Financial education: 5 strategies for saving
Knowing how to manage one’s finances well can help make the experience of non-resident students less stressful and tiring.
That’s why we thought to introduce you to 5 strategies for saving money, so that you can get the basics to organise your days by spending little but not having to give up anything.
Expense register is the basis for good financial education
Keep your receipts and keep track of all your spending; at the end of the day take five minutes to write down your outgoings. If you acquire this habit at the end of the month you will know exactly how your finances are going and where you have managed to save and where not.
This will enable you to better plan your future expenses, prioritising the absolutely necessary ones and leaving the more superficial ones on the back burner.
Always find out about university conventions and student discounts
Universities and university campuses usually have agreements with other institutions, reserved for their own students or residents.
Try to find out what they are right away, you may find that you get favourable discounts for specialist medical examinations and gym and theatre subscriptions, for example.
In-Domus has always had agreements with medical centres, where residents can benefit from advantageous discounts on specialist visits. Click here to read more.
Moreover, the very fact of being a university student gives you access to a whole range of discounts, such as season tickets for public transport or access to certain concerts and museums.
As you can see, all you need to do is inform yourself a little, and by doing so you will discover that you have many advantages that you did not even imagine.
Get help from apps to save money and split expenses
Not sure where to start to get financially educated?
There are many apps that can help you manage your finances.
You can keep an eye on your expenses, record monthly expenditure and income trends, and create a digital piggy bank, where you can set aside the money you save.
You can find many on the market, an interesting app, for example, is FLOWE, which has several functionalities: pay smartly, you can put money aside and reach your goals with the DROP feature or digital piggy banks and you can record shared expenses.
Furthermore, through Flowe card payments you help plant trees in Guatemala to help local families and combat the climate crisis.
Organise your shopping and meals
Grocery shopping is probably the most dramatic; we often find ourselves with an empty wallet and a full fridge. But how much of what we bought was really necessary? And at the end of the week how much food is wasted because it has expired?
So what should one do to avoid waste and improve one’s financial education devoted to saving?
First of all, always prepare a shopping list to be clear about what is missing in the house.
Here too, apps can come to your aid, you can download the Bring! IPhone and Android app, with which you can create a shopping list for every occasion. Buy foods with a long shelf life and remember that all foods can be frozen.
Freezing is the best way to avoid waste!
Don’t buy crates of water bottles any more, today you can get water through distributors.
You can also find them on your In-Domus campus to make your daily water supply. In this way you do your pocket and the environment a double favour.
Once you have done your weekly grocery shopping, organise your daily meals, create a weekly menu, so you know what to prepare day by day avoiding spending money on quick and unhealthy lunches at the café or diner.
