Freedom. What does that mean to one young man?
To him, it means being able to spend your money whenever you please however you please. As he got settled into college, the young man realized quickly that his parents weren’t around to nag him about his impulsive buying habits. Instead, he could see something, swipe his card, and bring it home without a second thought, just like how he always wanted to. However, as he kept swiping and swiping, the young man didn’t realize that how quickly he was spending the money didn’t align with how quickly he was making it back, causing him to suddenly become faced with the hard reality that when you buy, buy, buy, money will typically, eventually run out.
Although the young man now has possessions, he once dreamed of having, he racked up quite the credit card debt after also draining his savings account during the first few weeks of the semester. Now, he had to deal with the adult-level consequences. The young man was now unable to pay his half of the rent that month, causing a strain on the relationship between him and his parents who now had to pay for his half, but what he didn’t plan for was being unable to pay it again the next month because of his credit card payment. This then forced his parents to pay again for the second month in a row, and although he could pay off his credit card, he now had to pay back his parents, causing a cycle of debt he felt like would never end. Between upcoming credit card bills, the inability to pay for everyday expenses including rent, and the stress of it all caused the young man to move home, but instead of saving money, he became stuck. He felt as if there was no point to work and live on his own if he would always be in debt anyway, so he just didn’t, but what he didn’t realize was that it was his poor money management skills that had gotten him into this predicament, not just him becoming independent.
Struggling with money isn’t something new college students face. Being thrown into the independent world so young and so fast can leave young adults with questions they have not just yet gotten the answer to, such as budgeting and credit cards.
The world gets more and more expensive as an individual gets older, but sometimes the temptation to spend money overshadows the need to save it, especially in college. Young adults want to go out and do things. They want to hang out with friends, buy something to eat other than dining hall food, and just be free, but it is also important to learn when to stop. On average, teens spend about 2,150 dollars a year, mostly on food, clothing, and technology (lexingtonlaw, 2021) while during a four-year period, college students spend about 53,000 dollars on personal expenses (Vlasova, 2021). This is mostly because they are now completely on their own. Not only their money is independent, but so is their life, making it easier to spend extravagantly since no parental figure is there to witness it. This can be especially prevalent for those living with neurodiversity’s such as ADHD, Autism, “Asperger’s,” anxiety disorders, perceptual challenges, etc. since it is easy to lose sight of things when transitioning into the college world and independent life.
Money is not something people take lightly. Credit card companies will not accept excuses or a sorry after you rack up debt. Instead, they expect you to pay it back, and if you don’t, that decision will affect your credit score and many other aspects of your life until you fix it, which can cause a young adult who’s just starting out to start on the wrong foot. This is why learning how to manage money at an adult level is so important. Implementing things such as a budget book, actively putting a certain amount of money into a savings account with each paycheck, paying back credit cards, loans and other things on time, and overall having a good understanding of how money works can make such a large difference when starting a successful independent financial life. It can help prevent young adults from having to stay at home even longer because they were actively saving money when in college and can even help with their self-esteem since if they feel financially secure, they can feel secure in their ability to continue to successfully live on their own.
At the College Life Skills Program, our team of Doctoral and Master level professionals utilizes a series of services and techniques to help young adults who are college bound, in college, and even after college succeed in and after their transition into independent life. We help teach them life skills such as money management while in college, the work world and in overall life to help them learn how to ensure they are making the proper adult level financial decisions their own, as well as executive functioning skills, social skills, and development of emotional maturity. If your young adult is struggling with life skills such as sharing money management or the transition into adulthood, CollegeLSP has the tools to aid them in achieving such skills.
Dr. Eric J. Nach, Ph.D., M.Ed., A.S.D.C., is a Developmental and Behavioral Specialist who specializes in Autism, ADHD and related disorders. Dr. Nach is the founder of the College Life Skills Program where he and his team of professional’s help develop the Emotional Maturity, Executive Functioning, Life Skill and Social Abilities of college students and those high school students preparing for college. The CollegeLSP is a subsidiary program of the Support For Students Growth Center, located in Boca Raton, FL and providing services nationwide.
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Vlasova, H. (2021, December 4). College student spending statistics (facts & figures 2021). Admissonsly.com. Retrieved December 12, 2021, from https://admissionsly.com/college-student-spending-statistics/.
Teen spending habits in 2021 – lexington law. (n.d.). Retrieved December 12, 2021, from https://www.lexingtonlaw.com/blog/credit-cards/teen-spending-habits.html.
