Staying Fiscally Humble - Battle the "Keeping Up With the Jones' Syndrome"

If you come from humble beginnings – in other words, Diddy ain’t yo Daddy – college is not the time to stray from humble living. College students are broke! Period. It’s not a lucrative time in your life – unless you’re Reggie Bush or Maurice Clarrett, if you catch my drift. Okay, I’m done talking about folks.

Anywho.

Please don’t catch a case of the “Joneses’ Syndrome” (formally known as “Keeping up With the Jones”). If your friends are driving nice cars, don’t do it! If your friends are rockin’ Louies, don’t do it! If they stay in the mall, go to the library. If they have to eat out all the time, ask for specials and roll with a water and an appetizer. Why? College is not the time for you to mount up credit card debt because you just had to have that new purse, those shoes, or rims (trust me). College is not the time to take out extra loans to keep money in your pocket for the mall and fancy restaurants (trust me). College is the time that you stay humble, you eat Ramen noodles, you skip this trip to the mall, you dust off your bus pass. Why? Because 10 years from now, you will be debt free, you’ll own your vehicle, you’ll have A-1 credit, and your checking account won’t be in the red. Humility ladies, it’s the first step to financial success beyond college!

Go forth and save.