When a student transits from high school to college, it is a big leap into freedom. Life is more relaxed, and less confined with no one to tell you what to do. While you are on your own with the liberty to do what you like, you are responsible for yourself. Everything from attending classes, to choosing friends, to spending the extra money provided by parents, the choices must be made by you. Many college students make the right choices that take them towards a rewarding future. Some lose track by shifting their focus and goals by overspending or falling behind in almost everything. 

This change profoundly affects parents who visit me, feeling helpless as they watch their children turn wasteful and drift into spending more than they should. 

Students with poor money management skills are the ones that lack confidence and try winning friends by buying food for others or loaning without expecting a return. They burden their parents with demands of extra cash which in turn forces them to take severe steps. This result in children becoming aloof and shifting them away from family bonds. Parents lose patience and don’t understand how to tackle the situation.

Not budgeting, spending excessively on food, and clothes or going on frequent eating-out sprees, and short trips on college weekends are due to unplanned fund management and astrological reasons. 

Budgeting is a life skill that should be taught to children early, but many parents tend to ignore it. The sudden taste of freedom, both in life and finance leaves children in disarray and they lose track of their life even before they start. While I will help you understand where it goes wrong, I will also help you understand the astrological reasons for such behaviour and help you and your child overcome the barrier leading to a better and more productive future.

What are the 10 most common money-wasting options for college students?

College students don’t have a fixed steady income and most depend on parental funding. Some start part-time jobs like giving tuition to school students, working in cafeterias or doing content writing that helps them earn extra money. Those that work on a budget can balance their expenses, while others end up wasting most of their money. Here is a list of 10 common areas where college student tends to loosen their purse strings more than they should.

Eating out almost regularly

Swiggy and Zamato are thriving at the expense of collegegoers ready to order at the drop of a hat. Unconcerned about their physical and financial health, combo meals for ₹ 140-200 are preferred for lunch, dinner, or post-dinner midnight bouts. Eating home-cooked food is not just a healthy option but saves money and protects health. Cooking for yourself is exciting if you try it out.

Not using public transport

Instead of taking public transport, students are Uber, Ola, Rapido happy. They prefer bikes to take them to college and other hang-out destinations spending more than ₹ 200 daily on transport. 

Why purchase reference books?

Some college goers, reluctant to visit libraries, buy expensive reference books. Not just books from the library but their digital versions are also available. You just need to keep in touch with your lecturers to know where to download from.

Taking extra tuitions

Skipping classes is a common practice among college students. You will find them hanging in the canteen or the nearby tea stall instead of taking down notes from the class lecture. To avoid falling behind they take extra tuitions which cost extra money.

Failing a class

These drops out are prone to fail their semester exams. Repeating semesters will add not just to years of passing out but also money.

Out-of-city trips

Weekends with friends can tempt you to go for short trips close to the city. While that is okay occasionally, if practised regularly can upset your budget. Budgeting and planning to take a few days off will not just help you enjoy the trip better but save overspending. Also, it’s imperative to balance your studies with fun.

Not opting for a student’s discount

Students can apply for a discount on conveyance and stays. So, whenever you plan a short trip, be sure you are making use of this facility and not wasting money by paying the full amount. Your college ID card is proof to pick these discounts.

Smoking and drinking

College students often succumb to bad habits like smoking and drinking. The little they earn is spent on these indulgences. Instead of channelling funds on addictions detrimental to health, they can start small investments making their funds grow.

Ecommerce spurges

Buying clothes, expensive electronic gadgets, accessories, and gifts are now easy through online shopping. College students have bank accounts and easy access to paying online through cards or UPI apps. which makes shopping frequent and instant. Even for small demands like cold drinks and chips, online quick doorstep delivery services are preferred over local shops, despite the extra cost.

Expensive room rents over modest hostel rooms

Getting a room all to yourself is an indulgence that youngsters these days insist on. Even if the cost is high, they prefer freedom over modest living in hostels. Room decoration and monthly room rent add to the extra cost and parents strive to provide, trying to please their children.

Should parents say NO?

Children can keep making demands but parents should clamp them and make them understand that wants cannot always be fulfilled. If you want to make your child happy, it is important to draw a line and limit their expenses from a young age so that by the time they are in college, they get money-wise.

Parents should put their children under education loans. Parents of students whose tuition fees are entirely funded by them, to reduce their burden expect the devoted focus of their children entirely on their studies. But they are making a huge mistake. It turns out that students tend to divert their attention to leisure activities instead of studying and hard work to improve their grades and prospects. There is a greater instance of dropouts and failed semesters from those who are not participating in their academic expenses.

Before a child enters college, parents should discuss with them the expenses that tag along with their college fees. Giving them a complete picture, parents should set adequate performance expectations for their children. Make it clear that it is their responsibility to deliver the expected results as the funds invested should reap adequate scores. Parents should also encourage students to take up part-time jobs to support extra expenditures. This will add more responsibility for delivering quality and increased interest in studies from students than wasting both time and money on useless indulgences.

But I also need to add that while parents should be tough at this age, they should track not just their child’s academic performance but their psychological behaviour too. Given my experience, I have found that a combination of planets can trigger derogatory reactions making the child misinterpret the parents’ intentions and switch the child’s focus negatively.

Students should know the difference between price and value

When admitting children to college, parents are hopeful that they will build a promising future for themselves through hard work and resilience. They believe children will recognise the sacrifices and taking a leaf from their life, will make their future foundation strong bearing better fruits than those borne by their parents. Valuing the opportunities provided for them, they will utilize the precious minutes to create a wonderful life. The price they pay today, which is the money spent on them, along with their hard work and sincerity with solid future strategies will convert to making them valued members of society. They will not squander their opportunities and spoil their prospects by wasting money, and time and devaluing their prospect and respect. Parents should never lose sight that not all children fit into the same mould. Keeping track of their psychological inclination is extremely important and if the signs of defiance, deceit and asking for money from you are a regular habit you can reach out to an astrological councillor.  

How to build a student’s self-esteem to make them aware of what they need?

When your child is in college their objective is most certainly to excel and procure top scores. Living by themselves is a learning experience that will provide many life lessons that they can treasure all their life. These skills will help them both inside and outside the classroom. Before the child sets off for college, parents should sit with them and offer a preview of what lies ahead.  

Be assertive

Wear a new cloak over the old one, students need to gather stronger personalities and make their voices heard. They will have to evaluate situations and stop pleasing others and work their way through without appearing selfish, rude, or dominating.

Be responsible

Once in college, they are responsible for all their actions. From waking up in the morning to attending classes, studying, interacting with peers and professors, money management to completing assignments, working for their exams, eating the right food, and catching up on sleep. There will be no one to tell them what to do.

Be good managers

This phase of life teaches them hands-on to be good managers. From time, money, and resource to self-management, they learn the ropes of organising their life better. An invaluable lesson for those who do it correctly and for those who fall even before they start.

Strengthen communication

This is the best platform to hone and build your communication skill. Their personality gets a head start here. Standing out in front of their professors and outshining their peers by speaking with relevance and context. Their communication skills express how they are training their mind to excel.

Be a team worker

A steppingstone in their career ahead is to show their skills as a team player. While their wishes to outshine their peers may be strong, they can do wonders if they work as a team. This is the best opportunity to explore that side of them without getting swayed and losing their individuality. They can be a team leader in taking mature and strategic decisions on everything.

Define your limits

From individual skills, critical thinking, study skills, and technological skills to creative thinking, the college offers the opportunity to explore every direction and expand your ability. From managing their expenses and advising their team members on how they can utilise their resources, they can turn out to be an asset and influencer that the team will value.

 Set high personal goals

All the above will focus on fulfilling the high personal goals that they are trying to set for themselves. The groundwork for achieving those goals can only happen if they fix their schedule and routine activities tirelessly to achieve their dream.

Planets that indulge in overspending

The negative impact of the eighth lord on the second/ eleventh houses, the lords with Moon and Jupiter indicates wealth. But they also bring financial losses and take the natives to the brink of poverty with sudden bankruptcy, obstruction of income, litigation and accidents.

Financial setbacks, disputes, injuries, theft, fire, and litigation can occur if the sixth lord is averse to the second, and eleventh houses and their respective lords along with Moon and Jupiter.

Financial losses can occur from excessive spending and inability to save, from chronic illness to imprisonment. This can be ascertained from the negative effects of the twelfth lord on the second, and eleventh house and their respective lords, the Moon, and Jupiter.

Rahu has the power to reduce you to a state of poverty by taking you through unchecked greed, dishonesty, lust, overindulgence, and speculation.

Ketu is a non-materialistic planet and will obstruct the flow of wealth.

Saturn will punish wrong karma and will cause financial losses by poverty, disease, and obstructing income.

Planetary placements are significant in the horoscope. The position of Rahu in various houses has an impact on your wealth and character. The two nodes of the Moon, Rahu are considered the head of the demon and Ketu its tail, causing eclipses. Though Rahu has no physical existence, it is an imaginary planet that can confer malefic effects like laziness, hurdles at work and delays, depression, confusion, and emotional turmoil when it casts its shadow for 18 months in a native’s zodiac. The placement of Rahu in the 12th house is not a very good sign in terms of finances and expenses. It tends to make the native overspend, which is mostly unforeseen and unaccountable making the native fall in trouble. Also, the native will face chronic health issues with the 12th house placement of Rahu. Despite being hardworking or organized, your well-laid plans will slip out of your hands due to the adverse positioning of Rahu. This can lead to making you demotivated and disappointed. So, if a student has Rahu in the 12th house, the chances of succeeding monetarily get slim. 

Nevertheless, with the right astrological guidance and solutions with puja and rituals, and mantras, the malefic effects of Rahu can be largely diminished. Remember while there can be a few weak planetary positions in the Astro chart of your child, strengthening the ones that are positioned better will transform their life and curtail their spendthrift habits. Contact Jyotirmoyee Sushmita, a leading Rudraksha consultant in Kolkata, to help your child overcome their overspending habits through astrology. Call +91-9315919721 for an appointment.