Each week, we are sharing a financial wellness tip to help you make the connection between financial management decisions, your overall wellness, and student success. Money touches every aspect of our lives, and a lack of financial literacy can cause unnecessary stress and negatively impact one’s mental and physical health.
Get Food $mart
Has living away from home made you think more about how to spend your money? One example is food. One of the basic needs in life we have to spend money on is food. How much money do you spend to feed yourself? Do you spend more when you're hungry? Tend to grab something from the vending machine instead of packing a snack and your own water bottle? Whether you have a campus meal plan or not, you are spending money each day on food. This is a good opportunity for you to start tracking at least one of your expenses!
If you have a campus meal plan, you are able to track your balance and spending habits when eating on campus through Tiger Spend. If you do not have a campus meal plan, most of your food expenses are likely coming from the grocery store. Either way, you also need to be mindful of any purchases when dining out at restaurants or grabbing coffee at a coffee shop.
Tips for Getting Food $mart:
- Use a debit card instead of cash for these purchases so you can easily track what you are spending on all food combined.
- Once you track your spending, make a budget for food purchases to help reduce your spending on fast food, coffee and in convenience stores on the fly.
- Take advantage of special savings by signing up for rewards cards at your local grocery store.
- Compare the price of items at different grocery stores to find the best price for items you like to buy.
- Don't let your food purchasing habits "EAT UP" your budget - check out 8 Tips to Reduce Your Food Bill.
Be sure to follow the Financial Literacy team on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram for more financial tips throughout the semester!
