How To Spend Your Refund Check Efficiently: Tips and Reflection on Refund Checks
You are allowed to spend your refund check in whatever manner that you want to; just keep in mind the options that will keep you in a comfortable place.
By Kameron Sims — February 6, 2023
Many students think receiving refund checks for school is meant to pay frivolously and extravagantly for materialistic items, including fashion accessories and clothes. However, there are other ways to spend this money if and when receiving it. I will discuss some of these options here. First, I want to discuss what a refund check is.
A refund check is a remaining sum of money released to a college student after their tuition and fees have been covered at an institution. This money can be the remaining funding left over from a scholarship, financial aid, or personal payment. Hence, only those with funding that exceeds the total price will receive a refund check when the time comes around. Students can receive a refund check for each semester they are enrolled at a university or college. Now, for options.
Option 1: Start Paying Back Loans Early.
If you take out student loans, you must repay them once you have graduated or been out of school for at least six months. Once this happens, interest is accrued to the loans. Taking the money you receive from the refund check and paying your loans back will give you a head start on lowering your debt and decreasing the time you would have to pay on them. There are options to delay paying for your loans, such as continuing school for another degree, forbearance, and deferment. Forbearance postpones your payments while accruing interest, while deferment postpones your payments without accruing interest.
I had not chosen this option to use my refund check efficiently, but many of my friends and colleagues did. This allowed them to be comfortable with their decision in choosing a job compared to companions who had not chosen to pay back loans early. This option also allowed them to have more personal freedom after graduating college.
Option 2: Pay Your Bills in Advance.
Many students who have to take out loans cannot attend school and work enough hours to satisfy their bills. An additional sum of money is useful, especially when responsibilities must be taken care of. Using your refund check to pay your bills in advance will allow you to have some freedom to study more and work when necessary. It can be difficult to work and go to school, meaning bills can be difficult to pay. Make things easier by taking care of yourself and your responsibilities in advance.
This is an option that I used plenty during college because I took out loans for most of the years I attended college. Because I left home to pursue college, I got an apartment and had high demands for a car. These two things were very costly, so I had to work many hours of work a week to satisfy them and other bills I had. Working so many hours made it difficult for me to study, and on many days, I had been so tired from working the same day or the day before. I implore you to choose this option if this reflection is similar to yours.
Option 3: Put Yourself in a Position to Network.
Once you graduate, you will most likely become immersed in a professional setting. In this setting, you will meet other people within their respective career fields with certain etiquettes and sets of behaviors. Use your refund to place yourself within the company of these individuals. Use your refund to use professional services to update your resume, portfolio, and databases to optimize your network ability. Not only will you have like-minded individuals like you, but you will also have close connections to many possibilities and opportunities. Get yourself some updated business-dressed articles of clothing. You want to look your best when meeting these other professionals. Not only do you want to feel that you belong, but you also want to look that way.
I have had many instances where I had a job interview, and the person interviewing me said that I was the only person to dress professionally, which placed me at a higher advantage than the others who had not dressed professionally. Not to say that the individuals were not as skilled and able to do the job, but their lack of fit in the first instance of judgment did not allow them to demonstrate that skill or ability. Do not lose your place because someone prejudged you based on what you had on. You do not have to be flashy in attire to sway the employer, either. A simple button-down with slacks or khakis and a tie will suffice. Good luck with your networking endeavors.
You are allowed to spend your refund check in whatever manner that you want to; just keep in mind the options that will keep you in a comfortable place. Sometimes, people can be so thrilled about having money that they do anything with it and for it. If given this opportunity to use a refund check for the chance to put you at a financial advantage, at least for the time being, do it.
Kameron Sims
Kameron Sims is a freelance writer for SAGE Scholars, Inc. He is currently a Master's student, studying psychology. Sims has a passion for learning. He enjoys being a vessel to collect knowledge and information, hoping to share the contents of this vessel to others.
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