Achieving financial independence as a university student can be challenging, often leading to issues like overspending and setting unrealistic goals. I faced these problems firsthand, from struggling with budgeting to making impulsive purchases. After experimenting with various methods, I realized the need for a more systematic approach, leading to the creation of SumThing, a finance management app. SumThing helps students track expenses, categorize spending, and visualize trends. With the right tools, managing student finances can be easier and more rewarding.

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How I Built SumThing

Challenges Faced by Individuals

1. Budgeting and Money Management

• Lack of Experience: Many students, including myself, were new to budgeting, tracking expenses, and creating a personal financial plan.

• Overspending: With newfound financial freedom, it’s easy to splurge on non-essentials, from the latest gadgets to weekend outings, often leading to a strain on the budget and making it difficult to maintain financial discipline.

2. Financial Goals and Planning

Setting Realistic Goals: Establishing and sticking to achievable financial goals can be tough, especially when balancing academic and social life while prioritising short-term and long-term financial goals

3. Lifestyle Changes

• Adjusting to New Norms: Moving to university often means adjusting to a different lifestyle and income level, which can bring its own set of stresses and uncertainties.

• Managing Relationships: Financial changes can also impact relationships with family and friends, especially when your spending habits shift.

Problems I Faced

1. Lack of Experience

As a young adult newly managing my finances, I struggled with understanding how to handle on budgeting, expense tracking and plan for future expenses. The excitement of financial independence often led me to spend without much consideration. I often found myself cash strapped when I wanted to buy a course that would help me take my career forward.

2. Overspending

The thrill of having money to spend often turned into impulsive purchases. I found myself chasing after trends and spending on things I didn’t truly need, which led to significant strain on my finances leaving me with little to no savings.

3. Setting Unrealistic Goals

I set overly ambitious savings goals, like putting aside 2,000 rupees in every month, without breaking this amount into manageable chunks. This approach quickly proved to be unrealistic and hard to maintain.

4. Lifestyle Adjustments

Moving to university introduced new spending habits, such as frequent purchases of food and supplies. I often blurred the lines between wants and needs, leading to unnecessary expenses and no savings for essential items.

How I Tackled These Challenges

1. Experimentation with Tracking Methods

Initially, I tried various methods to track my expenses:

• Excel Sheets: While useful, updating them daily became tedious.
• Paper Journals: Easily misplaced and hard to maintain consistency.
• Notes App: Disorganised and difficult to manage.

I even resorted to using only cash to control spending, but this was impractical in the long term and didn’t suit my lifestyle

2. The Idea for SumThing

Through these trials, I realised I needed a more systematic approach. This led to the creation of SumThing—an app designed to simplify expense tracking for students and young adults. I envisioned an app that could categorise and track expenses effectively.

Introducing SumThing

1. Expense Categorisation

SumThing allows users to categorise their expenses into broad but essential categories like transport, food, emergencies, and stationery. This categorization helps users understand where their money is going and make more informed spending decisions.

2. Visual Tracking

The app includes charts and graphs to visualize spending trends. Users can see monthly expenditures and identify areas where they might need to adjust their budget.

Tips for Fellow Students

1. Assess Your Current Financial Situation

• Calculate Net Worth: List your assets and liabilities to understand your financial position.
• Track Income and Expenses: Review your cash flow to understand how much you’re spending and where.

2. Set Financial Goals

• Short-Term Goals: These might include building an emergency fund, saving for gadgets, or planning for a weekend getaway.
• Medium-Term Goals: Consider saving for major expenses like textbooks, or paying off credit card debts.

3. Create a Budget

• Use Budgeting Tools: Having two bank accounts can be helpful. For example, allocate 75% of your funds to essentials and 25% to discretionary spending. This approach helps keep your spending in check.
  • Include everything you spend your money on - Food, junk stash for late night study sessions, even your monthly entertainment subscriptions

• Budget Categories: Divide your spending into essentials, discretionary spending, and savings. Consider using two bank accounts: one for needs and one for wants. This method helps manage and control expenses more effectively.

4. Build an Emergency Fund

• Separate Savings Account: Maintain a dedicated savings account for emergencies to ensure you’re prepared for unexpected expenses.

Conclusion

Creating SumThing was a direct response to the challenges I faced as a university student managing my finances. By developing a tool that addresses these common issues, I aimed to help others navigate their financial independence more effectively. With the right strategies and tools, managing finances as a student can become a more manageable and rewarding experience.