Basic Financial Planning for College Students

Basic Financial Planning for College Students

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College is a life-changing and exciting experience for most students. It is the place where we work towards getting a life we always dream of and creating lifelong memories. It can also be challenging for many as we have to move away from family, make our own decisions and live on our terms. The new responsibilities and change can be stressful, and the last thing you need to worry about is your finances. Here are some tips for essential financial planning:

Create a budget

A budget is a financial plan for a defined period. To make a budget calculate your net income, list your fixed expenses, such as rent, utilities, food, transportation and variable expenses like clothing and entertainment. A good rule to make a budget is to spend 50% on needs, 30% on wants, and 20% on savings. Microsoft Excel is a fantastic way to make a budget.

Use coupons and discounts

It is always a clever idea to save money, and why pay the total price when you get it for a lower price? Discounts are available for most variable expenses like clothing, entertainment, groceries, and food. Some websites and applications offer coupons and deals like honey or Groupon. You can add honey to your web browser, and it will automatically apply coupons for you at checkout. Furthermore, it is always a good idea to ask fast food restaurants if there are discounts for students.

Avoid overspending

Here are some ways which can help you to save some extra money:

  1. Shop with a list
  2. Keep a check on spending habits
  3. Know what triggers your spending
  4. Limit the number of times you eat out monthly
  5. It is always a good idea to avoid impulse purchases

Build up credit history

Good credit plays a crucial role in your financial life. It shows the lender that they can trust you and help you get a mortgage for your first home, car, and even telephone service. If you have bad credit, you might be able to get a loan but with a higher interest rate, which can lose you a lot of money in the long term. It is a good idea to pay the amount you owe to the lender in full every month, and if your budget is tight, pay the minimum payment to avoid interest charges. Also, choose companies that charge lower fees and give you cash back when you spend the money. Furthermore, try to avoid saving your credit card online, which can help you keep a check on purchases. If it is hard for you to keep track of your spending, check out this free tool NerdWallet.

Find part-time work

Having a stable cash flow helps you pay off debts quicker and save up some extra money. Furthermore, it also allows you to network, get a break from school and manage your time better. However, sometimes it can be hard to go to work during exams, so it is always good to set aside funds so that you don’t have to touch your savings for variable expenses.

I hope the above tips will help you save money for the future. Whether you are taking an accounting program or a health information management program, these tips will prove helpful for your ongoing financial health.

Handling Stress as a Cybersecurity Professional

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I don’t know about you, but if I were to ask my friends if their jobs are stressful, not a single one would tell me no. There would be varying degrees of stress and certain people would want to tell me full-on stories about a particular situation that got them there.

The point is that everyone feels stress and it’s important to better manage it for two reasons: 1) stress causes more health issues than anything else and 2) stress left unmanaged can lead to high dissatisfaction with work and life.

Cybersecurity professionals get more than their share of stress:

In cybersecurity, the stress levels regularly border on unmanageable even without a security incident. This leads to employee burnout, gaps in tasks and ultimately situations that get missed and cause mayhem for organizations and individuals. Therefore, keeping stress levels down in this kind of job is essential. Unfortunately, it’s not often something you’ll find in a cybersecurity training program.

Why is stress so high in the cybersecurity field? There are a number of reasons including:

  • the constant attacks from cybercriminals making for no down-time
  • demands to keep up with constant change (regulations, technologies, etc.)
  • fear of letting the team or organization down
  • not enough people on the team, management that just “doesn’t get it”
  • no acknowledgement when things go “right”, and so much more.

Because stress is universal, there are numerous techniques for stress management BUT in this blog post, we want to provide tools that work particularly well for those in a cybersecurity role.

Three great stress management techniques for cybersecurity professionals:

  1. Create a support team within your team

You were hired to fill a specific need and despite the fact that you may have a similar background and education to other team members, your job titles and descriptions may be different (unless you’re in a larger organization). Because of that similarity in background and education and familiarity with your organization, you’re going to create your own support system. Some organizations call it cross-training. In reality, it’s planning for a future time-out.

Cybersecurity professionals are expected to be able to jump into action 24/7. It makes it hard to take a break even if it’s just to walk around, look at some trees or pet the dog. But, if someone on your team is cross-trained, you’re in the middle of tasks and you need 10 minutes to stop looking at monitors, you have back-up to help. In return you do the same for them when they need that quick moment to themself.

Taking frequent short breaks can be helpful in many ways including increasing mobility, changing mindset and improving restfulness. Another benefit is the comfort that comes from knowing you are working with a teammate to support each another.

  1. Prioritize and leave the work at work

Prioritizing tasks allows you to feel confident in knowing what order things need to be done in and is the basis for ensuring proper time management (even when you are overwhelmed). Make your list before you step away from your desk each day and then transition into “not-work” mode.

This transition has become increasingly harder for those working from home – “I’ll just do that one more thing before bed” and you end up working three more hours. While cell phones and other technology keep people in work mode too often, you can set a ritual that signals the transition from work time to home time. Maybe it’s moving the coffee cup from your desk to the sink or closing the door. Establish a ritual that supports your need for time away from work.

  1. Do things for you, regularly

Everyone knows they should exercise on a regular basis, but what about regularly doing things we really enjoy? If you like gardening, make a plan to do small things a few times a week or gift yourself a few hours on the weekend outside.

Since your job is in front of a screen, similar screen time isn’t a great idea. But, if you love playing video games and find it helps your mood, do it!

Make a list of activities you enjoy that are in varying lengths of time. Then, carve out some time, pick one of those tasks, tell yourself that you’re doing it to bring more pleasure and stress relief into your life and then get at it.

Stress management is a challenge and it seems that there are too many people forgetting to care for the most important thing in the world – themselves. Find ways to reduce your stress to make your work and life more enjoyable.

TechnoEdge Learning offers a wide variety of industry-leading certification training courses ranging from industry-standard CompTIA A+ certification to future-proof Network+ certification and comprehensive Security+ certification course.

5 Tips for Content Optimization on any Social Media Platform

5 Tips for Content Optimization on any Social Media Platform

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Social media isn’t an optional place to engage. For most businesses, it’s an absolute necessity to build brand awareness, attract more sales and simply stay connected with target audiences.

It can seem like an overwhelming task. Which platforms do you choose? Where does the time come from to post online when you already have a packed schedule? How can you compete with those who have been posting for years? How do you improve what you already have? There are a lot of questions and no shortage of experts willing to help.

You can find some great ways to optimize your social media presence that won’t cost an arm and a leg or take up a week’s worth of time. Here are 5 tips that apply to any organization and any social media platform:

1. Create a plan

You might be tempted to set up an account on Twitter and dabble “just to see if it works” but this is fraught with frustration and ultimately failure. Trying social media out, without a plan, means there are no objectives to work towards, no measures to prove success, no consistency and no basis for the direction of the posts.

Creating a plan can sound as overwhelming as social media itself. Fortunately, with more and more consultants who have taken a digital marketing certificate program, the expertise is available to help construct the plan. Some digital marketers will expect to create the plan and manage your content, but you may not need both tasks. Know how much you have to spend, determine primary goals and find a consultant who works a la carte specific to your needs. This will help keep your budget grounded while also ensuring the plan is in place for someone else to create and post content if that’s the desired approach.

2. Focus on delivering a great experience

Not everyone who is involved in social media management has taken a UX design course, so it may seem impossible to customize platforms the way you’d like. Changing some of the organization’s profile setups may be possible, but it isn’t always worth the time or money. Instead, put your focus into creating a great experience for visitors in other ways.

Fill out the organization’s profile completely on each platform – every section needs a response. Put customers first in terms of what you choose to share.

Consider hiring a consultant who has taken a UX design course online to create an app. No matter what you choose to do, websites, social media and apps all have one thing in common: they must be created and managed with the user in mind.

3. Ask questions and interact

Questions are a great way to create engagement and interaction. However, if you only have a few followers, don’t expect your questions to “go viral.” It takes time and consistency to build up a following. When someone reaches out, respond and engage with them. Don’t leave your followers feeling ghosted. Ever.

Take the time to follow others and share posts from them that you find meaningful for your audience. Not only does this create a circle of engagement, it also provides you with a greater amount of valuable content you don’t need to create.

4. Be a problem solver

You know your customers. You know what they like and don’t like. You also know why they need your product or service. Use that knowledge to help you create content that speaks to their problems and concerns. Create well-written content that is engaging and helps people. Share it among all your social media platforms, but in different ways and at different times so it’s not repetitive.

5. Modify the plan as needed

Social media marketing is a long-term plan. Blogs, Facebook posts, YouTube videos, etc. may see immediate and dramatic results, but more often, it’s a slower, gradual build to achieve objectives. Return to your plan every six months to make modifications as needed. Consider making changes every three months if you’re in a quickly-changing industry.

There are numerous ways to advance your social media presence from this point, but starting with these basics are always the first step to optimizing your efforts.