Picture by Hub@TTU Staff.
By Reagan Ranzer
Students today are finding it harder to save their money and control spending habits. Advising students to become aware of their spending, a financial expert at Texas Tech discussed how to purge the urge to splurge in order to save money.
Colin Calderon is a peer financial coach for Red to Black Peer Financial Coaching – a student service that offers financial coaching to Texas Tech students.
He said it is important for students to focus on saving money and being financially stable while avoiding overspending.
“The way we interact with the world and how we spend our money is mainly derived from where we grew up,” Calderon said. “Your standard of living is generated from what your parents did, how much money they made, the lifestyle you lived and when you come to college that income stream will go to tuition, paying for rent and things like that.”
When students come into college, they notice how hard it is to keep up with their standard of living, Calderon said. For the next four years, students begin to learn how to budget by setting money aside to pay for school and rent.
“Students may have a hard time keeping up with the amount of money they need for their standard of living,” Calderon said. “It is important to take a step back, look at how you’re living then, and when you do get a good-paying job you can go back to that standard of living.”
Calderon said if one keeps spending without consequences, eventually the results of their actions will “hit like a truck.”
Drew Curtis, a counseling psychologist, said people who are going out to shop and spend money have reasons contributing to that.
Photo by Hub@TTU contributor Reagan Ranzer
“Many times, at a molecular level you get dopamine released that is the neurotransmitter related to pleasure,” Curtis said. “When you buy something, you like it – it feels good. Your cognitions are thinking about the things you want, and, since you’re in control, you’re taking care of those wants.”
Socially and culturally in the United States, Curtis said there is a lot of emphasis on self.
“We say messages like, ‘Do what makes you happy,’ ‘Treat yourself,’” he said. “I think those messages might get internalized when people say they’re going to go buy the things they want to buy.”
If a person continues to spend excessively, Curtis said they will not be able to keep up financially.
“Some people can splurge if they know how to put aside money to save,” Curtis said. “You can also spend money to make money, like investments.”
Tatum Plas, a junior public relations major from Austin, said being able to go shopping allows her to de-stress, but her stress reliever can have an opposite affect when she feels unable to be financially stable.
“Every day, you kind of have the same routine with school and work,” Plas said. “Allowing myself to shop distracts me from my everyday stress and anxiety. I tend to spend most of my money on clothes; I am constantly online shopping and when I see something, I think it is cute I will add it to my cart.”
Plas said by spending money she believes she is also benefiting the economy, but she urged others to save.
“My advice for people like me who love to shop,” Plas said, “is put money aside for things you have to pay, like college tuition, groceries, rent, and then save a little for yourself to splurge out a little once in a while.”
To learn more on Red to Black Peer Financial Coaching, click here.
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