Some of us have it, we all need it, and as college kids, we could always use a little bit more.

I’m talking about money.

That cold. hard. cash.

A couple of weeks ago, the Peer Health Educators at Douglas College were kind enough to bring in the fine gents of Young Guys Finance to teach some money basics like budgeting and how to be smart with your money. Their fun and cool approach to personal finance truly made the idea of money way less daunting.

Budgeting can often be a less than desirable task, especially for the busy bees that many of us are, but Young Guys Finance offer a free Money Gameplan that makes it super easy getting your personal finances back on track!

In case you can’t seem to get your booty to their website, a few of the tips and tricks they shared were:

1. Know your financial goals and how much they cost.

Have you always wanted to backpack around Europe, but didn’t know how to make it happen? Start by finding how much it might cost and aim to save that money now. It’s important to have a clear goal in mind so that you’re not aimlessly saving (or spending). Who knows, maybe you already have that kind of money and you didn’t even know it!

2. Use budgeting as a way to reveal and plan how you are going to reach those goals. Don’t see budgeting as a restrictive process, but as an empowering one.

 When you see how much you have and how much you can actually spend, you can see places you can be more flexible and stretch your money farther!

3. People are lazy, so use automation to your advantage to prevent decision overload.

If you are one of many people who forget to pay off your credit card bill or maybe the ol’ cell phone bill on time then automation is for you. Almost every bank these days has the option to set up automatic bill payments so you don’t have to remember to do it every month! Linking accounts and setting up payees makes bill payments uber easy, so this way you can ‘set it and forget it’! Then you can feel like Huell.

4. Spend smart by picking a credit card that’s right for you.

It can be kind of hard to pick a good credit card and maybe you don’t know where to start to look for one. Well, your bank is a great place to start. They offer tons of options and you can ask them all sorts of questions that can help you understand what all the numbers actually mean. Also, almost every bank has a student credit card that keeps fees low and offers some awesome rewards.

It’s fair to say money can certainly be a sticky sitch, but say you don’t even have a wad full of cash on hand for school. You wonder, “Gee whiz Max, how can I find some money for school without working all my evenings and weekends away?” Well kids, check out the Financial Aid Office. They offer tons of options that can help you pay for school through loans, grants, scholarships, bursaries and awards! The staff are oh-so friendly and can answer all your funding-related questions.

Financial aid will turn you from this, into this:

Looking for more?? Young Guys Finance also has some fabulous videos on their YouTube channel. The videos are actually pretty funny. I would check them out if I were you. Just saying.

Happy Savings!