Money Management

Most undergraduate students work part-time. Find out which ones will pay you to increase your social circle as a first-year student. 

School stinks without friends. I spent vast swathes of primary school winging it solo, and it was no bueno. College is the perfect recipe for new friends: students pour in, nobody knows anybody, and 99% of first-year students are desperate for study buddies and dorm friends.

In 2020, 74% of undergraduates were employed part-time, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Typically, more time at work means less time making friends — but it doesn’t have to be that way. I made friends while earning income during my first year.

It didn’t take hard work. In fact, making friends this way was downright simple.

I worked in on-campus housing

First day of college. My parents were gone, and I’d finally finished lugging everything into my closet-sized dorm room. I’m lingering about the common room like a headless chicken, lost and confused. A pamphlet on the front desk caught my eye, a sign-up sheet.

New year, new desk assistants. Turns out, the dorm was hiring. Because this was college, applying was as easy as scribbling my name and phone number. And why not? I could use the extra income. I jotted down my contact information, and one month later, I was hired.

It turned out to be a fantastic spur-of-the-moment decision.

Working on campus afforded me two advantages: easy money and student contact. I met dozens of people while working the front desk. For the low price of helping folks open their mailbox and replace their keys, I met students and made friends.

Consider applying for a front-desk position at your freshman dorm. Ask around on move-in day, because the spot can get competitive. It’s a great way to get paid to make friends, and you can often sneak in school work: a win-win.

Apply for available on-campus jobs

Working in housing is one of the best ways to get paid to make friends, but there are other options. Here are other typical on-campus jobs available to freshmen:

Dining hall workerRecreation center staffAdministrative assistant

Dining hall workers typically come into contact with familiar faces. However, my friends who worked in dining made most of their friends via coworkers. The downside of working in dining is that you’re typically on your feet for your entire shift. College students eat 24/7.

Recreation center staff are like front desk assistants. They greet visitors, keep a clean workspace, and answer student questions. It can be a very competitive position, so interested first-year students may want to ask the Rec Center faculty about the job immediately.

Administrative assistant jobs are typically plentiful. Professors, departments, and libraries need them to keep things organized. Assistants usually have opportunities to make friends with staff or students, but their jobs aren’t always public-facing.

Before working on campus, keep this in mind

Working on campus is a great way to make friends and get paid, but downsides exist. For one thing, salaries tend to be low. Almost uniformly so. Many on-campus positions don’t require much expertise, especially those available to freshmen, and wages reflect that. That’s fine if you’re building your credit score, but $12/hour won’t cover the rent.

Students can supplement their income by working an off-campus side hustle. College towns typically hire students to work in the food industry, which often tips well (your mileage will vary). Professors frequently hire students for miscellaneous, decent-paying jobs they post on LinkedIn.

Also consider checking Google Jobs for local listings. I spent six months gardening for a professor I met through LinkedIn, and the pay was much better than on-campus fare. Apply for jobs sooner rather than later — good jobs become scarce as the school year progresses.

You can make friends while plugging money into a savings account to pay for college expenses. Consider working in on-campus housing, asking faculty about other on-campus jobs, and applying early. The stakes are low, but the opportunity is sky-high.

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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Cole Tretheway has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Is your small business doomed to fail? Read on to find out. 

Starting a small business means taking on a fair amount of risk. After all, there’s no guarantee your business will end up thriving long-term.

About 80% of small businesses survive after a year, according to the Small Business Administration. But at the five-year mark or longer, that percentage dwindles down to about 50%. And only around 33% of small businesses survive 10 years or longer.

It’s important to recognize the signs that your business is on a downward spiral. And if these apply to you, it means your business may not make it in the long run if you don’t start implementing key changes.

1. You’re burning through cash at a rapid pace

All small businesses have expenses. But if you’re burning through cash at a rapid clip and aren’t replenishing it quickly enough, then your business may be destined to fail.

Take a look at your business’s banking records, then try to take steps to reduce your spending. If you’re not sure how to do that, you may need to bring in a small business consultant to help advise you.

2. You’re not growing your customer base

It’s a nice thing for your business to have a steady stream of customers, but that’s not enough. If you want your venture to thrive, you need to work on growing your customer base so it doesn’t remain stagnant.

Think about different ways you can attract customers to your business. That could mean expanding your services or product line or being more savvy with promotions and referral programs.

3. You have a lot of employee turnover

To have a successful business, you need a team of dedicated people to keep it running. But if you can’t seem to retain talent and you’re constantly dealing with worker turnover, it’s a sign your business might struggle to the point of failure.

Think about some of the reasons why your workers may be quitting on you. Are you not paying a high enough wage? Are your demands too extreme? Do your workplace benefits leave much to be desired?

If you’re not sure why your business is experiencing so much turnover, survey your current employees and ask how they feel about their respective roles and the general working environment. You may be able to gain some insight that helps you make positive changes.

4. You’re employing temporary fixes to big problems

Your business might have major issues you keep finding temporary solutions for. That’s probably not going to work on a long-term basis.

Let’s say you have outdated technology, so you keep fixing old equipment rather than investing in new equipment. That approach might only work for so long. Think about the ways you can find longer-term solutions for the issues your company is facing.

The last thing you want is to see your small business shutter. In some cases, that fate may be unavoidable. But if these issues apply to you, there are steps you can take to address them — and save your business from failure.

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You may be able to score great deals on Prime Day. But read on for tips so you don’t wreck your finances in the process. 

Amazon Prime Day was launched in July of 2015 as a way to celebrate the online retail giant’s 20th birthday. Since then, Amazon has upheld the tradition of offering a mega-sale every year, typically in July.

Now interestingly enough, as of this writing, Amazon has yet to announce Prime Day’s official date(s) for 2023. But there’s a good chance it’ll happen in mid-July, which means you really only have a little more than a month to prepare for the big event. Here are a few steps you can take to avoid debt in the course of enjoying what’s apt to be a world of deals.

1. Start saving now

At this point, you don’t have a ton of time to sock money away in your savings for Prime Day — assuming this year’s event happens in July as it usually does. But still, there are steps you can take to boost your savings account balance a bit.

Don’t eat out for a couple of weeks, and cut back on social events that cost money if you expect to have many Prime items on your wish list. You might even see if there’s a temporary side hustle you can snag to pick up some additional cash.

2. Set a budget before you shop

You might have $200 you can afford to spend on Prime Day between the money you’ve put into savings and your upcoming paychecks. Or maybe you can afford to spend $300 without landing in debt. Either way, crunch the numbers before Prime Day begins so you know exactly what flexibility you have.

3. Order your wish list by priority

Shopping events like Prime Day can be fantastic, but they can also be overwhelming. You might come across hundreds of deals in the course of your shopping, and that could make it difficult to stick to a game plan.

Before Prime Day begins, figure out which items you’re looking to scoop up on sale, and then order them by priority. It may be that you’re looking to buy an air fryer at a discount, as well as some new clothing and footwear. You may decide that the air fryer should take priority over everything else because you can use it to whip up meals for your entire family, whereas the new clothing and shoes are just extras you’d like to have.

Don’t drive yourself into debt

The purpose of Prime Day is to enjoy savings on the items you’re looking to buy — not to chase sales simply to get a deal and end up with a massive credit card bill in the process. Before Prime Day kicks off, make a plan. And if you don’t manage to save any money for Prime Day, consider skipping the big event — even if it means having to wait longer to buy some of the items on your list.

Although you’re apt to find plenty of bargains on Prime Day, it won’t be your only opportunity to find discounts this year — both on Amazon and in general. So if you’re not in a place where you can afford to spend money on Prime Day, sit it out and wait for the next big shopping event.

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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Maurie Backman has positions in Amazon.com. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon.com and JPMorgan Chase. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Gas prices fluctuate over time. Here’s when it’s usually cheapest to fill up your tank. 

Owning a car makes it a lot easier to get from Point A to Point B, especially if you live in a rural area without a great public transit system. But it comes with a lot of extra expenses. You’ll need auto insurance, regular maintenance, and of course, gas.

It’s not unusual to spend hundreds of dollars per month just to commute back and forth to work and run errands. Fortunately, there are quite a few strategies you can try to keep your costs down. One of the simplest is to fill up on the cheapest day of the week. Below, we’ll look at what this is, plus some other ways you can reduce your gas costs.

Make this part of your new weekly routine

The cheapest day to fill up your gas tank is Monday, according to the latest research from GasBuddy. It looked at daily gas price data from 2021 and found that the beginning of the week, between Sunday and Tuesday, is generally a much more affordable time to buy gas than mid-week.

Interestingly, the latest survey found that Friday was also one of the cheapest days to buy gas, despite the same survey finding Friday to be one of the most expensive days to buy gas in previous years.

You may not always be able to purchase gas on a specific day of the week all the time. But aiming to fill your tank in the early part of the week as often as possible could help you shave a few dollars off your monthly gas bill.

Other ways to save on gas

In addition to buying your gas early in the week, you can try the following tips to save even more:

Use public transportation: If you live in an area with a good public transportation network, this is a great alternative to using your own vehicle. It could even save you time compared to driving in high-traffic areas.Walk: Walking may not be an option in every case, but it’s worth considering if you live in an urban area and don’t need to go far. In addition to saving on gas, it can also help you fit in a quick workout.Try carpooling: Those who live near a coworker, family member, or friend could consider carpooling to save money. You’ll still have to put some money toward gas if you do this, but it’ll be less than if you had to commute separately.Combine errands: Limit how frequently you drive so you don’t have to fill your gas tank as often. Plan out your week’s errands ahead of time and do your best to combine as many as possible so you don’t have to make multiple trips to the same areas.Shop around: Compare prices at gas stations in your area before you buy to make sure you’re getting the best deal. Apps like GasBuddy can make this a lot easier.Consider a hybrid or electric vehicle: Those in the market for a new car may want to consider an electric or hybrid vehicle. There’s usually a higher upfront cost associated with these cars, but they can save you quite a bit on gas over the long run.

If you really want to maximize your savings, consider putting the money you’re no longer spending on gas in a high-yield savings account. You can save this for an emergency fund or put it toward a big-ticket purchase you have coming up. The high annual percentage yields (APYs) on savings accounts right now — combined with your monthly savings on gas — could grow your balance by quite a bit.

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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Does a Costco membership pay when you’re a student? It depends. Read on to learn more. 

For many people, joining Costco is a no-brainer. Shopping there often means racking up a smaller credit card tab than shopping at supermarkets and big-box stores.

But what if you’re a college student? Not only might your funds be limited, but your storage options may be even more limited.

For many college students, a Costco membership will not make sense. But there are exceptions.

When a Costco membership pays off for college students

First, let’s get one thing out of the way. You have to be at least 18 years old to join Costco, so if you’re a younger college student, getting your own membership may not be an option right away. Many college students, however, are of age to join Costco.

Now, let’s address the cost issue of joining Costco as a student. When you’re already borrowing money to cover tuition costs and your savings are limited, the idea of having to shell out money just for the privilege of being able to shop at Costco may not seem so appealing.

But you should also know that if you stick to a basic Costco membership, you’re only looking at $60 a year. That’s just $5 a month, which is less than what you may be spending on various streaming services.

Then there’s the storage issue. If you’re a college student whose living quarters are confined to a dorm room, then joining Costco probably won’t pay. But if you live in an off-campus house with several roommates, you might have plenty of storage, from a full-sized fridge to a basement that’s perfect for stashing toilet paper, paper towels, and cleaning supplies in bulk.

Also, if you live with several roommates, you could always join Costco but ask the people you live with to chip in for a membership. In fact, let’s say there are four of you sharing a house off campus. If you were to split a basic Costco membership, you’d each be chipping in $15 a year, or just $1.25 a month. That’s a fee you can probably afford, even if you’re on a shoestring budget like many college students.

Plus, your Costco membership fee might more than pay for itself in the form of savings. If buying household supplies and groceries to share at Costco saves you even just $10 a week, then all told, it’s easy to justify the $60 annual cost.

An option worth considering

The typical Costco member is probably not a college student. And for many college students, a Costco membership will not be feasible.

But that doesn’t mean you need to write off the idea of joining Costco. Think about your living situation and the amount of money you spend on groceries and household supplies. You may find that joining Costco is a cost-effective solution.

Of course, one final thing you’ll want to consider is the proximity of the nearest Costco to where you live. But if there’s a Costco nearby you can access pretty easily, then you may find that a membership ends up paying off big time.

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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.Maurie Backman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Want to grow your savings modestly in June? Read on to see how. 

Inflation has been surging for about two years now, and that’s forced many people to raid their bank accounts rather than add to them. If you’re looking to add money to your savings account this month, here are a few ways to do so to the tune of $100

1. Have a low-key Father’s Day

Consumers are planning to spend an average of $196.23 on Father’s Day this year, reports the National Retail Federation. If you have similar plans, cutting back on some of your Father’s Day purchases might easily allow you to put an extra $100 into your bank account this month.

Before you buy your father an expensive gift, think about the things that are most important to him. He might enjoy a low-key outing with you over a fancy gadget that busts your budget.

Similarly, if you’re planning to take your father out for a fancy dinner, consider scrapping that plan. He might prefer a day where you go out fishing, catch your own dinner, and cook it together.

2. Get ready to grill — or cook — more

Now that we’re in the warm weather season, it’s a great time to bust out your grill and do more of your own cooking. And if you’re not a fan of grilling, that’s fine — you can stick to indoor cooking instead.

The point either way, though, is to cook more of your meals at home. Doing so can be a lot less expensive than ordering takeout and delivery, especially if you have a larger family to feed.

3. Maintain your own lawn

During the month of June, many homeowners have to mow their lawns and trim their shrubs on a weekly basis. If you’re willing to do that work yourself rather than outsource it, you could easily bank an additional $100 this month.

HomeGuide says that you might pay $25 to $50 per hour to hire a single landscaping professional, or $50 to $100 per hour for a two-person landscaping crew. Now, let’s say it takes an hour per week to tackle your lawn care. Even if you can find someone to do the work for $25 an hour, that’s $100 you’re shelling out. Do the mowing and other lawn labor yourself, and that money can stay parked in your bank account instead.

Sometimes, saving money is a matter of doing certain things yourself rather than paying for the convenience of having them done for you. Other times, it’s a matter of spending judiciously on major events. If your goal is to save $100 this month, go easy on Father’s Day, and push yourself to cook more meals and maintain your own lawn.

Of course, there are many other steps you can take to boost your savings this month, from canceling different services you don’t really need to working a side hustle. But these particular moves might individually result in $100 of savings, so they’re worth looking at if you want to grow your cash reserves in June without having to stress yourself out in the process.

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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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