Applicant #33: Kim Cox

Kim Cox is a 20-year-old from Essex.

Kim's video application:

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Kim's current situation:

Hey! My name's Kim Cox. I'm 20 years old. I'm from a little town about 30 minutes away from Windsor called Essex. I have one year left of my undergrad at the University of Windsor. I am in DRED (Drama and Education). Soon I will be applying to the faculty of education to some day be a teacher.

Kim's blog post:

When thinking of something to write about one topic stood out in my mind how to save money.
This is a problem that I have had troubles with in the past and am still trying to learn better techniques in doing so.

When I was in high school for some reason the fact that I would soon be paying for university tuition, car insurance, gas for the car, my phone bill, and still have some money left over to use when I went out with my friends didn’t quite dawn on me until it was too late. It seemed that even thought I was getting a lot of hours at my job, I spend just as many hours at the mall shopping and well...we all know where that money went to. When it was time to start school I had hardly enough money to afford tuition.
I am starting my 4th year of university in the fall and over the past 3 years I’ve developed a few tricks that have helped me to pay all of my bills and still have some money left over for the fun stuff.

TIPS:

1. Sticky notes can become your new best friend!
   When a new bill comes in the mail I will put the price that I owe, and where the money needs to go. Not only does it give me a visual and a nice constant reminder but when I pay it I can take it down and I know that I then have that taken care of. This helps to pay bills on time and know how much money is going where.
2. Tip Jars!!
   If you work any where that you get tips save them in a jar at home. Allow yourself a certain amount per month or week (which ever way you want to do) and the rest set a goal amount. When you reach that amount bring it to the bank and put it in your account. This gives you some money to go out, you are still saving some, and all of the money that you made at your job on your check goes directly into your account. If you do not get tips at your job you can still have the same idea just slightly modified, instead of saving tips take a little bit off of your check every week, or every other week and keep that as your “fun money”. The rest can be saved in your account.
3. Write out a budget!!!
   By writing out a budget you can see in one glance where you are spending, how much you are making, and how much you are saving. This lets you physically see where you are getting your money from and where it’s going. If you aren’t happy with the amount coming in or out you are able to see exactly which area needs to be changed.

Well there are a few tips that have helped me over the years. Everyone has their own method and others are still searching for a method that works for them, for all of you I hope this helped or at least helped you to get an idea of your own.

Cheers! :)

Kim