
- Achieving your goals.
Such as traveling, funding hobbies, saving to move out, saving for grad school, or any other ambitions you may have.
In addition to reason 4, setting your goals and plans to achieve those goals is crucial. Traveling while you are young and doing the things you love is so important. There are so many things to experience.
Let me help you with the “how” in that process, so you can enjoy the now.
Future topics
Topics that will be covered down the line include:
- Budgeting
- Investing
- Student Loans
- Financial Organization
- Spending vs. Saving Habits
- Emergency Savings
- Market Literacy
And so much more.
You can request topics you want to learn about and Excel/Google Sheets that would help fit your goals in the contact or comment section!
Relation
I am a first-generation college student who is fully financially responsible for myself, and I am currently receiving my bachelor’s on a full-ride scholarship. I am not telling you this to brag, I want to emphasize my understanding of what it is like to start from square one with limited help. I found all my scholarships and student aid without any help from family members or friends. I rent off-campus and am fully responsible for all my expenses.
I know what it’s like to have an overwhelming amount of expenses and an extremely low budget. I had to pass up on playing college sports because I wanted to prioritize my financial situation along with my academics. I enjoy the cost-benefit analysis side of things because it gives me control over my outcome (to an extent, I can’t control emergency situations that may occur.)
I have sacrificed a lot to get where I am, but I enjoy my current position and where I am heading. I have internships set for the following two summers along with 3 current jobs that are helping prepare me for my field. These jobs certainly don’t pay much which means I have to live with tight money guidelines, but it sets me up for more opportunities in the future in the finance field.
I have used an abundance of resources that may be able to help you.
Follow along for helpful content and gain control of your financial situation to help guarantee a successful future!