Graduating is liberating in many ways. Finally after years of studying and taking exams, you’re free from the classroom or lecture hall and can do whatever it is you want in life. You will finally get the taste of true freedom where no one asks anything from you and you can be your own person. This also means you don’t have anyone to hold your hand financially. Speaking of money, it’s time to formulate a plan of how you are going to pay off your student loans. The average student will have tens of thousands of pounds of debt and the universities and student loan companies want you to make payments as soon as possible. It’s therefore priority that you start to save more than you spend. But since it’s their first time out in the real world, we need to give them the best advice possible.
Move in small
After having lived in student digs, possibly sharing it with other people, it’s tempting to buy a place that is large. However, we must urge graduates to not get a place they won’t be able to afford in hard times. Don’t allow their wants to overcome their needs. Bigger places often come with hefty rent prices, and you never know when or if they will be in danger of losing their job. Anything could happen really, because the economy is not in our own hands. The reasons for living frugally and renting a small apartment far outweigh getting a large apartment for just one person. And this goes for anyone, regardless of what profession they are in.
Monkey on the shoulder
No doubt that graduates are already thinking about how their student loans will affect their lifestyle. As considerate adults we need to give them advice on how to form a plan and start paying it back. The longer it takes them they more they will pay. Advise them that they don’t want to reach their 40s and 50s with student loan payments still being taken out of their bank account. Direct them toward a cost of debt calculator which can sum up what they owe. Utilise the student loan hero website and tools, so an easy plan can be made for them. When this is in order, all they have to do is stick to it. Half the battle is over because they now know how much they need to save each month to live a decent life while also keeping the monkey off their shoulder.
Time for partying is over
Now that they have left the confines of their colleges and universities, they need to live frugally until they have made significant savings. The time for partying and wasting money on drinks is over. They should stick to going out to bars and clubs once a week at the most. They will save a lot of money over the coming months and years just by not going to drinking holes around the city they live in.
Saving money and one day becoming debt free should be every graduates main focus. They will never get the burden of debt off their backs until they learn to live responsibly on their own and not expect assistance from anyone. Yes, it’s to be a grown up!
