We know money can be tight, especially while in school, so we recently tapped Matt Gromada — managing director and head of youth, family, and starter banking at Chase — to answer a few finance-related questions to help educate and guide college students.
1. How can students optimize their spending habits?
Matt Gromada: Planning ahead is key and makes sticking to your budget easier. Review your spending closely, and you may notice a trend that botches your efforts to save — dinners outside of your campus meal plan, outings with friends, and unexpected trips home — these unplanned expenses that can sneak up on you and are tougher to put into a neat monthly “bucket,” unlike regular expenses such as rent, car payments, or tuition.
Rather than pulling your hair out trying to place every expense into categories in your budget, try making “life stuff” a part of your financial plan.
2. Can you share simple ways to budget?
Matt Gromada: Of course!
1. Get out a calendar, use your phone calendar or planning app.
2. Make a list of the commitments you've already made outside of your everyday routine, like vacations, holidays, birthdays, etc.
3. Write in all the regular stuff that you know will come up: rent, tuition, books, trips home, etc. You might want to peek at last year's spending to make sure you don't miss anything. Even if something seems insignificant, include it!
4. Assign an estimated dollar amount to everything — from the future commitments to "regular" stuff.
5. Add it all up and divide by 12.
6. Once you understand what you need per month, make a plan to set aside some remaining funds. Making the process automatic creates an easier experience.
Managing your money can feel challenging, especially in college, but a budget can help you understand how much you want to save or spend — and lead to smarter money decisions.
Chase’s Monthly Budget Worksheet makes understanding your expenses super simple and helps you visualize where your money is going.
3. What are simple ways to save money from our paycheck?
Matt Gromada: Making saving automatic makes it simple, from basic needs to that bigger purchase you’ve had your eye on. With Chase Autosave, you can set up a repeating, automatic transfer from your Chase checking into your Chase savings account. Just set the amount to be transferred, forget it, and watch your savings grow!
4. Any additional money-saving tips you can provide?
Matt Gromada: Two key things:
1. Set up an emergency fund. It can provide peace of mind to help with life’s unexpected surprises. Don’t be afraid to start small; even if it’s just $1 per day, you’re creating a resource for an emergency.
2. Keep your eyes on your savings goals. Whether you’re stashing money away for a vacation, a car, or just that fancy new gadget, Chase’s budget feature can help you track expenses and adjust your day-to-day spending to help you reach your savings goals.
5. How can students best protect themselves from scams?
Matt Gromada: As the saying goes, "Where there is smoke, there is fire." Scams are the same way and filled with warning signs. Some common themes to look for in potential scams include:
1. If you're being asked to leave a company’s official website to pay or use a method of payment not listed on their official website, it may be a scam.
2. Is the person who contacted you by phone, email, or text message threatening you or saying they’ll cut off your service if you don’t pay them immediately? Legitimate companies or government entities won't use scare tactics or ask you to buy gift cards, cryptocurrency, or send money to prevent fraud on your account, but scammers will.
3. When pressured in a scam situation, stop to collect your thoughts and ask why does this random person need my personal information? Never share your social security number, banking password, or ATM pin with anyone.
6. How can students avoid overspending?
Matt Gromada: It's all about planning and spending mindfully. Even the most financially conscious person can get carried away with large purchases because of impossible-to-pass-up deals and before you know it, you can rack up an overwhelming bill!
Digital banking and budgeting apps are useful and offer customers a great way to take control of their finances, often times allowing for a one-stop shop to see a holistic view of your current financial situation, to help avoid overspending. From within the Chase mobile app, customers can use a variety of tools to help meet their goals while monitoring their spending and saving trends. One popular feature is Snapshot, which provides daily insights into customers' everyday spending, saving, and earning. Budgeting apps and digital banking make things easier, so why not take advantage of them?
7. How does the Chase Credit Journey help students?
Matt Gromada: Credit Journey allows students to track things like their credit score, without impacting it, and get notified of any data breaches, all for free. A healthy credit score can help students with securing leases for new apartments and other important financial moments.
If fraud does occur, Chase Credit Journey’s identity restoration team will help you get back on your feet.
Best, of all, it offers continuous support — 24/7, 365. You can always speak to someone if you have questions.
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Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC