Chapter 5 – Budgeting Your Benjamins
Quick! Name ten things you’d like to buy at this moment! No doubt you can come up with more than ten. Human nature has us wanting all the time. You may have been taught to work hard, appreciate basic provisions, and to handle money wisely. On the other hand, you may expect that pleasures and opportunities be automatically fulfilled by your parents, and believe doling out cash is just what parents are supposed to do for their kids. Everyone comes from a different financial upbringing, but our first consideration is the recognition of the marketing magnet.
The marketing magnet. Have you noticed the bulls-eye on your forehead? There might as well be one there. Every day you are in the crosshairs of marketers targeting you to buy their trendy clothes and advertisers wishing to reel you in with their lures of food. They hope to strengthen the perception among young adults that you cannot be satisfied without the latest high tech possessions. They would have you believe debt is good, necessary, and expected in our society. They will blast you with applications for credit cards. They entice your spending as they paint a picture in which possessions elevate the status of individuals and stabilize relationships. Their jingles and commercials become etched in our minds.
While some pressures are bold and blatant, others are subtle and disguised. You may not have given any thought to the possibility that you are targeted for brainwashing (advertisers call it influencing the target audience), yet every day you are bombarded with a culture that promises everything if you only had ________ (you fill in the blank).
Topics covered:
- Is your mind held captive by the Marketing Magnet?
- Know the difference between a NEED and a WANT
- Your “salary”
- Four things you do with your money
- Analyzing future expenses
- Tracking expenses
- Campus electronic ID cards
Utilize both “Budget Prep Sheet” and “Monthly Expense Tracker” with this chapter. Click the “Resources & Links” button for more information.
“Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship.” – Benjamin Franklin
“Most college students don’t realize how quickly little purchases add up and how frustrating debt can be.” – Andrew, University of North Carolina
Buy Chapter 5 – Budgeting Your Benjamins
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