Financial Independence by Renee

Financial Independence by Renee - April 2016 Scholarship Essay

One of the things that I loved about growing up is that I got to make my own mistakes and learn from them, so that way the lesson will stick with me forever. The downside of this is that I made the mistake in the first place and in this case it is about my financial discipline. I was not as smart about saving money when I was young and now I am paying the price as a college student.
For younger students who are looking into a college education, even if they are as young as freshman in high school, I would want to show them the knowledge I have now, even if doesn’t apply to them entirely yet. I would start with saving money (I never learned because it wasn’t something my parents did) by putting away half of the paycheck that is earned. Just being able to watch their money accumulate from month to month is something that might jumpstart them into saving more frequently and in different ways.
Continuing with the idea of saving money, I would want to impose the wisdom of not buying the new “it” thing that popular people have. It is a waste of money and won’t make you feel better, so you’re better off saving the money for the future and education. Picking up a second job, if time allows, is something I wish I would have done as a high school student as well, even if it is just cutting the lawn of the next door neighbor or pulling weeds, every bit of money helps in the long run.
The sooner a young student could start saving, the sooner they would be able to pay off their student loans or not accumulate as many (depending on how one looks at the situation). Even a couple thousand dollars could cover textbooks and some school fees, allowing for less anxiety for young students. If said students were not attending college and deciding to forge their own path in life, a chunk of money can always help as a down payment for a car (to get to and from a job) or towards a house. Either way, there is no negative side effect from saving money and it is never too early to start, something I wish I had learned much earlier in my youth, rather than as a college student.