SOCIAL MEDIA

How to be a Kuripot Student

Image from peertransfer

It’s now the month of June and students are now headed back to school with the hopes of meeting new friends, seeing old faces, and even learning new things from their teachers. But what they usually don’t learn in school is how to be frugal.

Of course, you can’t blame them because the vast majority are dependent on the baons or allowances that their parents give them so they don’t really appreciate the value of money just yet. Back in my day, an allowance of PHP200 could last for a week and this was in a private school. In fact, 200PHP was gratuitous. Today, students have an allowance somewhere between PHP50 and PHP500 daily. Yes, I have encountered students who have PHP500 for their daily allowance.

But whether your allowance is 100PHP or 1000PHP a day, it’s still important to manage your finances properly and it’s good to start as early as now.

1.) Avoid going to coffee shops and tea houses to study – Your home is the best place to study because there’s no chance of you splurging your entire allowance for a single cup of coffee or milk tea. Instead, what you budget for your daily milk tea consumption should be saved. 50PHP x 5 days a week = 250PHP saved per week. That’s close to a thousand pesos each month and by the time school ends, you’ll have close to 10,000PHP. And that’s just from saving 50PHP from your milk tea consumption.

2.) Don’t buy fancy notebooks and pens – a 5-peso notebook and a 100-peso notebook will still give you the same functionality: to hold your notes. It’s only the paper quality that you’re paying for. Same goes for pens. A 5-peso Panda pen can last you for up to 6 months, and I’m speaking from experience. Instead of buying an expensive 60-peso pen, go for the ones that cost less than 20-pesos. Shaving off 40PHP from your expenses in terms of notebooks and pens can go a long way as a student.

3.) Photocopies are your friend – College students understand the value of photocopying notes and pages of books that their teachers required them to read. I learned that it’s better not to be choosy with the quality of the photocopy that you can get. If you find yourself photocopying only one or two pages, paying .75 cents will do. But if you’re going to photocopy important reading material, then paying 1.00 should be more than enough to guarantee good quality copies.

4.) Pack your lunches – Again, it’s important to save as much money as you can when you’re in school. Packing your lunch can help you save almost 50% of your allowance. A meal with rice and viand can cost you 50PHP, whereas packed lunches can  cost you nothing. Even packing your own rice and being able to save 10PHP to 20PHP day can help save you money. Packed lunches also help you avoid going to fast food joints and restaurants.


P.S. My very first e-book is finally here. You can buy it using the Buy Now button at the right or via bank deposit. Only Php 150.00. Purchase your copy now.

P.P.S To those doing the 52 Week Money Challenge, it is Week 23 already! Did you deposit the next amount yet?

P.P.P.S Want to know more about investing, savings, stock market and more, check out my reference here. You can download free ebooks and resources too. 

P.P.P.P.S I am also sharing my stock market secrets and information via these resources