Saving up for a rainy day

Saving leftover change and chunks of your allowance is a very gratifying feeling especially if you're still a student operating with nothing but the money you receive from home. The act of saving up is more often than not, something which usually happens unconsciously and on off days. To save money for a rainy day is often unheard of as the base level allowance a school or college-goer gets is only enough to get them through a single day. But the discipline taken away from saving up consistently can allow people to learn the values of discipline and patience starting from a young age.

Setting aside the obvious practices of not eating out too frequently and avoiding impulsive purchases, there's a couple of other ways one can condition themselves into saving up as a practice.

The first thing we have to be aware of is, how much of our allowance we use on necessities and where we use it. If you're someone who packs a lunch from home then you don't have to worry about spending money at the canteen. If you do eat at the canteen then never indulge more than you should. If you have avarices such as coke, mints amongst other things, budget your allowance accordingly; know the extent to which you'd need them and not buying them out of want.

If your allowance is fixed then, before going to sleep each night, calculate how much you want to save and keep that amount in a side compartment in your wallet or purse. Regardless of all the things we're already spending on, solely out of necessity, we can cut costs further by keeping ourselves occupied in things which wouldn't cost us a dime. If you play sports or have hobbies or interests which you are keen about, pursue them. Spend your lunch breaks and evenings playing football, cricket, table tennis or any sport in general, spend time doing that instead of going to Hermosa KK Tea or Burger Queen.

The end goal as always is what motivates students into saving up in most cases. Maybe you want to buy a guitar or the new console or game out in the market and the only means you have in order to purchase the good is through saving up. Instead of having a jar where you keep your coins, an alternative which worked for me was through having separate envelopes for each week. Calculate with the end goal in mind and you should be fine.

Saving up is by no means an easy task. It requires the ability to say no to yourself and to others, the ability to think further ahead than most do at a young age. However despite all of the hurdles, if you take it one day at a time, without thinking too much about the end goal or the general implications of the frugal life then it will further enable you to live more comfortably and with fewer worries in the future.

Asif Ayon's favourite colour is a particular shade of ash but he tells everyone that it's blue. The alliteration in his name bothers him a lot too. To inquire more about what else keeps him up at night, hit him up at asifayon@live.com