Make and Keep a Budget. You would be surprised how much faster you spend money when you aren’t keeping track of it as opposed to when you write down every single time you spend $4 for a Starbucks coffee, $5 for a Subway Footlong, $10 for a midnight premiere, $2 for pens, $35 for gas, $8 for socks…You get the picture.
And although the word “budget” causes many to shudder, it’s really not that hard. You are simply calculating your expenses, calculating your income, and then making sure your income is equal to or greater than your expenses. Ok, ok, it’s a little more complicated than that. But CNN Money makes it super easy for you with their handy dandy automatic budget calculator. Check it out here!
Job Search Effectively and Efficiently. Jobacle.com has several great pieces of advice on job hunting:
- Make a plan. “Think about which companies you want to work for, what other areas/industries your skills might apply to, and how you’re going to track and follow up with all the contacts you make in the course of your job search (hint: use a spreadsheet).”
- Prioritize. What kinds of jobs are you genuinely interested in? What jobs will just waste your time by cluttering up your search results? What jobs are you honestly not qualified for and should table until a later and more experienced time in your life?
- Have several versions of your resume on hand. “Each one should be tailored to an industry or function you’re interested in, so you’ll have a polished, well targeted version of your resume on hand when you find a position you want to apply for.”
Take Advantage of NSCS member discounts. NSCS has a sweet partnership with GEICO. (After all, who can resist the adorable green lizard?) In addition to your membership discount—which could take off as much as 8% from GEICO’s already low rates—you can also get 24-hour service online or by phone, and efficient and fair claims handling. Also, for every NSCS quote, GEICO will contribute $1 to the NSCS Scholarship Fund! Philanthropy and thriftiness—a match made in heaven. If you’re looking for a free quote feel free to click here or call 1-800-368-2734.
Also, if you need to get to job interviews, you can rent a car from Hertz, the world’s largest car rental company. Every time you rent, make sure to use your NSCS discount so you can save your hard-earned money! There’s even a Hertz Gold Plus Rewards membership available for NSCS Members that lets you avoid lines, earn points every time you rent, and convert points to free rental days.
Kelsey Crow attends Boise State University, is a member of NSCS, the Honors College, and is the Service Representative for the Honors Student Association. Her major is Communications with a Journalism emphasis, she writes weekly opinion pieces for the student newspaper, and in her spare time she dreams of international investigative journalism.