Stretching money

The best way to save money is to stretch your dollars out, instead of spending them all at once. They key to stretching your money out is to have a plan. College students who know how to stretch their dollars out have a plan that fits them.

Brandon Berry, A senior Business Administration major at Frostburg State University, who is currently traveling abroad in Ireland, has come up with a smart budgeting plan. In Ireland, 1 euro= $1.40 American currency. “I’m on a 7 euro a day budget” Berry says. He explains, “Here’s the thing, you don’t have to spend money every day. Monday you have 7 euro you can spend, but you don’t spend it… then you can roll over that 7 or whatever you’re left with to Tuesday. So then you are left with 14 euro on Tuesday.” With everything being so expensive in Ireland, Berry seemed confident in his plan. His advice was “It all depends on what you want to spend for that month, but base it on what you NEED, not what you want.”

Although, Brandon Berry is budgeting his bucks in another country, that does not mean this advice won’t work for college students in America.

Allison Meads, a communications major at Frostburg State University also agrees with Berry when it comes to only basing your budget on what you need and not what you want. However, Allison has a different approach to stretching her dollars. “Buy cheap stuff. Off brand stuff works just like name stuff a lot of the time.” Allison explains. She also talks about how buying the things she “wants” is much cheaper when turning to online shopping on websites, like E-bay. “If you search hard enough, you will find a good deal, you just got to shop smart and stick to your budget” Meads states.

If you truly want to save money, come up with a plan of your own. Ask yourself how much you want to save in a month? How much do you want to spend a day with your monthly budget? What spending habbits can you knock that will help you save money? Why not try off brand products?