Financial tips in 20's

You have the most important thing that 99% of other people do not have - TIME!

You are starting way early and there will be a lot of people whom you will meet who will tell you to enjoy life since you have so much time to live your life and so planning, investing, all this can wait.

Remember your financial success is not dependent on these people and only on you. Hence start now.

Make a list of some very ambitious goals - don't hold back. Then quantify them.

Look at how many years you have to achieve these goals. Because you have the benefit of time and so you will find it surprisingly easy to achieve these goals with minor monthly investments.

The day you get your first salary, make a commitment to first save and invest - then spend the rest.

Your financial success will be easily within your grasp.

If you have a desirable degree, computer engineering, finance or accounting, then by all means take the 3.4% government loan and focus on the best GPA you can get along with extracirriculars that will make you better at your future job.

The Return on Investment (increase in earnings for the rest of your life) will more than justify the relatively cheap subsidized student loan.
If you are studying art history, avoid debt at all costs, live as cheaply as possible, and good luck.

It may sound cynical but the way to look at it is like this.

Hours spent at a part time job that is unrelated to your major may generate cash now, but add no value to you as a person for the rest of your life. Now if you borrow and put those part time job hours into your GPA and other skills that will make you a better worker, then you are investing in your self, with a positive ROI over time.

Some degrees though do not present this added value with time spent. For example masters in social work not paying much more than an undergrad.

1. Firstly, focus on the long-term. Any book, knowledge or experience you have now, will be 10x more useful than if you read the same book at age 50. This is due to compounding - compounded knowledge and finances. Most people have more free time now than they will have at age 40 - make good use of it
2. Make good relationships with people at college. They could be your future network
3. Make a budget and keep to it
4. Focus on your financial goals. Most people, by 18, 19 or 20 have some grand goals, but society tells them to scale down their goals. If you have huge goals, and you are willing to make huge actions, who knows what you can achieve
5. Take some risks. Now is the time to use that $500 to try something. Who cares if you lose money at this age. Most people are petrified of losing even when they have nothing.
6. Learn about personal finance and business-related skills (sales, marketing or whatever) regardless of your major. If you are going to be a doctor, an engineer or a dentist, these skills will come in useful.
7. You don’t need to monetize now, so try things out. Always dreamed about blogging about law? Why not try now. Build up your audience then monetize years later
8. Don’t forget the obvious things like taking advantage of student discounts and so on.

Living in a large house with friends has many benefits:

• per-person rent is cheaper
• utilities bills are split multiple ways (you could even get a family mobile plan)
• you can buy food in bulk
• if one person in the house has a car, you can make occasional use of it
• free activities present themselves more frequently: sitting around and chatting with housemates, video games, etc.