By: Noah Nunez
General Reporter
On Nov 4, the campus was visited by members of the Nutmeg Credit Union to discuss not only personal finance and what steps to take for saving money, but where to spend it when needed.
The talk was hosted by Brandi Byrne, the financial education program manager of Nutmeg, and Javier Roman, the vice president of digital banking operations, who opened the talk with a discussion of saving and how the little things add up.
“You get a drink like Starbucks and Dunkin, how big is one purchase? For just one, not a big deal, right? So you do it for five days a week, and you’re looking at $30. You go for a month, you’re spending $130 on a good drink, but nonetheless, a drink,” Byrne said.
The speakers argued that spending that money on a more permanent solution, in this case, a coffee maker, would make for a wiser investment than spending upwards of $1,000 each month on coffee that could be made at home.
The main idea they want to promote is that when making a purchase, people should always be wondering if it is worth it not only in the moment but also if there is a potential way to keep the total spending down while still getting the desired outcome.
“You think of, like, Hulu and Disney+, and then you have $5 here $5 there, and are you really using all that?” Roman said. “Multiply that times 12; that’s how much money you’re spending on each one of those, and maybe not taking advantage of it because they’re not on every day.”
When people hear advice like this, their first response is to think of a budget, and specifically how limiting one can be when it comes to spending and enjoying throughout the year.
At the end of the day, all of this is just advice. Anyone can still spend and enjoy their money however they please, and this is all meant to help guide and keep studens on the right path.
“Sometimes people are like, ‘oh, a budget restricts me, it doesn’t let me do anything,’ when in fact it’s actually letting you do the things that you like, it’s giving you permission; it’s setting yourself up to be able to do that,” said Byrne
Guiding people, especially as they enter the workforce, was a major aspect of the talk. They focused on the subject of finding a job that supplied relevant benefits that would not only be helpful but could actually be used by students.
As students choose their career, it is important for them to not do it based of the projected salary, but instead based on what they want out of the job, as many companies allow employees to grow.
“When you’re looking for a career and you’re looking for a job that you’re hoping to grow in and earn a good salary you also want to look at the heath insurance coverage you want to look at retirement, and you want to look at PTO,” Byrne said.
