By Norzuwariyah Mohamad Yusoff
Students’ life is most challenging. Undergraduates mostly need to earn money for themselves because some of them are relying on their sponsorship or loan. Not many students are able to find money by themselves and still it must be someone to guide and monitor their financial situation so that they can survive. So, here are several tips on how to get the best budget in long term of semester.
First, it started with cost materials. Here are some of the ways you can save. Many universities run second-hand book sales, giving you the opportunity to buy books from older students. Then you can go the library instead of buying new one. The Malaysian government also introduces new method which is KAD BIASISWA and Baucar Buku 1MALAYSIA to help each student in all the public universities in this country. Use and benefits from these as it can reduce your expenditure.
Second, whether it’s a bus to lectures or travelling back home for the holidays, you’ll need to factor in travel costs. To help, there are student travel cards out there to help you reduce the cost of getting around by as much as a third. For instance many transporter services introduce membership card especially for students likes KTM (Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad. LRT also organises new cards so that students may receive discounts.
Lastly, extra study expenses also produces side income for the students, such as printing, photocopying, library fines. A lot of assignments and slide notes require students to print out the paper and it costs money. The little costs can add up, so this is how to keep them to a minimum. If you’re taking a course where you’re likely to be submitting lots of essays, it might be worth buying a printer. You can attract new customers by promoting to your friends rather than using university facilities. Plus, print double-sided and in black and white.
Students can try new alternative ways to save their budget as they can do part-time job or reduce in their spending on entertainment. As in the quotes of Robert T. Kiyosaki which states that ˜if you do not know how to care for money, money will stay away from you. ***