Put your money where your heart is

At Rose, we don’t have much time to think about values. Who has time to contemplate values when they have five billion math problems, a paper, and an unstarted project due in the next 24 hours? But sitting down for a bit to decide upon your financial priorities is a must for anybody that wants money to help, and not hinder, with achieving their goals.

First, sit down and write about what matters to you. Friends? Family? Greek life? Education? Video games? Sweet car mods? Decide which areas of your life have the potential to bring you the most contentment, and are most in line with your values. Everybody’s list will be different, but I’ll be using mine as an example.

So where do I want to put my money? I value security, so I have set up an IRA and have an emergency fund. I value friendship, so I budget for dinners out and tea for sharing a nice cuppa. There’s obvious, inevitable expenses like shelter and toiletries and tuition and such, and for those it isn’t a question of whether to spend money on it or not, but rather a question on how much. I’m too lazy for make-up and intimidated by the prospect of picking a fancy shampoo, so I forgo the make-up and stick with Suave for my hair. I love being on campus, close to class, people, and school activities, so I haven’t gone off campus yet. And as for tuition… well, that one I’m stuck with. Perhaps you value giving money to charitable organizations, or supporting your alma mater (hint hint returning alumnae!), or getting snazzy new game consoles.

Now that you have your list of things you value, prioritize your spending. Debt is something that most of us try to avoid, when possible. Thus, we must come to terms with the idea that we can’t afford everything we want (an idea that seems to be losing popularity these days of easy credit) and so should show preference for those things which we want most. This sounds ridiculously simple, yet I know that I will often spend with reckless abandon at places I don’t really care too much about, like Java Haute, and then delay the purchase of something that I would find a lot more useful and a lot more long lasting, like a spatula or the newest Terry Pratchett book.