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Espresso and Ambition

A not-so-serious gal with some serious dreams.

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A College Gal’s Guide to Money – Part 2: Saving

October 13, 2017 by Taylor 2 Comments

A College Gal's Guide to Money, Part 2: Saving - Espresso and Ambition

Happy Friday, y’all! If you’re lucky, Friday also means payday – which I figured is a great opportunity to talk about one of the most important money management habits you can adopt in college: saving. (This post is the second part in my money management series. If you missed part 1, which was all about budgeting, you can read it here.)

 

Why Save?

Honestly, saving as a college student doesn’t seem super necessary. We all basically have just enough income to get by, so why would we set aside any of that money when we could use it on late-night pizza or a round of drinks with friends? Well, my economics major is coming out in this answer, and my answer is something called “compound interest.”

The moment you start saving, you start earning interest on your savings. And that interest earns interest. It’s weird to think about retirement and sending kids to college as a college student yourself, but there are all sorts of fun graphs on the internet that show just how effective starting a savings account early in life can be.

And on a personal note, having savings is important because, as I’ve realized: when it rains, it pours. This summer, over the course of a 24-hour period, I experienced both a computer breaking and getting diagnosed with pneumonia. In one day, I had to purchase a new laptop and pay the co-payments for an urgent care and emergency room visit. That’s a lot of money, and if I didn’t have savings for rainy days like these, I could have been in a lot of financial trouble.

 

How Much Should I Save? 

Essentially, there’s really no one-size-fits-all method to determining how much you should save. It requires an assessment of how your income stream works and what you can feasibly save while still purchasing the essentials. I’m going to talk about two different saving methods here, one of which I’m using currently, and one of which I plan to start using once I have a “big girl” salary.

The way that I save now is a result of separating my income into two sources: primary and secondary. The primary source is how I pay for my rent, groceries, etc. It’s what I use when I budget. The secondary source is from my “side hustles” – my work as an independent contractor, tutoring, and blogging. With my “side hustle” income, I save 50% of that income. Right now, that’s what’s most feasible for me.

However, once I have a job that pays me more regularly, I’m going to start saving 10% of my total income. That’s the usual suggested savings rate and allows you to set up a really solid savings account for the future. So if you’re in a position to start saving at that rate now, go for it.

 

Ultimately, how you choose to save your money is a result of sitting down, looking at your finances, and seeing what you can set aside as savings. Yes, it may mean you go out to eat a little less or buy Starbucks a little less frequently, but I promise, it’ll all be worth it in the end. You’ll get to use that money for something really cool – I’m using that money to go to South Africa after I graduate. And at the end of the day, I’ll give up a couple extra lattes for something as cool as that.

xo, Taylor

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Filed Under: College, Etc., Lifestyle

Comments

  1. Kristin says

    October 13, 2017 at 11:51 am

    It was hard for me to save in college because I didn’t have any income, but I understood the importance of saving and made sure to start as soon as I got my first job out of college. I was shown all those graphs and charts and knew it was important!

    Reply
  2. Rosie says

    October 14, 2017 at 3:52 am

    Even though we earn less as students, you’re right that it’s still important to save. Earlier this year, I had an awful car day; I had a puncture and had to get a new tyre and while the mechanics were fixing it, they discovered my break pads were entirely worn and about to fail, so I had to replace both things. I was so glad that I’d been saving. Like you said, you have to try and prepare for things like your laptop breaking because it’d make studying so much harder without it. I get paid weekly now so I try to put away at least £25 per week.

    Reply

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Meet Taylor

A real-life combination of Elle Woods and Hermione Granger. Recent graduate of the University of Georgia, currently living and working in DC. New blog posts every Monday, new YouTube videos every Thursday. Subscribe by clicking the link below for post updates and exclusive content!

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tayy_kay

📍 dc
🔥 nasm certified personal trainer
✨ self-love + balance
🎥 2 new workouts per week!

tayy_kay
without heavy weights, it’s sometimes a little c without heavy weights, it’s sometimes a little challenging to really feel like i’m working at my full potential on leg days 😶 enter: single-leg movements. since all the weight is in one leg, you’re putting way more emphasis on it than you do during two-leg movements - and you’ll definitely feel that 🔥 you also get some added bonuses in the form of ensuring you’re working each side of your body equally AND a balance challenge!!
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you can add in weights or bands to up the challenge level, or do it all bodyweight like i am here!
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1️⃣ 15 single-leg box squats per leg (use other leg as a kickstand for an easier modification!)
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2️⃣ 15 bulgarian split squats per leg
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3️⃣ 15 single-leg hip thrusts per leg
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4️⃣ 15 single-leg deadlifts per leg
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throw on at the end of a longer leg day workout or do it 3-4 times as a workout all on its own!!
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👚 @girlfriend 🎧 numb - neffex
🖤 go easy on yourself 🖤 this is a weird time 🖤 go easy on yourself 🖤 this is a weird time to be alive, and it’s more important now than ever to listen to your body and stop being so hard on yourself. motivation is a fickle thing and working out when you don’t have all the equipment you love is weird. give yourself permission to take a break when you need it. don’t beat yourself up for missing workouts - exercise should be something you do because it makes you happy, not because you feel like you have to punish yourself. if it doesn’t make you happy that day, that’s okay. give yourself a break, come back and try again tomorrow. 💪🏼
circuit-style upper body workout 🖤 honestly not circuit-style upper body workout 🖤 honestly not kidding about how much i love this long resistance band, it’s so versatile! definitely worth getting your hands on one for home workouts 😊 (although almost all of these can be completely with dumbbells or heavy objects if that’s what you’ve got in hand)
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also please watch to the very end of the fourth video for quality footage of greg 😂
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1️⃣ 12 long band shoulder presses to standing chest presses
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2️⃣ 12 upright rows to bicep curls
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3️⃣ 12 overhead triceps extensions per arm (the one leg stance is some bonus balance work!)
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4️⃣ 12 rear flies, featuring greg trying to fight my shadow
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5️⃣ 12 commandos
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6️⃣ 12 side-to-side pushups
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repeat 4x total!!
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👚 @underarmourwomen
🎧 best of me - neffex
giveaway 🔥 we’re all handling this weird, cra giveaway 🔥 we’re all handling this weird, crazy time in the world a little differently, and for me, it’s looked like a lot of establishing to and sticking to routines (seriously, sometimes it feels like my skincare routine and workout split are the only thing still giving meaning to days of the week, lol). my morning smoothies have been another important one - there’s a recipe in my story highlights and surprise surprise it uses this protein powder 😛
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anyways, onto the real reason you’re here! i’m giving away 25 $20 giftcards for @310nutrition with NO STRINGS ATTACHED 🤯 you hear that? you ain’t gotta do a thing to win - the first 25 people to use the code KAYGC20 on their order automatically win. get your hands on some fire plant-based protein powder, courtesy of me and 310 😋 (p.s. if you’re still seeing this caption, there are still giftcards available!!)
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#310gc20 #310shake
sometimes you just gotta get hella dressed up and sometimes you just gotta get hella dressed up and hold a fake photo shoot just to prove to yourself that you’re still a real human
posted a new youtube video. this picture is tangen posted a new youtube video. this picture is tangentially topical. link in bio.
upper body circuit ‼️ i’ve been gravitating upper body circuit ‼️ i’ve been gravitating towards circuit-style workouts lately, because they really work up a sweat and home workouts just don’t feel as legit to me unless i’m hardcore sweating 🤷🏼‍♀️ i don’t mind not breaking much of a sweat at the gym, but it feels weird not to when i’m working out at home - anyone else feel this or am i just weird?? 😅
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do all exercises back to back with no rest in between!
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1️⃣ 10 push-ups to renegade rows
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2️⃣ 12 alternating bicep curls
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3️⃣ 12 diamond front raises
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4️⃣ 8 sets of 3 tricep pulses to this lil cross-body weight move that doesn’t have a name {keep your core tight to feel it on your obliques!}
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5️⃣ 15 bent-over rear delt rows
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6️⃣ finisher!! 🥵 10 burpees with 2 shoulder taps and 2 toe taps in the middle of each rep
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repeat 🔁 for a total of 3 rounds!!
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👚 top from @gymsharkwomen, shorts from @nike 🎧 dangerous - neffex
would be nice if both sides of my head could agree would be nice if both sides of my head could agree on whether my hair is wavy or straight, but apparently that’s a little too much to ask of it 😂
got a circuit-style leg workout for you today! 🥳 there are 3 sets of 3 exercises that you’ll complete back-to-back - once you’ve done those three moves, rest for 30 seconds before repeating them all over again 2 more times! rest for 1-2 minutes in between each circuit - keeping your heart rate up is the goal here, i was driiiiiiipping sweat by the end of this one 🥵
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circuit 1️⃣: 10 step-ups to reverse lunges per leg
10 reverse lunges to curtsy lunges per leg
20 lateral lunges
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circuit 2️⃣:
10 squats to surrenders (stop in a squat position before standing up at the end to really feel this one)
10 stagger-stance rdls
20 criss-cross squat jumps
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circuit 3️⃣:
15 leg lifts per side
10 single-leg glute bridges per side
15 frog pumps
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👚 top from @fabletics, joggers from @gymsharkwomen
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