Millennials & Money: A guide for millennials on how to save money during uncertain times
The continuing Coronavirus pandemic saga has made survival a very tough game for everyone. The lives of millennials who are accustomed to spending more and save less have turned upside down. The uncertainty, fear of job loss has forced them to pause and reflect on their spending habits and lifestyle choices. Millennials, who believe in the concept of buy-now-pay-later are now making changes, opting for affordable and flexible options to adjust with less money.
We’ve put together some quick tips for those millennials in a tight spot right now to manage finances better by making small yet meaningful changes to their lifestyle.
1. Financial planning
This generation fares poorly when it comes to understanding the needs of investments and financial literacy. They can overcome this gap with the help of online financial courses available on Coursera, a worldwide online learning platform which has experts and teachers from all over the world. These courses include; Personal & Family Financial Planning course from the University of Florida, Financial Planning course for young adults from the University of Illinois among others. One can also hire financial advisors and consult them to have a secure future.
2. Expense tracking and financial transactions user-friendly apps
For many couples, virtual weddings have become the go-to option in the last few months. With best-friends, colleagues ending up getting married online, millennials are opting for accessible, user-friendly financial transactions apps to buy gifts for the weddings and split the bill among themselves. These apps are also now being used for tracking payments for group virtual gym classes or playing online games with friends. One can download apps such as Splitwise, Go Dutch available on iOS and android to simplify group payments allowing users to record, split and automatically settle transactions. These apps enable real-time tracking to secure group payments as soon as the bill arrives.
3. Affordable housing: Pocket-Friendly co-living accommodations
Rising rents and shrinking pockets often bog down millennials who move out of their home-towns in search of education or jobs. Students and working professionals are not keen to perform daily household chores, and hence are opting for fully-managed co-living accommodations. Many co-living players are witnessing high demand because it has enabled millennials to live in newly-furnished spaces with a range of amenities at an affordable cost. With safety and hygiene being the top-most priority for consumers, there’s an uptick in demand for branded co-living companies. One such co-living player, OYO LIFE is offering an exciting offer of 20% discount on monthly rent, starting from the fourth month of one’s long-term stay. On average, this means, one can save up to INR 40,000 yearly.
4. Tracking & managing paid subscriptions
Millennials these days have procured multiple subscriptions and are binge-watching Stranger things on Netflix, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel on Amazon Video, Game of Thrones on HBO Now and also watching countless Korean, American dramas which they never were interested in initially. These things get expensive, pretty fast, and one can lose track of their monthly budget. Multiple apps like Truebill, SubscriptMe, Bobby and Trim will notify users when a service provider has increased the prices and help cancel any subscriptions when not in use.
5. Insurance
The ongoing pandemic has amplified the need of maintaining an insurance portfolio. This small investment can help millennials reap long term benefits. An insurance policy should be taken based on careful consideration of one’s lifestyle, habits, health history, dependent family members, claim settlement turnaround time and amount of coverage. In the new normal– insurance cannot be an option anymore, but a priority.
