Money Lessons I Learned in College: Real Talk From 6 Finance Nerds

No matter what you study at college, it isn’t long before you learn an important lesson: Life is really expensive.

Unfortunately, it’s not a realization that makes things any easier. Getting by on a limited or fixed income can be brutal no matter what stage of life you’re in.

As a student, it’s especially rough.

There’s so much you’ll want to do this year, and a lot of it won’t be free. You’ll be the target of algorithmic FOMO every time you look at your phone. And if you went to high school in Canada, you’ve probably been let loose on the world with very little personal finance training.

We can’t undo any of that, but we may be able to help. We asked our crew of personal finance Nerds to share the money lessons they learned while in school, some of which they’re still following today.

If we all survived, you can too.

1. Paper over plastic

“In high school, one of my teachers put the fear of God into us about using credit cards, so when I got to university, I was determined to pay cash for everything I could. And that’s what I did for the full four years.

I still had a blast, but it required planning ahead. I made a weekly budget, and whatever I didn’t spend carried over to the next week. It wasn’t easy — there were some lean, $1 ramen-fuelled weeks — but I left university with zero credit card debt.

After graduation, when I was paying for life and my student loans, I’d have about $200 left in my bank account at the end of a good month. I don’t know how I would have managed, financially or mentally, if I had had thousands of dollars in additional debt I couldn’t pay off.

I don’t know how realistic it is to get through college without a credit card today, but I highly recommend trying to limit yourself to cash to see what it does for you.”

— Clay Jarvis, lead writer and spokesperson

2. Don’t be cursory with bursaries

“I thought my government-funded student loan would cover the total cost of my university tuition.

Spoiler alert: it didn’t. I found myself staring down the barrel of $1,500 in course fees and a maxed-out student loan.

That’s when a financial aid rep at my school mentioned something I’d never heard of: bursaries, non-repayable financial awards given to students in financial need. So, basically: free money.

I qualified for a $2,000 bursary award that year. By the time I graduated, the bursary program had saved me nearly $8,000 in tuition fees.

My two cents? Don’t be shy about exploring alternative avenues of financial aid. So long as you can demonstrate genuine financial need, you could qualify for substantial savings.”

— Shannon Terrell, lead writer and spokesperson

3. Penalty-free overdraft can be a lifeboat

“For the majority of my college life, I leaned heavily on the no-fee, interest-free overdraft benefit of my student bank account — popping into the red every now and then.

In hindsight, I wish I hadn’t been so stressed about taking advantage of this perk — I learned later in life that overdraft protection isn’t something banks give out very often.

When I look back at my experience, using the overdraft helped me become aware of “credit” and what it means to “borrow money” without the hefty fees and interest that can come with a credit card.

As long as you remember it’s not your dough, overdraft protection can give you wiggle room to cover emergency purchases, provided you have a plan to pay back what you borrow.

And make sure you’re mentally prepared to cover those overdrafts when college life ends — when you graduate to an adult chequing account, this handy perk is typically removed.”

— Georgia Rose, lead writer and content strategist

4. You’re being watched

“I don’t think I ever even heard the words ‘credit score’ until I was in my third year of university.

My beater car died, and I was at a used-car lot trying to finance an unglamorous Toyota Corolla with $500 down. The salesman had to “run my credit” to see if I would make the cut.

I was shocked when he came back saying ‘Everything looked good.’ Somehow, I’d accidentally built a decent credit score for myself — how?

Years later I found out a credit score is a three-digit summation of your financial history (a.k.a. your ‘credit report’). And that history starts being recorded the moment you borrow money in your own name or enter into certain types of financial agreements.

As a student I rented an apartment, paid utilities and a cell phone bill, and had student loans. Thanks to a part-time job, I typically paid on time and in full — exactly what credit monitoring agencies love to see.

Without knowing it, I’d accidentally built a credit score that qualified me for a low-rate auto loan I could actually afford.

If there’s one lesson for your post-secondary years, I’d say: Pay attention to all of the ways you’re spending money. The credit bureaus are quietly watching — and judging.

The last thing you want to do is graduate with good grades but a failing credit score.”

— Beth Buczynski, head of content

5. Focus on the priceless stuff

“My college discretionary funds came from working 8 hours per week at (nearly) minimum wage. I kept expenses low by learning to say no to things.

Not eating out with friends or forgoing beachy spring breaks is easy advice to spout; practicing it IRL is tough. There were benefits, though. I graduated without credit card debt. I learned a bit about self-discipline.

More importantly, I broke the assumption that spending money is the linchpin to enjoying life.

Learning to eke out a meal using pantry remnants sharpened an invaluable life skill, and it doubled as a hilarious activity when done with others.

Going camping on the cheap (and in the cold) for spring break forged a lifelong friendship and a love of the outdoors.

I’m not here to scold you for splurging. Instead, I’m here to remind you that learning your financial limits unlocks another, deeper lesson: that the door to making memories in college is opened by creativity, not your bank account.

— Kurt Woock, lead writer and content strategist

6. Keep it simple

“Balance” was not something I achieved during college — not in my schedule, not in my wallet, and certainly not in my sleep. My course load was overblown. My bank account was overdrafted. And me? Overwhelmed.

Budgeting felt impossible, since my cash flow was both tiny and unpredictable. My serving-gig tips ranged from $20 to $200 a shift, so planning ahead felt like gambling.

Here’s what I wish I’d known: you don’t need a color-coded spreadsheet to manage your money — just a few guardrails.

Add up your rent, bills, and groceries (real food, not chips and beer). Add 20% for safety. Cover those costs first, then decide what to do with the rest (if it exists).

If you know you’ll overspend on a credit card (or like me, forget to pay it for months), skip it. If saving money feels out of reach right now, that’s okay too. I didn’t build the habit until my mid-20s.

The key isn’t financial, it’s personal: be honest about what you can handle and what you’ll actually stick with. The best lesson you can learn in college is how to set yourself up for success. Or, at least how to avoid failure.

— Athena Cocoves, managing editor