Saving

2. Cut out the crap.
Love a good latte in the morning? So did I. Read the paper on the train? So did I. Love a good sushi for lunch? Believe me, so did I. Sadly, all of this is crap you don't need.  Learn to live without it. Visiting a good gossip website or going to the NZ Herald site is just as good as buying the magazine or the paper - but it's cheaper, or in some of our cases, free.  Lastly, bring food from home to eat. If you're like me and you're hungry a lot and you love eating out, then this is hard but ultimately worthwhile - probably healthier too.

3. Set a goal.
Saving is way more fun if you're actually saving for something. Constantly thinking about the end will motivate the means. Admittedly for some of you, you're saving to pay off debt. Which brings me to another good point - avoid getting into debt. Seriously, I know I'm speaking to $10 billion worth of students here but it's worth noting. Don't borrow more then you need, don't get into the trap of falling back onto the good old interest-free overdraft and don't get a freaking credit card. Who needs a credit card when you're 19 anyway?

4. Stop spending.
Well duh, right? However upon looking at my spending habits I realised that for someone who was saving, I spent a lot of money. The best bet is to remove temptation and the best way to do that is to work! If you've got all that free time to be browsing in shops then it's probably time to volunteer for more shifts or for some of you, actually find a job. Failing that, do some study to get your money's worth out of that student loan.

Considering I spend heinous amounts of money dying my hair every few months I can't believe I managed to bullshit my way through this article. However, there are some pretty good nuggets of advice imbedded within these carefully sculpted paragraphs, so who knows? I may end up helping some of you save, and for the rest of us? Another year at home is looking pretty good, right?