Money management Essay

Ever since trading began, money existed, thus, it can be said that money and trading co-exists. The earliest form of money is actually very different from what we are using nowadays in this modern world. The history of money begins around 2500 years ago. Money is any clearly identifiable object of value that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts within a market or which is legal tender within a country. Barter Barter is a system of exchange in which goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods and services. No money is needed in barter system as it does not involve the process of buying and selling. Although there is no evidence pointing towards a society or economy relies solely on barter system, it is believed that barter basically dominated the pre-historical world and at that time, people would just exchange things according to necessity. Thus, barter system can be said to be a primitive form of money as it contributes towards the birth of money. There are several complications of barter system : Absence of common measure of value: In a monetary economy, money plays the role of a measure of value of all goods, so their values can be measured against each other; this role may be absent in a barter economy. Indivisibility of certain goods: If a person wants to buy a certain amount of another’s goods, but only has for payment one indivisible unit of another good which is worth more than what the person wants to obtain, a barter transaction cannot occur. Lack of standards for deferred payments: This is related to the absence of a common measure of value, although if the debt is denominated in units of the good that will eventually be used in payment, it is not a problem. Difficulty in storing wealth: If a society relies exclusively on perishable goods, storing wealth for the future may be impractical. However, some barter economies rely on durable goods like pigs or cattle for this purpose. Adapted from Wikipedia Statement of the problem It was discovered that only a small portion among university students actually know how to manage their money well. Most of university students are still struggling with basic money management. They do not have enough of a handle on their cash flow to spend less than they get from their loans. In other words, poor money management such as overspending is the main cause of this problem among the university students. Purpose The purposes of the study is to investigate money management of the students in UniSZA. Objectives 1) To investigate the way of the students in UniSZA spend their money 2) To determine the main cause of monetary problem for students in UniSZA. 3) To suggest the ways to solve monetary problems faced by students in UniSZA by providing them with the best money management plan. Research questions 1) How do the students in UniSZA spend their money? 2) What is the main cause of monetary problem for students in UniSZA 3) How can the problems faced by students in UniSZA be solved? Significance of the Study It is an undeniable fact that university life and normal daily life do have differences when it comes to money management. The author of the article wrote that university students should be taught the value of money as they will be earning their own very soon. This is true. University is a boundary that separates us from the real world, the working world. Without proper management of wealth, especially for students, it could spell disaster. Not only there would be butterflies flying out the purse and holes being burnt in the wallet, bank account could also stumble to single digit and finally naught. Things might get worst when they enter the society without knowing concerning money management and if this situation occurs, their bright future might be at stake and this could jeopardize their chances to succeed in life. Thus, financial management should start early, when there’s still money in the bank account for one to manage. For students in UniSZA like us, we might often be bothered by monetary problems. We don’t know where our money went to. Well, they do not just disappear into the thin air, nor would they escape from our wallet, thus, we must know where we spent our money on so that we can cut down on expenses and inculcate proper financial management. As university students, there’re a few money management skills that should be practiced and here are some explanations that may provide some insight or clues for one to properly manage his or her money so as to get the most out of one’s money. #1 Have a plan for it There’s a saying goes, those who fail to plan, plans to fail. Thus, proper money management starts with a plan for our money. For the study loan such as PTPTN, bursary or JPA scholarship received each semester, we should have a plan for it so that everything would go on smoothly. Knowing the debits and credits is equally important here and tracking our own expenses is surely a must as we can track all the unneeded stuff we bought by keeping the receipt of the things we’ve bought and later revise on our spending to cut down expenditure. Getting ourselves organized and preparing and jotter to jot down our expenditure is also a brilliant idea. #2 Understand our financial aid and financial status As university students, one of the best steps towards proper financial management may be to add up all our income and also the money we’ll need to fork out. Income includes the money allowance given by the governments, student loan, scholarships, bursaries etc. Bursaries, on the other hand offers RM 2550 for bursary recipients. Bursary is actually money given to students as a kind of financial aid. In this content, bursary is eligible for students who got 9A+ and above in their SPM. Besides, we can also look out for scholarships such as JPA. By being aware of our financial status, we can look into every nook and cranny of our daily life to save money. Take ATM machines for example, it may charge card holder of other banks some additional fee whenever transaction is made, thus, by being aware of this, we can take the measurements needed and save money. We should also be cautious towards burglary as that is the worst possible way for one to lose  money. #3 Use the available tools towards our benefit We should also use the benefits meant for students to our advantage. When buying books, going for a movie and buying food, for example, we can produce discount cards exclusive for students in order to enjoy discounts. Though it’s not a whole lot of money we’re saving, it could sum up to a considerable amount of money over time. For example, Kad siswa which was launched a few years ago provides card holders with a plethora of discounts in almost anything. Besides, 1 Malaysia book voucher is another tool available that would be of great help in our money management. Scope of Study The report will cover the methodology for money management of students in UniSZA. Survey and research will be done in order to get the results before discussion about the findings. The main points of the report will be summed up as the conclusion and some suggestions for solving monetary problems faced by students in UniSZA will be found.