A credit card statement in the low thousands lingered in my ever-growing list of tasks requiring my attention as the month rolled to a grueling close.
A quick run through of February’s spending didn’t flag anything out of the ordinary — there was the $7 chocolate strawberry latte, the $9 brown-sugar bubble milk, the $80 sorority merch hoodie, the $20 for a dinner escape from dining hall food and then there was the $200 for yet another bucket-list concert opportunity I just couldn’t seem to let pass me by.
After nearly two years in Chicago, college spending remains a paradoxical concept I fail to grasp as the cycle of purchases and justifications wears on.
For students like me, there seems to be an internal tug of war at play — a face off between saving for the future and living in the moment.
This subtle competition which reverberates through my consciousness is only heightened and enforced by external factors, including close friends, social acquaintances and social media.
In many regards, students are encouraged to start spending the moment they commit to college. Celebrations of “college decision day” welcome the purchase of overpriced merch that will likely find its way further into the back of the closet as students progress through college.
The desperate desire to establish a new social identity and find a forever friend group upon arrival at college drives the spending spree. Hoping to join a club sport, Greek life or professional society? Get ready, the impending financial cost is waiting.
Spending isn’t inherently dreadful. But the college environment creates a playing field for intense conflict between financial responsibility for the sake of my future endeavors, or investing in experiences in hopes of fostering lifelong memories.
The highlight reel of social media constantly fills my feed with other people’s fancy dinners out, photo-ops downtown, concerts and raves, spring break trips, aesthetic coffee shop study dates and the run-of-the-mill Cubs match.
Friends and roommates return from nights out or a day downtown in the city to remind me of all there is to explore and experience in my fleeting four years of Chicago college life.
The pressure I feel to spend money while at school is amplified by my membership in a sorority.
It’s naïve of me to pretend as if coffee shop dates to find my “little,”, cute merch and dresses or transportation for date parties and formals don’t add up quickly and often. Yet, at the very same time, those experiences and moments enhance my college experience by providing me with a home away from home in my sorority and sisters I can call my friends for life.
So I spend. I say “yes” — yes to the dinner, yes to the concert, yes to coffee next Saturday. Then I tap my credit card or hand over my cash. Like clockwork, I shut my eyes tight and hit pay when the monthly credit card bill rolls around.
Until one day the bubble pops. The stress of my finances returns, reminding me of the costs of my upcoming semester abroad or the arm-and-a-leg my dream Boston apartment could run me.
I’m part of a large majority of college students who experience stress about their personal finances, but does the tug-of-war game between saving and spending ever end?
Maybe two things can be true at once — college is both a time to save money in preparation for the future and a period to live through experience and memories.
To accomplish both, however, students deserve comprehensive financial literacy courses and workshops readily available on campus.
Learning to budget and gaining an understanding of personal finances can help students reduce their financial anxiety, which, in turn, allows them to perform better in their academics.
It’s also important for students to embrace social opportunities and experiences which aren’t directly intertwined with spending money.
Starting a book club with friends, studying by the lake instead of Starbucks when the weather is nice, window-shopping downtown or playing pick-up sports together are great, affordable alternatives for forming lasting memories in college while not breaking the bank.
At the end of the day, financial responsibility is likely to remain both a friend and a foe to college students — the key to success may just be learning how to balance the perpetual game of tug of war.
