How do you manage the great sums of money given to you when joining college?As far as money for upkeep is concerned, you need to learn to manage it well so that you do not run the risk of using all the cash at the beginning of the semester and from mid semester you have nothing for your meals or upkeep. Within the first seven days of the semester establish how much you have spent on food and divide by seven to find out how much money on average you need for food.
Then, divide that amount you get by the number of days in the semester (semester dates are already in the University website by the time you are reporting), then set aside some money for communication, emergencies and also for contingencies.
Discuss also with your parents/guardian how much they are able to give you per day/week/month and work your budget within that limit.
-If you are cooking in your room whether alone or shared, do bulk shopping for nonperishable that will last you for at least a month. This ensures that even when you run short of cash you do not starve. It is also eventually cheaper than doing peace meal shopping.
-Have a budget when going to do shopping to avoid buying unintended items or forgetting some of the essential items that you really need.
-Carry just enough money when going to do shopping to avoid over expenditure. For example if from your budget you need Ksh. 700 then do not carry more than Ksh. 1,000.
-Avoid carrying a lot of cash, if possible make your payments via mpesa. Ensure you do not disclose your mpesa password to anybody.
-Avoid taking things on credit however tempting it might be. At these level you are dependent on either your parents/guardians or on Helb and your finances are limited.Focus on what you can afford and not what you cannot afford.
-Devise ways of making some savings however little. These savings will become handy some day. So do not consume every shilling that lands on your hand. You can save through mshwari for example and later transfer to your bank account. Money is never enough so you will have to tame your appetite for spending. Some of the ways of saving include walking to class if you do not reside far, instead of taking matatus /motorbikes all the time, eating your meals in your house/carrying lunch (if you are a non resident) rather than eat in a hotel, buy bulk sms and bundles instead of piece meal-check offers available in your telecommunication provider, using school wifi to download notes etc instead of buying bundles.
-Helb is a loan that you will have to pay after your studies. Therefore have your priorities right. First complete your fee, then think about accommodation then upkeep, before thinking of supporting your family with it. If you pay for accommodation and upkeep and have not completed your fee, the chances are you will get stuck because it is easier to look for money for upkeep since you do not need all at once and you can do with let us say a hundred shillings per day, than to raise lump some money for fee. Remember in most institutions if you have not completed paying your fee, you will not be allowed to sit for your exams. Failure to sit for exams simply means, you will repeat the semester yet Helb will not cater for that extra semester/year so you will struggle financially in your last year of studies.
-Avoid lending out money just in case you do not get it back.
BENEFITS OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
a) This will help you know if the amount of money you have will comfortably take you throughout the semester or you need to reduce your daily expenditure.
b) It will help you plan ahead e.g. on how to raise more money well in advance. So that you do not have to wait until the last shilling is spent then you start ambushing people to send you money urgently.
c) It will also help you develop financial discipline so that you do not get into the trap of spending all your money in one day/ within a few days. That discipline will be valuable long after school.
NB: Avoid spending on your friends or being to quick to lend out money to your new found friends unless you are sure you can still manage to cater for your own expenses if they do not pay back. Do not also fall into the temptation of imitating the lifestyle of your new found friends-be comfortable with who you are and what you have, it is not a show off or competition-you are living your life so do not fall into the temptation of living a lie to please others.