Put Some Respect On My Check: Navigating Personal Finance Along the Academic and Professional Journey.
According to a report by the Council of Graduate Students, in conjunction with leading financial services provider TIAA, over half of masters and doctoral students feel stressed about their finances. Additionally, 38% of masters students and 36% of doctoral students worry about their ability to meet their monthly expenses. Considering our country’s current student loan debt crisis, looming recession and battle for affordable health care, it is unsurprising that the report found that graduate students were eager to learn about debt management, budgeting and saving, investing, planning retirement, and other aspects of personal finance.
My personal finance enlightening moment came about two years after I graduated with my PhD, when I decided I wanted to get a better handle of my finances, and more specifically my debt. During my prayer time one day, a thought popped into my head that I should pursue the desire to be debt free, and thus take full advantage of my income as a wealth building tool. Providentially, I began to see a personal finance book, The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, be posted repeatedly on a social media I utilize. I purchased the book, read it in one day and shared it's principles with my husband. From that moment on, educating myself about debt management, personal finance and wealth building became my favorite past time. I have always enjoyed creating and following (eek!) budgets, but I became more interested in next level-thinking as it relates to financial fortitude. I quickly realized the error of my ways as a graduate student and committed to not only correcting those errors, but also taking advantage where I am professionally to build a new mindset and new habits that would serve me in the long run. Recently, I happened upon a blog by GradHacker that provides budgetary and money saving tips for graduate students that can be applied to Women of Color along all walks of life. A few tips they offer include:
Figure out where your money is going- If you are just starting out and do not yet have a budget, try to track your spending for 1-3 months and categorize your expenditures. This will provide a detailed account into spending and saving patterns you may have. Excel spreadsheets are easy to use for this, but if you prefer to use apps, Mint, MyBudgetBook, Every Dollar, and Spendee are a few well known ones.
Tell your money where to go. As financial guru Dave Ramsely always says, “A budget allows you to tell your money where to go, instead of wondering where it went. A weekly, biweekly or monthly budget is essential to your personal finance journey. I personally believe in creating a zero-based budget that designates a place for every dollar earned. In addition to Excel spreadsheets, there are a plethora of apps for budgeting. Personally, my budget is housed in the Notes feature in my Iphone where I am able to check off what has been paid every month and easily track my expenditures. Although successful budgeting comes with sacrifice and your needs should clearly outweigh your wants, it is important to budget “fun money” for goods, services and activities that will keep you motivated on your journey. Keep in mind however, that you should approach your wants with frugality, AT LEAST until you’ve paid down debt.
Consider your purchasing motivations. Are you an emotional spender? Explore other productive ways to navigate the highs and lows of life outside of spending.
Reduce your bills. There are so many ways to reduce your monthly spending. Some options include choosing a cheaper cell phone plan and/or cable plan, cutting cable all together and solely utilizing streaming services, canceling monthly subscriptions, reducing housing costs by moving into a more cost efficient space, considering a roommate, subletting, etc., and my MOST FAVORITE, eliminating debt. Consider how much more money you could save and invest, if it was not tied up in monthly payments.
Negotiate. This includes interest rates, rent, salary, etc. In the words of the Good Book, “You have not, because you ask not”.
Avoid debt. This especially pertains to credit card debt and private loans, which normally come with high interest rates. If you must borrow, borrow smart. Utilizing your student financial center or financial aid office as a student, or financial education department within your human resource office or bank if you are a professional can prove to be extremely helpful.
We want to hear from you Ebonies!! Are you on a personal finance journey? What personal finance resources have inspired you? In what ways do you plan to up the ante regarding your personal finance in 2020? Drop us a comment below and be sure to tune into this month’s podcast as we discuss our own personal finance journeys!!
