The Role of Social Media on Mental Health Estimated Completion Time: 30 minutes. Questions to Consider: Why do I use social media? How can I balance positive and negative social media use? How can I identify and improve problematic social media use? What should I do if I experience cyberbullying? Some people refer to the time we are living in as the age of overload. It’s easy to get worn down by social media and the constant news cycle, and to be overwhelmed by too many choices that social media affords us. We live in a fast-paced, always-on world with a lot of pressures. Social media offers many benefits, from staying connected to your loved ones and friends, learning about events in your community, and providing you with the ability to get information quickly. Unfortunately, these benefits are compounded with many risks (see ). Haddad JM Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2021; 23(11): 70. Among college students, social media has also been associated with negative effects on self-esteem and self-image. Overuse of social media has been found to increase symptoms of anxiety, loneliness, and depression. The Pros and Cons of Social Media Uncovering Your Relationship with Social Media By better understanding your relationship with social media, you will be more successful in finding the right balance and occasions for using it. The best way to get started is to just become aware of your relationship with social media and how it may or may not impact your own mental health. What is your relationship with social media? Do you feel you may have a problematic relationship with social media use? Here are some Questions to Consider and to learn more regarding your relationship with social media use: Do you spend a lot of time planning or thinking about how to use social media? Do you have difficulty concentrating in class or when you are studying due to social media use? Do you often use social media as an escape from what is happening in the real world? Do you feel you have to spend time on social media to feel satisfaction or pleasure? Do you find yourself engaging in or wanting to engage in social media when it is not appropriate (e.g., during a class)? Do you feel that you are more irritable, anxious, or sad when you are not able to use social media? Do you have experience with attempting to control your social media use and not being successful in such efforts? Upon reflection from the activity above, where is your relationship with social media? To consider the relationship another way, think about the questions in the table below? Which more accurately describes your most frequent feelings when using social media? Frequency and Duration Do you use social media for occasional entertainment and connection? Or do you perhaps feel that you need constant stimulation and validation from your online network? Feelings and Impact Do you find yourself truly happy after looking through friends’ posts or seeing your feed? Or have you noticed that your mood is negatively impacted by what you are seeing on social media? Outcomes and desire for change Do you take inspiration and ideas from social media? Or do you frequently feel you are “less than,” or feel pressure to change? Impact on Your Focus and Attention When asked how social media use impacts a student’s ability to study, two out of three undergraduate college students indicated they were more drawn to social media than their school work. Kolhar M Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences 2021; 28(4):2216 Although the answer may be as simple as social media is more fun, the deeper issue may be related to how your use of social media has trained your brain to prefer to take in information in short doses. Social media rewards a distracted, shorter attention span, which may reward giving our brain quick doses of dopamine. (Dopamine is a chemical in your brain related to feelings of pleasure or satisfaction.) Similarly, when your phone beeps, buzzes, or vibrates with new posts waiting for you, your brain receives a dose of dopamine. Distractions from social media have also been linked to our desire to be connected and be available for people in our networks. Koessmeier C Frontiers in Psychology 2021. “Why are we distracted by social media?” https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.711416/full Similar studies have shown that the fear of missing out (FoMO) leads to significant social media-driven distractions. The first step of gaining control over these distractions is by eliminating them. As you know, you can easily turn on/off your phone (watch, computer, etc.) notifications. Consider switching away from social media during your relaxing time and pick up a book or magazine, an old school puzzle, or journaling on paper. Another way to improve your concentration is to focus on one task at a time. Put away your phone for 30-90 minutes, jot down three tasks you need to complete, and check one off at a time. The more you use these strategies, the faster you will regain your focus and attention. Strategies to Regain Focus Impact on Relationships Problematic social media use has been well documented among individuals who experience social anxiety and loneliness. O’Day EB Computers in Human Behavior Reports 2021 For these individuals, social media is often used as a form of connection when in-person relationships are lacking. As mentioned above, for individuals who actively use social media as a way to directly communicate with others, social media use can provide social support and connection. Alternatively, those who use social media more passively, such as only to view other’s lives, have more negative outcomes that can include depression and anxiety. Are you active in your engagement or passive? If you feel your engagement is only passive, consider this as a red flag, and start by setting boundaries on your social media use as discussed above. To prevent social media from impacting your relationships, consider using social media more actively by reaching out to those in your network to plan in-person meet ups. Also, if you find yourself frequently comparing yourself to what you see on others’ social media, remember that people’s digital life might not be reflective of reality. If you find such comparisons damaging your self-esteem and relationship with yourself, reach out to your support network and open the conversation. Need for Validation Consider this scenario: Josh just finished finals week and posted on social media, “I guess I will start packing up my room. I know I just failed my chemistry final. My parents are going to threaten not to pay for next semester.” An hour later, Josh is back in his dorm room and checks his account. No comments. No likes. No “hug” or “care” emoji. How did you feel when you read this situation? Did it trigger you to cringe and feel bad for Josh? Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation? How did you feel then? When you first started using social media you may have simply posted a picture or update in order to keep your friends and family connected with your life. At some point in time, you likely started to expect likes and comments. Eventually, if you don’t get the same level of likes and comments you have become accustomed to, you may start to think your connections are not interested in you. According to research, the lack of response is often interpreted as “no one cares since no one took the time to respond.” This line of thinking can lead to self-doubt, insecurity, and anxiety. McLean Hospital. “The social dilemma: Social media and your mental health.” https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/it-or-not-social-medias-affecting-your-mental-health Seeking validation – either positive or negative -- via social media is moving your relationship with social media into problem territory. If you reach that point, you should pause and reflect on the meaning of this behavior. One of the immediate steps you can take to disrupt this unhealthy cycle is to pause before you post. Problematic Social Media Use In 2021, the average internet user spent nearly two and a half hours per day on social media. Kemp S. “Reels Grew by 220M and other mindblowing stats.” Hootsuite blog, 2022. https://blog.hootsuite.com/simon-kemp-social-media/ That translates to over 37 days per year, and over the average lifetime, more than seven years of time. Let that sink in. Since we spend so much time on social media, dedicating such a massive portion of our lives to it, it’s even more important we spend that time well. As stated above, there are definitely positives associated with engaging in social media, especially if you use it to learn more, broaden your social network, and enhance your life by letting it lead you to new offline experiences. However, there are times when social media use, or overuse, can be problematic and unhealthy. Factors that lead to an individual having problematic social media use include the following: poor self-regulation, lack of control of time spent on social media, social media as a mood regulator, history of obsessive thinking, social media impacting your social and/or professional life, and if social media use is altered to negate these negative factors yet the individual relapses. Stanculescu E. Telematics and Informatics. 2022. “Social media addiction profiles and their antecedents.” https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1016/j.tele.2022.101879 As a student, problematic social media use could mean that your attendance in class declines or you fail to complete assignments, which leads to lower academic achievement. You may find watching videos and viewing posts more satisfying than learning. You may regularly become distracted while participating in activities that require your full attention, such as driving. Sun Y. Addictive Behaviors. 2021. “A review of theories and models applied in studies of social media addiction and implications for future research” Further, problematic social media use refers to using social media platforms for reasons that are illegal, unethical, or socially unacceptable behaviors such as stalking, bullying, or spreading misinformation. As previously described, evaluating your relationship with social media is the first place to start. In a recent intervention to decrease problematic social media use, students were asked to log their daily use of social media for one week. Hou Y. Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace. 2019. “Social media addiction: its impact, mediation, and intervention.” They logged the length of their time on social media, as well as how they were using it and their thoughts and emotions. After one week, students significantly reduced their level of problematic social media use and improved their mental health and academic efficiency. Cyberbullying The relationship between mental health issues and bullying is well documented. The relationship between mental health and bullying in the digital space, known as cyberbullying, is a newer problem and unfortunately provides a platform for bullies to say things behind the screen that most likely would never be said in person. Compared to traditional bullying, cyberbullying isn’t easily reduced by supervision, has the potential for larger audiences, is often anonymous, and has fewer opportunities for someone to provide direct feedback in order to put a stop to the activity. Sticca F. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 2013. “Longitudinal risk factors for cyberbullying in adolescence.” For individuals experiencing cyberbullying, it is much harder to avoid attacks and/or escape as the bullying can take place any time of the day. Cyberbullying has a larger audience due to how well connected social media is throughout the community, state, country, and world. Posts and conversations on social media have limitless reach which often puts the victim in a situation with very little control. Once information is in the virtual world, the text becomes very hard to remove and can “go viral” where it becomes so popular you can find it on any search platform. Cyberbullying via social media can affect people of all ages, and it puts individuals in a difficult situation in which they cannot adequately defend themselves. The roles of each person involved in cyberbullying is consistently in a state of transition as people switch roles from being the victim, to the perpetrator, or the bystander as social media features (i.e., like, share) are utilized. In a recent study of US college students, 1 out of 2 students report being a victim of cyberbullying, while 1 out of 4 students report being a perpetrator at least one time per month. Giumetti GW. Aggressive Behavior 2022;48:40. “Predictors and outcomes of cyberbullying among college students: A two-wave study.” https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ab.21992 Prevention strategies to decrease frequency of cyberbullying events are limited; however, research addressing victimization has noted the most effective strategy is to engage your social support network. Together you and a supportive person in your life can discuss the situation and make a plan to avoid further cyberbullying. Eliminating your social media platform where the attacks are occurring is not the only solution. Social media companies are aware that their users may experience these negative events and have put systems into place to report when users engage in such attacks. These companies have also enabled features to block or modify account privacy to prevent situations in the future. The table below provides common examples of cyberbullying and their explanations. Forms of Cyberbullying Explanation Victimization person who receives the harmful communication Perpetration person initiating the harmful communication Bystander or witness person who witnesses the harmful communication If you feel you or someone you know is a victim, a perpetrator, or that you are a witness to cyberbullying you can contact student services and they can help safely guide you to the correct resources on your campus. If you need immediate assistance, IT departments and campus security can help you as well as recommend local law enforcement if illegal activity is at play including but not limited to harassment and stalking. Keep a record of the details including dates and times and take pictures when possible. For more information on cyberbullying consult these resources. Resource Details stopbullying.gov This is a federal government website and is managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It provides trusted resources for prevention and reporting of cyberbullying as well as documents strategies to deal with “haters.” cyberbullying.org This website provides a list of social media apps, gaming networks, and other platforms and a link to how to report cyberbullying for this particular website. jedfoundation.org The Jed Foundation is a nonprofit focused on youth mental health and suicide prevention. Through this website you can find immediate resources for you (“I need help”) or for someone you want to help (“I want to help”). The website also has a resource page with more information on cyberbullying including how to cope, understanding what it is, balancing social media, and more.

College Success


Physical Health Basics Estimated completion time: 32 minutes. Questions to Consider: What is healthy eating? Why is it important to stay hydrated? How important is exercise to a healthy body? Are you getting enough sleep to be healthy? What are toxins, and how can they affect your health? You have one body. Treat it well so as to maximize its ability to serve you throughout your life. Often physical health gets moved to the bottom of the priority list when we are busy. Taking care of your physical health doesn’t mean six-pack abs or training for a marathon. It means honoring your physical needs so your body can function properly, feeding your cells the nutrients that will keep your body working well your entire life, and minimizing exposure to toxins to reduce your risk of disease. Healthy Eating While it’s not the only thing that contributes to great health, what you eat makes a huge difference. We have 37 trillion cells in our body. The only way they function optimally is with good nutrition . As a college student, you will be surrounded by temptations to eat poorly. Although it is okay to choose unhealthy food options in moderation, your goal will be to focus on making healthier choices to fuel your mind and body daily. One way to ensure you are making healthy meal choices is by using the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Healthy Plate Guidelines. MyPlate illustrates five different food groups considered the building blocks for a healthy plate for each meal —vegetables, fruits, protein, grains, and dairy. Eating healthy is a journey shaped by many factors, including our state of life, situations, preferences, access to food, culture, traditions, and the personal decisions we make over time. The USDA recommends that vegetables and fruits make up the largest portions of your diet, and to be mindful of your servings of carbohydrates, proteins, and dairy. MyPlate offers ideas and tips to help you create a healthier eating style that meets your individual needs and improves your health. (Credit: USDA / Public Domain) Whole Foods vs. Processed Foods Choose whole foods. Whole foods are any foods that have not been processed, packaged, or altered in any way. Whole foods are an essential part of a healthy diet because they contain the vitamins and minerals our bodies need. Examples of whole foods include the following: Vegetables: Carrots, broccoli, kale, avocados, cauliflower, spinach, peppers Fruits: Apples, bananas, blueberries, strawberries, grapes, melons, peaches Grains: Brown rice, oatmeal, barley, buckwheat, quinoa, millet Beans: Black, pinto, kidney, black-eyed peas, chickpeas Minimize non-whole foods , often called processed foods. These are foods that have been processed, such as cookies, hot dogs, chips, pasta, deli meat, and ice cream. Even seemingly healthy foods like yogurt, granola, and other cereals are processed and should be checked for added sugar and other unhealthy ingredients. Review the label on these items and look for products that have less than 5 grams of fat and 10 grams of added sugars per serving. Also, review the dietary fiber and select products that have at least 3 grams per serving. Dietary fiber is a good thing; the higher the number the better. Fiber makes you feel full, and helps with digestion. Following these simple guidelines will help you select the best foods. The average American eats 62 percent of their daily calories from processed foods. Dr. Joel Furhman https://www.mensjournal.com/features/joel-fuhrman-the-doctor-is-out-there-20121107/ In order for your body to be as healthy as possible, it’s extremely important to include lots of whole foods in your diet. “When you eat junk food you think junk thoughts.” — Michael Bernard Beckwith How to Read a Food Label The U.S. government requires food manufacturers to put a label on every processed food product. This is so we, as consumers, know what we are putting into our bodies and can make good dietary choices. A quick review of the label will provide a lot of important information about what you are eating, yet most people don’t take the time to read the label. This is a big mistake. Think of the front of the package as a marketing billboard. Don’t be fooled by the marketing. Every day millions of dollars are spent to persuade us to eat foods that are not healthy for us. Through visuals and words (like natural, healthy, or gluten free), the food industry wants us to make assumptions about the nature of a food product without looking at the facts. For example, many people eat protein bars thinking they are a healthy choice, but protein bars can have up to 30 grams of sugar! Understanding the nutrition information and ingredients will help you make healthier choices. When you take the time to read the labeled ingredients, you are no longer being marketed to—you are staring at the facts. This label displays the key nutritional information about a common container of fruit salad. Though fruit is generally healthy, be aware of the amount of calories and sugars, and particularly the serving size to which those amounts are tied. (Credit: U.S. Food and Drug Administration/Public Domain) This video on how to read a food label is a helpful overview on what else to look for. What You Drink What is your go-to drink when you are thirsty? Soda? Juice? Coffee? How about water? Most of your blood and every cell in your body is composed of water. In fact, water makes up 60 to 80 percent of our entire body mass, so when we don’t consume enough water, all kinds of complications can occur. To function properly, all the cells and organs in our body need water. Proper hydration is key to overall health and well-being. By the time you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated. Dehydration is when your body does not have as much water and fluids as it needs. Researchers at Virginia Polytechnic discovered that mild dehydration (as little as losing 1 to 2 percent of body water) can impair cognitive performance. University of Virginia https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4207053/ Water increases energy and relieves fatigue, helps maintain weight, flushes toxins, improves skin complexion, improves digestion, and is a natural headache remedy (your brain is 76 percent water). Headaches, migraines, and back pains are commonly caused by dehydration. Your body will also let you know it needs water by messaging through muscle cramps, achy joints, constipation, dry skin, and of course a dry mouth. Aside from feeling thirsty, the easiest way to tell if you are dehydrated is to check your urine. If it is a dark shade of yellow, your urine is over-concentrated with waste. Water helps to flush out waste, so when you’re hydrated there’s a higher ratio of water to waste, turning your urine a lighter color. One of the best habits you can develop is to drink a large glass of water first thing in the morning. Your body becomes a little dehydrated as you sleep. Drinking water first thing in the morning allows your body to rehydrate, which helps with digestion and helps move the bowels for regularity in the morning. It also helps to eliminate the toxins your liver processed while you slept. Check out this video for more benefits of drinking water. “But I don’t like the taste of water!” No problem. Select any non-caloric beverage. Flavored waters are a perfect choice and there are many options with and without bubbles or caffeine. Limit your intake of caloric beverages such as juice, soda, and high calorie beverages at your favorite coffee shop. Exercise Many people exercise to maintain or lose weight, or increase cardiovascular health, but physical outcomes are only one potential benefit of exercise. Regular exercise can improve the quality of your sleep, strengthen your bones, increase your energy levels, and reduce your risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, and even some forms of cancer. Harvard Medical School https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/Exercise_as_medicine Regular exercise is key to living a long, healthy life. There are three basic types of exercise—flexibility, strength training, and cardiovascular. Flexibility is the range in motion of the joints in your body, or the ability for your muscles to move freely. Without adequate flexibility, daily activities can become difficult to do. Stretching increases your body’s flexibility, improves circulation, and sends more blood to your muscles. Just a few minutes a day of deep stretching can have a powerfully positive impact on your health. Yoga and Tai Chi are other wonderful ways to improve your flexibility. Strength is the body’s ability to produce force. Strength training helps improve muscle strength and muscle mass, which will become increasingly important as you age. Increased muscle helps your body burn calories more efficiently. Strength training also helps maintain bone strength. In addition to lifting weights, other ways to build strength include push-ups, pull-ups, squats, lunges, and yoga. Cardiovascular is the body’s ability to use oxygen efficiently during exercise. As one’s ability to use oxygen improves, daily activities can be performed with less fatigue. Great cardiovascular modes of exercise include jogging, swimming, biking, and HIIT (high intensity interval training). HIIT is short bursts of intense activity followed by a rest period. With HIIT, you can squeeze a lot of benefit into a short period of time. Click here for an example of HITT workouts . Many colleges offer a variety of unique and interesting exercise programs and classes, which you can take advantage of to learn new things and stay fit. (Credit: Jo Allebon / Flickr / Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC-BY 2.0)) Research indicates that regular aerobic exercise can support memory and cognition. In these studies, aerobic exercise generally increases the number of new neurons created in the brain’s memory center and also reduces inflammation. Kelty, Journal of Applied Physiology Inflammation in the brain may contribute to the development of dementia and other neurodegenerative conditions. It might be good timing to take a jog before you sit down to study for a test! It’s important to move throughout the day, and every day. Aim to exercise for 150 minutes a week. You don’t have to be the king or queen of CrossFit; it’s the daily movement that is most important. Research has found that three brisk walks for 10 minutes a day is a great start. While it is best to integrate all three types of exercise, the best exercise is the one you will actually do. Find and commit to a form of exercise you will enjoy. Sleep How often do you wake up filled with energy, eager to embrace the day? How often do you wake up still tired, with heavy eyes that just don’t want to open? Your answer to these questions has a direct bearing on the quality of your decisions, your ability to use good judgment, the extent to which you can focus in the classroom, and ultimately your long-term health. A great night’s sleep begins the minute you wake up. The choices you make throughout the day impact how quickly you fall asleep, whether you sleep soundly, and whether your body is able to successfully complete the cycle of critical functions that only happen while you sleep. Sleep is the foundation of health, yet almost 40 percent of adults struggle to get enough sleep. Cleveland Clinic, https://health.clevelandclinic.org/lack-sleep-make-crave-junk-food/ Lack of sleep affects mental and physical performance and can make you more irritable. The diminished energy that results from too little sleep often leads us to make poor decisions about most things, including food. Think about the last time you were really tired. Did you crave pizza, donuts, and fries—or a healthy salad? Studies have shown that people who sleep less are more likely to eat fewer vegetables and eat more fats and refined carbohydrates, like donuts. Cleveland Clinic, https://health.clevelandclinic.org/lack-sleep-make-crave-junk-food/ With sufficient sleep it is easier to learn, to remember what you learned, and to have the necessary energy to make the most of your educational experience. Without sufficient sleep it is harder to learn, to remember what you learned, and to have the energy to make the most of your educational experience. It’s that simple. What Happens When We Sleep? Sleep is a time when our bodies are quite busy repairing and detoxifying. While we sleep we fix damaged tissue, toxins are processed and eliminated, hormones essential for growth and appetite control are released and restocked, and energy is restored. A review of hundreds of sleep studies concluded that most adults need around eight hours of sleep to maintain good health. Some people may be able to function quite well on seven and others may need closer to nine, but as a general rule, most people need a solid eight hours of sleep each night. And when it comes to sleep, both quantity and quality are important. When sleep is cut short, the body doesn’t have time to complete the phases for the repair and detoxification. A tiny lobe called the pineal gland helps us fall asleep. The pineal gland secretes melatonin to calm the brain. The pineal gland responds to darkness. If you are watching TV until the minute you go to bed and then sleep with the artificial light from smartphones and other devices, your brain is tricked into thinking it is still daylight; this makes it difficult for the pineal gland to do its job. In addition, if the TV shows you watch before bed are violent or action-packed, your body will release cortisol (the stress hormone). Anything that creates stress close to bedtime will make it more difficult to fall asleep. A bedtime practice of quiet activities like reading, journaling, listening to music, or meditation will make it much easier to fall asleep. What Happens If You Don’t Get Enough Sleep? Lack of sleep has a big impact on your overall state of health and well-being. Studies have linked poor sleep to a variety of health problems. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified sleep deprivation as a public health epidemic. The Effects of Sleep Deprivation This visual depicts many of the ways we are affected by insufficient sleep. (Credit: Häggström, Mikael (2014). “Medical gallery of Mikael Häggström 2014”. WikiJournal of Medicine . Public Domain.) Some of the health risks of insufficient sleep include the following: Increased risk of heart attack and stroke: In his book Why We Sleep , Matthew Walker, PhD, shares Japanese research showing that male workers who average six hours of sleep or less are 400 to 500 percent more likely to suffer one or more cardiac arrests than those getting more than six hours of sleep each night. Another study of women between the ages of 20 and 79 found that those who had mild sleep disturbance such as taking longer to fall asleep or waking up one or more times during the night were significantly more likely to have high blood pressure than those who fell asleep quickly and slept soundly. Matthew Walker, PhD Why We Sleep Impaired cognitive function: Even one night of sleeping less than six hours can impact your ability to think clearly the next day. Increased risk of accidents: Sleep deprivation slows your reaction time, which increases your risk of accidents. You are three times more likely to be in a car crash if you are tired. According to the American Sleep Foundation, 40 percent of people admitted to falling asleep behind the wheel at least once. A Governor’s Highway Safety Association report estimates there are 6,400 fatal drowsy-driving crashes each year. Fifty percent of these crashes involve drivers under the age of 25. Governors Highway Safety Association Driving while drowsy puts you, your passengers, and many others in danger. (Credit: Modification of work by Governors Highway Safety Association.) Driving after 20 hours without sleep is the equivalent of driving with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent—the U.S. legal limit for drunk driving. Weight gain/increased risk for obesity: Sleep helps balance your appetite by regulating hormones that play a role in helping you feel full after a meal. Also, cortisol is released during times of anxiety, and exhaustion causes your body to produce more cortisol. This can stimulate your appetite. Increased risk of cancer: Tumors grow up to three times faster in laboratory animals with severe sleep dysfunctions. Researchers believe this is because of disrupted melatonin production, as melatonin has both antioxidant and anticancer activity. Increased emotional intensity: The part of the brain responsible for emotional reactions, your amygdala, can be 60 percent more reactive when you've slept poorly, resulting in increased emotional intensity. For more information on the advantages and health risks of sleep watch this TED Talk by Matt Walker, PhD, Director of the Sleep Center at U California Berkeley. Tips to Improve the Quality of Your Sleep Now that you are more aware of the ways insufficient sleep harms your body, let’s review some of the things you can do to enhance your sleep. Make sleep a priority. It can be challenging once in college, but try to get on a schedule where you sleep and wake at the same time every day to get your body accustomed to a routine. This will help your body get into a sleep rhythm and make it easier to fall asleep and get up in the morning. Sleep in a cool, quiet, dark room. Create a sleeping environment that is comfortable and conducive to sleep. If you can control the temperature in your room, keep it cool in the evening. Scientists believe a cool bedroom (around 65 degrees) may be best for sleep, since it mimics our body's natural temperature drop. Exposure to bright light suppresses our body’s ability to make melatonin, so keep the room as dark as possible. A 2010 study in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism found that individuals exposed to room light “during the usual hours of sleep suppressed melatonin by greater than 50%.” JCEM, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3047226/ Even the tiniest bit of light in the room (like from a clock radio LCD screen) can disrupt your internal clock and your production of melatonin, which will interfere with your sleep. A sleep mask may help eliminate light, and earplugs can help reduce noise. Avoid eating late or drinking alcohol or caffeine close to bedtime. It is best to finish eating at least two hours before bedtime and avoid caffeine after lunch. While not everyone is affected in the same way, caffeine hangs around a long time in most bodies. Although alcohol will make you drowsy, the effect is short-lived and you will often wake up several hours later, unable to fall back to sleep. Alcohol can also keep you from entering the deeper stages of sleep, where your body does most of the repair and healing. A 2013 Scientific Research study concluded that “energy drinks, other caffeinated beverages and alcoholic beverages are risk factors of poor sleep quality.” It’s important to finish eating hours before bedtime so your body is able to heal and detoxify and it is not spending the first few hours of sleep digesting a heavy meal. Start to wind down an hour before bed. Making mindfulness and/or a gratitude practice (as discussed previously) a part of your bedtime routine are well documented as improving an individual's ability to fall asleep and have better quality of sleep. There are also great apps to help with relaxation, stress release, and falling asleep which include mediations, gratitude practice, and mindfulness. Consider the Insight Timer app, or any of the free apps listed by the American Sleep Association. Exercise for 30 minutes a day. One of the biggest benefits of exercise is its effect on sleep. A study from Stanford University found that 16 weeks in a moderate-intensity exercise program allowed people to fall asleep about 15 minutes faster and sleep about 45 minutes longer. Walking, yoga, swimming, strength training, jumping rope—whatever it is, find an exercise you like and make sure to move your body every day. Improve your diet. Low fiber and high saturated fat and sugar intake is associated with lighter, less restorative sleep with more wake time during the night. Processed food full of chemicals will make your body work extra hard during the night to remove the toxins and leave less time for healing and repair. Sleep affects how we look, feel, and function on a daily basis and is vital to our health and quality of life. When you get the sleep your body needs, you look more vibrant, you feel more vibrant, and you have the energy to live your best life. Now, with a better understanding of the benefits of getting the recommended hours of nightly sleep and the health risks of not getting enough sleep, what changes can you make to improve the quality and quantity of your sleep? Difficulty sleeping may be a sign of something else happening in your mind or body (i.e., anxiety, insomnia, sleep apnea). If you are doing all the right things and still have trouble falling or staying asleep, talk to your doctor or go to your student health services. Here are some resources to learn more: Healthy Sleep , Harvard Medical School Division of Sleep Medicine Insomnia Treatment , American Association of Sleep Medicine Sleep Medicine , Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine Friends & Family Matter JT has always been a hard worker, even when balancing college and work has been stressful. However, shortly after the end of the year, JT’s family experiences the sudden death of his father. While he had had health issues, the family is not prepared for the loss, especially right after JT's grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins celebrated the holidays together. JT is very close to his family, and the thought of returning to his classes and continuing to work seems too much to bear. Nonetheless, JT begins the new semester, but soon finds it difficult to get out of bed and go to class. Working is the only thing that he has motivation to do, perhaps because he needs to work to pay the bills. When JT feels well enough to go to class, he comes in late, loses focus during class, and forgets to submit assignments. JT’s boss has seen no difference in his work ethic or behavior, but JT’s professors have noticed he is not performing well, and a few of them have reached out to find out what is going on. JT has ignored the professors’ emails and skipped appointments with his advisor to talk about his academic risk. Despite being encouraged to seek on-campus counseling, JT is convinced that he can get better on his own and doesn’t have the motivation to talk to anyone other than his family members who understand best what he is going through. Let’s Think About It JT has several options. Think through the consequences of each one, and choose the best option or create your own option. JT continues to deal with his depression and anxiety by missing classes and avoiding work with the hope that with time it will get better. JT talks to their professor about what he is going through to see if there is a way to get extensions on assignments. JT meets with a counselor to talk through options for improving his mental health that would involve additional costs including regular therapy and medication. Let’s Talk About It JT may feel uncomfortable expressing his mental and emotional needs—and he need not share personal health information with others if he does not want to—but he could communicate with those who are affected by his behaviors. Here are some suggestions for communicating with others about the dilemma that JT is facing: “I am going through some tough things right now and have not been myself. While I am very committed to my education, my actions are not in line with that commitment. I am struggling with how to get back on track.” “I have had some personal issues that have kept me from focusing on my course work. I am planning to seek some counseling and would like to talk about what steps I can take now, if any, to help me make up for lost time in the course.” “I want to share an explanation—and not an excuse—about my behavior in and out of class. I have been struggling with some family issues that have made it difficult to feel good enough to come to class and do the work. Do you have any advice for me or would you be able to talk to me about it at length?” Whatever choice you would make in this situation, it is always best to communicate clearly your needs, your concerns, and even your uncertainties. Summary and Next Steps for College Success As you learned in this chapter, your college experience will be impacted by your own health and well-being. During these years, you will start the process of learning who you are and who you want to be. Your values will be questioned and your strengths will become more apparent not only to you but also to your support system. The goal of this chapter was to introduce you to the complex relationship between your mind and body; to help you identify the differences between feeling stressed versus being anxious; and to know when feeling sad may be symptoms of depression. This foundational knowledge will help to empower you to not only improve your self-efficacy, but also help you become more resilient during difficult situations. With the hope you can continue to grow in this area and improve your health and well-being, consider one of the items below and commit to setting it as your new top priority: Reach out to your support system and start the conversation with a person you have identified as an important support for your health. Tell them why you included them and let them know that you value them as a key person in your life. Identify other strategies that you can turn to during difficult times. Talk to your friends to learn how they handle difficult situations and if they have specific strategies that help them through such times. Consider the resources available to you on campus. Are there classes that can help you learn to meditate or how to handle stress? Where is the student health service and what treatment and prevention opportunities are provided for students? Think back to situations that did not go smoothly in the past. What knowledge and skills can you take from this chapter and apply to that situation which would have a different, more positive outcome. If a similar situation happens again, what would you do differently?

College Success


Introduction Financial success depends on getting a good start and avoiding setbacks and wrong turns. It’s a lifelong process, more like a marathon than a sprint. (Credit: Bengt Nyman / Flickr / Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC-BY 2.0)) Ana has been working on campus at a part-time job. She likes the flexibility of her schedule even though she doesn’t make enough money in a week to cover her increasing expenses. Ana has been going out with new friends, and they like to spend money on food, entertainment, and clothing. Ana never learned how to budget, so she spends what she has and hopes that she can earn enough each week to replenish her bank account. When she calls home to ask her parents if they will give her some money each month, she finds out that her mother has been laid off from her job and is not sure how she will pay for her college next year. Her parents are worried that Ana may have to move back home or transfer to a more affordable school after all. Ana is devastated by the news. She has finally made friends and has joined a club on campus. She also likes her classes and is close to choosing a major. She doesn’t want to leave this college, but is not sure what to do. She has one small scholarship, student loans, and a grant and her family’s contributions cover the rest of her tuition, fees, room, and board. Without her part-time job, she would have no spending money for personal expenses. She is concerned about what her next steps are. What Do You Think? If you were Ana, what would you think about paying for college without the help of your family? What would you do to improve your financial skills? What resources could you explore to help you manage your financial challenges? How do you feel about paying for college and managing your finances? Why do you feel this way? Student Survey How financially literate are you? This survey will help you determine how the chapter concepts relate to you right now. As we are introduced to new concepts and practices, it can be informative to reflect on how your understanding changes over time. Take this quick survey to figure it out, ranking the statements on a scale of 1—4, 1 meaning “least like me” and 4 meaning “most like me.” I actively and regularly plan and/or monitor my finances. I understand the benefits and risks of credit. I have a plan to repay my student loans. I regularly take steps to protect my identity and assets. You can also take this chapter's survey anonymously online. “A big part of the college experience for many students is the art of the student loan process. This has been both a painful and challenging experience for me over the course of the first semester. The biggest struggle for me has been simply understanding what everything means and what I’m supposed to do. Another challenge has been determining how exactly I’m going to pay these loans back while also saving for rent, utilities, additional expenses, and a study abroad fund with a part-time job that I don’t even have yet.” —Hanna Moyster University of Central Arkansas About This Chapter In this chapter, you will learn to reach your personal life goals by implementing financial planning and strategies to protect yourself, manage your money today, and put yourself in a better position for tomorrow. How you act today impacts your tomorrow. By the end of this chapter, you should be able to do the following: Align your personal and financial goals through smart financial planning. Create a saving and spending plan and track your performance. Identify best practices and risks associated with credit cards and other debt. Determine the best opportunities for you to finance your college education. What Would You Do? Think about this scenario: Everything was working out for Elan. They got into the college they wanted to, and some friends were planning to attend as well. They felt like an adult and were looking forward to new freedoms and opportunities. Elan’s parents let them get a credit card after high school graduation. Elan shared an apartment with their friends just off campus, and was able to get where they needed to go because they had a car. Elan had also saved over $1,000 from gifts and a summer job. They needed a new laptop. Elan planned to stay within set limits. They went to the store and found a very knowledgeable salesperson, Jermain, who said he knew exactly what Elan needed. Jermain pointed out that the laptop in Elan’s budget would do schoolwork just fine, but it was not as powerful as the best unit with advanced gaming features. Plus, the better computer came with new headphones! Jermain suggested that Elan could later sell the computer to incoming students. (Most first-year students bought used computers if they did not have one when they came to school.) The high-powered computer was $2,000, though, and Elan didn’t have that much money. Maybe they should use the credit card? Maybe their new part-time job would pay for it? But Jermain arranged for a small down payment and monthly payments of only $100. That did not seem too bad to Elan. The future looked bright. At least, that’s what Elan thought. They soon realized that working more hours meant fewer hours to study. Meanwhile, Elan’s rent and gas usage went up, and, as a young car owner, their insurance was through the roof. Only three months into the first semester, Elan missed a payment on the laptop and accrued a late fee. They put the next laptop payment on the credit card. Soon, Elan was alternating payments between the credit card, laptop, and car, building up interest and late charges. Now Elan was having trouble paying their rent and started getting calls from creditors. Everything had seemed so promising. Elan didn’t know where they had gone wrong. Elan comes to you and shares the situation. They ask, “What could I have done differently?” This chapter offers you insight into your finances so that you can make good decisions and avoid costly mistakes. We all face chances to spend money to try to get what we want. Many think only about now and not next month, next year, or ten years from now, but our behavior now has consequences later. Not everyone can own all the latest technology, drive their dream car, continually invest for their retirement, or live in the perfect home at this moment. But by understanding the different components of earning money, banking, credit, and budgeting, you can begin working toward your personal and financial goals. We’ll also discuss a related topic, safeguarding your accounts and personal information, which is critical to protecting everything you’ve worked for. By the end of this chapter, you will have good insights for Elan . . . and yourself!

College Success


Personal Financial Planning Estimated completion time: 13 minutes. Questions to Consider: What simple steps do I take to create a financial plan? How do I use financial planning in everyday life? How is the financial planning process implemented for every purchase? “By failing to plan, you are preparing to fail.” —Benjamin Franklin Honestly, practicing money management isn’t that hard to figure out. In many ways it’s similar to playing a video game. The first time you play a game, you may feel awkward or have the lowest score. Playing for a while can make you okay at the game. But if you learn the rules of the game, figure out how to best use each tool in the game, read strategy guides from experts, and practice, you can get really good at it. Money management is the same. It’s not enough to “figure it out as you go.” If you want to get good at managing your money, you must treat money like you treat your favorite game. You have to come at it with a well-researched plan. Research has shown that people with stronger finances are healthier https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953613002839 and happier, https://academic.oup.com/geronj/article-abstract/38/5/626/578092 have better marriages, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2012.00715.x and https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2012.00715.x/abstract and even have better cognitive functioning. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/341/6149/976%20 The Financial Planning Process Personal goals and behaviors have a financial component or consequence. To make the most of your financial resources, you need to do some financial planning. The financial planning process consists of five distinct steps: goal setting, evaluating, planning, implementing, and monitoring. Financial Planning in Five Steps Develop Personal Goals What do I want my life to look like? Identify and Evaluate Alternatives for Achieving Goals for My Situation What do my savings, debt, income, and expenses look like? What creative ways are available to get the life I want? Write My Financial Plan What small steps can I take to start working toward my goals? Implement the Plan Begin taking those steps, even if I can only do a few small things each week. Monitor and Adjust the Plan Make sure I don’t get distracted by life. Keep taking those small steps each week. Make adjustments when needed. Steps of financial planning. How to Use Financial Planning in Everyday Life The financial planning process isn’t only about creating one big financial plan. You can also use it to get a better deal when you buy a car or computer or rent an apartment. In fact, any time you are thinking about spending a lot of money, you can use the financial planning process to pay less and get more. To explore financial planning in depth, we’ll use the example of buying a car. 1. Develop Goals First, what do you really need? If you’re looking for a car, you probably need transportation. Before you decide to buy a car, consider alternatives to buying a car. Could you take a bus, walk, or bike instead? Often one goal can impact another goal. Cars are typically not good financial investments. We have cars for convenience and necessity, to earn an income and to enjoy life. Financially, they are an expense. They lose value, or depreciate, rather than increasing in value, like savings. So buying a car may slow your savings or retirement plan goals. Cars continually use up cash for gas, repairs, taxes, parking, and so on. Keep this in mind throughout the planning process. 2. Identify and Evaluate Alternatives for Achieving Goals in Your Current Situation. For this example, let’s assume that you have determined the best alternative is to buy a car. Do you need a new car? Will your current car last with some upkeep? Consider a used car over a new one. On average, a new car will lose one-fifth of its value during its first year. Krome, Charles. “Car Depreciation.” 2018, Carfax. https://www.carfax.com/blog/car-depreciation Buying a one-year-old car is like getting a practically new car for a 20 percent discount. So in many cases, the best deal may be to buy a five- or six-year-old car. Sites such as the Kelley Blue Book website (KBB.com) and Edmunds.com can show you depreciation tables for the cars you are considering. Perhaps someone in your family has a car they will sell you at a discount. Do you know how much it will cost in total to own the car? It will help to check out the total cost of ownership tools (also on KBB.com and Edmunds.com) to estimate how much each car will cost you in maintenance, repairs, gas, and insurance. A cheap car that gets poor gas mileage and breaks down all the time will actually cost you more in the long run. Weighing all the factors is critical when deciding on any purchase, especially a major one like a car. (Credit: Greg Gjerdingen / Flickr / Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC-BY 2.0)) 3. Write Down Your Financial Plan Goal Item Details Budget Timeline Transportation/Car 2014 Toyota Camry Black, A/C, power windows, less than 60,000 miles Car $12,000 (max) Down payment $3,000 Insurance $100/mo Sales tax $900 + Licensing $145 Cash needed $4,145 Have $3600 in savings for this. Save $50/week. Purchase in approximately 11 weeks. Computer Used or refurbished laptop Dell w/ Windows, minimum 13", 128G hard drive, HD Graphics $300 Use free Windows update from school. Use free Wi-Fi at school. Sell current laptop for $100. Buy refurbished from Dell site for $289. $189 on credit card. Pay off when statement comes. Examples of financial plans for a car and a computer. 4. Implement Your Plan Once you’ve narrowed down which car you are looking for, do more online research with resources such as Kelley Blue Book to see what is for sale in your area. You can also begin contacting dealerships and asking them if they have the car you are looking for with the features you want. Ask the dealerships with the car you want to give you their best offer, then compare their price to your researched price. You may have to spend more time looking at other dealerships to compare offers, but one goal of online research is to save time and avoid going from place to place if possible. When you do go to buy the car, bring a copy of your written plan into the dealership and stick to it. If a dealership tries to switch you to a more expensive option, just say no, or you can leave to go to another dealership. Remember Elan in our opening scenario? They went shopping alone and caved to the pressure and persuasion of the salesperson. If you feel it is helpful, take a responsible friend or family member with you for support. 5. Monitor and Adjust the Plan to Changing Circumstances and New Life Goals Life changes, and things wear out. Keep up the recommended maintenance on the car (or any other purchase). Keep saving money for your emergency fund, then for your next big purchase. The worst time to buy something is when you need to replace an important item that stops working or is damaged, because you are easier to take advantage of when you are desperate. You will be glad that you have an emergency fund. A good practice is to keep making car payments once the car loan is paid off. If you are paying $300 per month for a car loan, when the loan is paid off, put $300 per month into a savings account for a new car instead. Do it long enough and you can buy your next car using your own money! Use the Financial Planning Process for Everything The same process can be used to make every major purchase in your life. When you rent an apartment, begin with the same assessment of your current financial situation, what you need in an apartment, and what goals it will impact or fulfill. Then look for an apartment using a written plan to avoid being sold on a more expensive place than you want. You can even use the process of assessing and planning for small things such as buying textbooks or weekly groceries. While saving a few bucks each week may seem like a small deal, you will gain practice using the financial planning process, so it will become automatic for when you make the big decisions in life. Stick to your plan.

College Success


Savings, Expenses, and Budgeting Estimated completion time: 19 minutes. Questions to Consider: How is the flow of money best measured? How do I keep things balanced? “Do not save what is left after spending; instead spend what is left after saving.” —Warren Buffett Buffett, Warren. The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America. 1991. Cardozo Law Review. What is the best way to get to the Mississippi River from here? Do you know? To answer the question, even with a map app, you would need to know where you are starting from and exactly where on the river you want to arrive before you can map the best route. Our financial lives need maps, too. You need to know where you are now and where you want to end up in order to map a course to meet the goal. You map your financial path using a spending and savings plan, or budget, which tracks your income, savings, and spending. You check on your progress using a balance sheet that lists your assets , or what you own, and your liabilities , or what you owe. A balance sheet is like a snapshot, a moment in time, that we use to check our progress. Budgets The term budget is unpleasant to some people because it just looks like work. But who will care more about your money than you? We all want to know if we have enough money to pay our bills, travel, get an education, buy a car, etc. Technically, a budget is a specific financial plan for a specified time. Budgets have three elements: income, saving and investing, and expenses. A budget is a specific financial plan for a finite amount of time. For example, you can set a budget for a term or longer, but be sure to revisit it to make adjustments as needed. Income Income most often comes from our jobs in the form of a paper or electronic paycheck. During school, you may receive support from family that could be considered income. You may also receive scholarships, grants, or student loan money. When listing your income for your monthly budget, you should use your net pay , also called your disposable income. It is the only money you can use to pay bills. If you currently have a job, look at the pay stub or statement. You will find gross pay , then some money deducted for a variety of taxes, leaving a smaller amount—your net pay. Sometimes you have the opportunity to have some other, optional deductions taken from your paycheck before you get your net pay. Examples of optional deductions include 401(k) or health insurance payments. You can change these amounts, but you should still use your net pay when considering your budget. Some individuals receive disability income, social security income, investment income, alimony, child support, and other forms of payment on a regular basis. All of these go under income. Saving and Investing The first bill you should pay is to yourself. You owe yourself today and tomorrow. The quote at the start of this section was said by Warren Buffet who is one of the most successful investors of the 20th century, with a personal fortune of more than $60 billion. Setting aside a certain amount of money for savings and investments, before paying bills and making discretionary, or optional, purchases, will put you on a path to building your own reserve. Savings can be for an emergency fund or for short-term goals such as education, a wedding, travel, or a car. Investing, such as putting your money into stocks, bonds, or real estate, offers higher returns at a higher risk than money saved in a bank. Investments include retirement accounts that can be automatically funded with money deducted from your paycheck. Automatic payroll deductions are an effective way to save money before you can get your hands on it. Make saving money a priority to assure that you will work as hard to make the payment to yourself as you work to make your car or housing payment. The money you “pay” toward saving or investing will earn you back your money, plus some money earned on your money. Compare this to the cost of buying an item on credit and paying your money plus interest to a creditor. Paying yourself first is a habit that pays off! Pay yourself first! Put something in savings from every paycheck or gift. Expenses Expenses are categorized in two ways. One method separates them into fixed expenses and variable expenses. Rent, insurance costs, and utilities (power, water) are fixed: they cost about the same every month and are predictable based on your arrangement with the provider. Variable expenses, on the other hand, change based on your priorities and available funds; they include groceries, restaurants, cell phone plans, gas, clothing, and so on. You have a good degree of control over your variable expenses. You can begin organizing your expenses by categorizing each one as either fixed or variable. A second way to categorize expenses is to identify them as either needs or wants. Your needs come first: food, basic clothing, safe housing, medical care, and water. Your wants come afterward, if you can afford them while sticking to a savings plan. Wants may include meals at a restaurant, designer clothes, video games, other forms of entertainment, or a new car. After you identify an item as a need or want, you must exercise self- control to avoid caving to your desire for too many wants. List the last ten purchases you made, and place each of them in the category you think is correct. Item Need Expense $ Want Expense $ Totals How do your total “need” expenses compare to your total “want” expenses? Should either of them change? Budgets are done in a chart or spreadsheet format and often look like the ones below. Pay attention to how the first budget differs from the second. Income (use net monthly pay) Paycheck $2200 Other $300 Total Income $2500 Saving and Investing Savings Account $120 Investments $240 Amount Left for Expenses $2140 Expenses (Monthly) Housing $750 Car Payment/Insurance $450 Groceries $400 Restaurants/Food Delivery $100 Internet $60 Phone $60 Medical Insurance and Copays $120 Gas $200 Total Expenses $2140 Balance (Amount left for expenses minus total expenses) $0 This budget balances because all money is accounted for. Income (use net monthly pay) Paycheck $2200 Other $300 Total Income $2500 Saving and Investing Savings Account $120 Investments $240 Amount Left for Expenses $2140 Expenses (Monthly) Housing $750 Car Payment/Insurance $450 Groceries $400 Restaurants/Food Delivery $225 Internet $60 Phone $75 Medical Insurance and Copays $120 Gas $250 Total Expenses $2330 Balance (Amount left for expenses minus total expenses) -$190 Note that this budget is out of balance because Restaurants, Phone, and Gas are more expensive, so the total expenses are more than the amount available to pay for them. Balancing Your Budget Would you take all your cash outside and throw it up in the air on a windy day? Probably not. We want to hold on to every cent and decide where we want it to go. Our budget allows us to find a place for each dollar. We should not regularly have money left over. If we do, we should consider increasing our saving and investing. We also should not have a negative balance, meaning we don’t have enough to pay our bills. If we are short of money, we can look at all three categories of our budget: income, savings, and expenses. We could increase our income by taking a second job or working overtime, although this is rarely advisable alongside college coursework. The time commitment quickly becomes overwhelming. Another option is to cut savings, or there’s always the possibility of reducing expenses. Any of these options in combination can work. Another, even less desirable option is to take on debt to make up the shortfall. This is usually only a short-term solution that makes future months and cash shortages worse as we pay off the debt. When we budget for each successive month, we can look at what we actually spent the month before and make adjustments. Tracking the Big Picture When you think about becoming more financially secure, you’re usually considering your net worth , or the total measure of your wealth. Earnings, savings, and investments build up your assets—that is, the valuable things you own. Borrowed money, or debt, increases your liabilities, or what you owe. If you subtract what you owe from what you own, the result is your net worth. Your goal is to own more than you owe. When people first get out of college and have student debt, they often owe more than they own. But over time and with good financial strategies, they can reverse that situation. You can track information about your assets, liabilities, and net worth on a balance sheet or part of a personal financial statement. This information will be required to get a home loan or other types of loans. For your net worth to grow in a positive direction, you must increase your assets and decrease your liabilities over time. Assets (Owned) – Liabilities (Owed) = Net Worth Can you identify areas in your life where you are losing money by paying fees on your checking account or interest on your loans? What actions could you take to stop giving away money and instead set yourself up to start earning money? Good Practices That Build Wealth Bad Practices That Dig a Debt Hole Tracking all spending and saving Living paycheck to paycheck with no plan Knowing the difference between needs and wants Spending money on wants instead of saving Resisting impulse buying and emotional spending Using credit to buy more that you need and increasing what you owe You can write down your budget on paper or using a computer spreadsheet program such as Excel, or you can find popular budgeting apps that work for you. https://www.techtimes.com/articles/80726/20150902/best-budgeting-apps-for-college-students-mint-you-need-a-budget-and-more.htm Some apps link to your accounts and offer other services such as tracking credit cards and your credit score. The key is to find an app that does what you need and use it. Here are some examples: Mint Wally Goodbudget

College Success


Credit Cards Estimated completion time: 15 minutes. Questions to Consider: How dangerous is debt? What should I think about when getting and using a credit card? What is the purpose of a credit score? Yes, taking on too much debt can (and does) have disastrous effects on people’s personal finances, but if used appropriately, debt can be a tool to help you build wealth. Debt is like fire. You can use it to keep yourself warm, cook food, and ward off animals—but if you don’t know how to control it, it’ll burn your house down. The Danger of Debt When you take out a loan, you take on an obligation to pay the money back, with interest, through a monthly payment. You will take this debt with you when you apply for auto loans or home loans, when you enter into a marriage, and so on. Effectively, you have committed your future income to the loan. While this can be a good idea with student loans, take on too many loans and your future self will be poor, no matter how much money you make. Worse, you’ll be transferring more and more of your money to the bank through interest payments. Compounding Interest While compounding works to make you money when you are earning interest on savings or investments, it works against you when you are paying the interest on loans. To avoid compounding interest on loans, make sure your payments are at least enough to cover the interest charged each month. The good news is that the interest you are charged will be listed each month on the loan account statements you are sent by the bank or credit union, and fully amortized loans will always cover the interest costs plus enough principal to pay off what you owe by the end of the loan term. The two most common loans on which people get stuck paying compounding interest are credit cards and student loans. Paying the minimum payment each month on a credit card will just barely cover the interest charged that month, while anything you buy with the credit card will begin to accrue interest on the day you make the purchase. Since credit cards charge interest daily, you’ll begin paying interest on the interest immediately, starting the compound interest snowball working against you. When you get a credit card, always pay the credit card balance down to $0 each month to avoid the compound interest trap. Getting and Using a Credit Card One of the most controversial aspects of personal finance is the use of credit cards . While credit cards can be an incredibly useful tool, their high interest rates, combined with how easily credit cards can bury you in debt, make them extremely dangerous if not managed correctly. Reflect on Elan from the chapter introduction and how they felt. How would you (or did you) feel to hold a new credit card with a $2,000 spending limit? Benefits of a Credit Card There are three main benefits of getting a credit card. The first is that credit cards offer a secure and convenient method of making purchases, similar to using a debit card. When you carry cash, you have the potential of having the money lost or stolen. A credit card or debit card, on the other hand, can be canceled and replaced at no cost to you. Additionally, credit cards offer greater consumer protections than debit cards do when lost or stolen. These consumer protections are written into law, and with credit cards you have a maximum liability of $50. With a debit card, you are responsible for all charges made up until the point you report the card stolen. In order to have the same protections as with credit cards, you need to report the debit card lost or stolen within 48 hours. The longer you wait to report the loss of the card, or the longer it takes you to realize you lost your card, the more money in stolen charges you may be responsible for, up to an unlimited amount. Federal Trade Commission. “Lost Or Stolen Credit, ATM, and Debit Cards.” 2012. The final benefit is that a credit card will allow you to build your credit score, which is helpful in many aspects of life. While most people associate a credit score with getting better rates on loans, credit scores are also important to getting a job, lowering car insurance rates, and finding an apartment. Purposeful Finance. “Four Surprising Ways Your Credit Score Will Affect Your Life.” https://www.purposefulfinance.org/home/Articles/2016/four-surprising-ways-your-credit-score-will-affect-your-life How to Use a Credit Card All the benefits of credit cards are destroyed if you carry credit card debt. Credit cards should be used as a method of paying for things you can afford, meaning you should only use a credit card if the money is already sitting in your bank account and is budgeted for the item you are buying. If you use credit cards as a loan, you are losing the game. Every month, you should pay off your credit card in full, meaning you will bring the loan amount down to $0. If your statement says you charged $432.56 that month, make sure you can pay off all $432.56. If you do this, you won’t pay any interest on the credit card. But what happens if you don’t pay it off in full? If you are even one cent short on the payment, meaning you pay $432.55 instead, you must pay daily interest on the entire amount from the date you made the purchases. Your credit card company, of course, will be perfectly happy for you to make smaller payments—that’s how they make money. It is not uncommon for people to pay twice as much as the amount purchased and take years to pay off a credit card when they only pay the minimum payment each month. What to Look for in Your Initial Credit Card Find a Low-Rate Credit Card Even though you plan to never pay interest, mistakes will happen, and you don’t want to be paying high interest while you fix a misstep. Start by narrowing the hundreds of card options to the few with the lowest APR (annual percentage rate). Avoid Cards with Annual Fees or Minimum Usage Requirements Your first credit card should ideally be one you can keep forever, but that’s expensive to do if they charge you an annual fee or have other requirements just for having the card. There are many options that won’t require you to spend a minimum amount each month and won’t charge you an annual fee. Keep the Credit Limit Equal to Two Weeks’ Take-Home Pay Even though you want to pay your credit card off in full, most people will max out their credit cards once or twice while they are building their good financial habits. If this happens to you, having a small credit limit makes that mistake a small mistake instead of a $5,000 mistake. Avoid Rewards Cards Everyone loves to talk about rewards cards, but credit card companies wouldn’t offer rewards if they didn’t earn them a profit. Rewards systems with credit cards are designed by experts to get you to spend more money and pay more interest than you otherwise would. Until you build a strong habit of paying off your card in full each month, don’t step into their trap. What Is a Good Credit Score? Most credit scores have a 300–850 score range. The higher the score, the lower the risk to lenders. A “good” credit score is considered to be in the 670–739 score range. Credit Score Ranges Rating Description < 580 Poor This credit score is well below the average score of US consumers and demonstrates to lenders that the borrower may be a risk. 580-669 Fair This credit score is below the average score of US consumers, though many lenders will approve loans with this score. 670-739 Good This credit score is near or slightly above the average of US consumers, and most lenders consider this a good score. 740-799 Very Good This credit score is above the average of US consumers and demonstrates to lenders that the borrower is very dependable. 800+ Exceptional This credit score is well above the average score of US consumers and clearly demonstrates to lenders that the borrower is an exceptionally low risk. Components of a Credit Score and How to Improve Your Credit Credit scores contain a total of five components. These components are credit payment history (35 percent), credit utilization (30 percent), length of credit history (15 percent), new credit (10 percent), and credit mix (10 percent). The main action you can take to improve your credit score is to stop charging and pay all bills on time. Even if you cannot pay the full amount of the credit card balance, which is the best practice, pay the minimum on time. Paying more is better for your debt load but does not improve your score. Carrying a balance on a credit card does not improve your score. Your score will go down if you pay bills late and owe more than 30 percent of your credit available. Your credit score is a reflection of your willingness and ability to do what you say you will do—pay your debts on time. "College can be expensive and it is important to track your expenses and prioritize earnings to avoid unnecessary debt. I wish I would have taken more steps, for example, to eat at the college campus as much as possible my freshman year. I put the quality of food over the value of money. Throughout my college experience, I have learned the importance of being financially responsible and planning for the future. I have been saving as much as possible on a consistent basis. For example, putting earnings of 10-20% into savings each month, while my checking is for simple expenditures such as one or two nights out to eat a week with friends while I use my college meal plan for most food every day. If you are having difficulty understanding financial literacy, do not hesitate to seek out help from other friends, workshops offered by the college, or even professors. By taking a proactive approach to managing your finances, you can set yourself up for success and achieve your financial goals. I have learned the value of money, and understand how to allocate and use my resources to my advantage. With experiences and mistakes, comes a fixed mindset and change. Do not be afraid to take risks, but understand fully what you are giving up to get it." —Ethan Marbaise , junior

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