A Look Back...

When I began this blog, I thought I would interview people, note a pattern and then find a reasoning for the spending behind college students.

The idea came to me after a group of friends and I road tripped to the Patagonia outlet in Dillion Montana. It has become a tradition of ours to go to a couple of the sales they hold throughout the year and most of the time we all end up purchasing something. As you may know, Patagonia clothes end up being a little pricey despite the sale. We'd each spend at least $30 dollars, most of the time ending up with a Snap-T, which costs upwards of $70. After this, we'd often go grab lunch at the Taco Bus in Dillon and spend even more. The week afterwards we'd often be at lunch and joke about how college made us so poor and such. Yet, the next weekend we'd be able to go out and eat after church and other activities.

So I wondered, why did we always use the excuse that we were so poor yet purchase all of these unnecessary items... but was it because we were looking for something else?

For some, like Lauryn buying coffee and Lucky going out to eat as well as Hanna going to events the purpose was for community. It is one of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to have social interactions. We all pursue things that bring us closer to others, but in college sometimes it requires us to spend money to do so.
For others, such as Riley, Jacob, and Clayton, they were fulfilling something in one way or another, whether it's through healthy eating, fishing, or biking.
Or maybe it's the realization that there are things that are required that we must purchase out of tradition or need.

But I think what comes from any of these is the decision that is being made... that we finally, as college students, get to make our own decisions. We get the excitement and stress that goes along with getting to choose how to spend our money and it is exciting so see how it ends up being spent. Whether it's a simple coffee or a Bridger pass, we truly are able to make the choice on our own. Sometimes I find myself missing the reminder of my mom saying "do you really need that?" But then quickly remember how I will get plenty of that over Christmas break. And she has taught me well--many of our parents instilled in us their similar type of spending habits and I often wondered how that affected the purchases.

If I were to do this again I think I'd ask a couple more questions such as: Did you think you had a need for this item? How would you feel if you were unable to make this purchase? How do you feel about other students spending habits? Do you feel like you spend the same way as your parents?

Although this blog raised more questions than answered, it was exciting to see what all the different reasons for purchasing things came to as well as how it came to be. I also just got to enjoy spending time and learning how my friends and colleagues make their decisions.

Consumer Spending of College Students: Spark Notes Edition

Before my final conclusive blog, I'd like to recap everything that this blog has gone through.
Rather than reading through the entire blog, for those who want a quick overview of everything so they can read a summary and questions that came up from each. It can be helpful to read all of the different interviews to get a nice view of the big picture as well as note if there are any we want to focus on specifically.

Spending of MSU Students
The introduction to the series that shows the questions I will be asking each interviewee. I reference Meghan Daum's article "My Misspent Youth," and how often many of us spend despite our lack of ability to. I wondered if college students do the same or budget out their spending.

Coffee 
My first interview came from my friend Lauryn. She is someone I see either with a coffee in her hands or on the way to meet someone for coffee. She was the first to show me how much community and social connection were an important reasoning behind her spending.

Healthy
I interviewed Jacob, someone who spends a lot of money to maintain a healthy lifestyle. This brought up the question of why people spend the way they do--Jacob grew up with a healthy vegetarian family so I questioned if it was a hobby.

Spending on Clothes
My friend Jane can definitely be described as one of my most stylish friends. She always looks great and I constantly wonder how she does it. I wondered if there was something that attempted. I learned that she did research before making a purchase, which is something I had wondered if college students had done.

Food & Football
I interviewed my friend Lucky about the weekly spending we often all partake in after church. We usually spend the morning headed to church then out to Clarks Fork, so I asked Lucky these same questions pertaining to this spending and it again pointed towards community.

Does More Spending Mean More Community? 
My friend Hanna attends events for CRU. Some are not as expensive as others, but one costs an upwards of $300 called CRU Conference. Hanna was the first person I interviewed that actually budgeted for her spending. I wondered if the direct link to community that CRU Conference offered increased Hanna's willingness to spend money and if that same link is found in others.

Fishing to Spend 
I had the pleasure of interviewing my mildly fish obsessed boyfriend. I noted that he didn't really budget but found satisfaction in fishing and decided to pursue it. I also found an interesting link to an article about addiction to our iPhones: "The article noted that we have become addicted to "likes," because they often don't come at certain times or at a consistent rate, so this sporadic "reward," causes us to do continue to look and check our phones. Now how does fly fishing come in? We never can be sure when we will catch a fish. Yes, there are slicks of water and holes that are more likely to catch fish, but there is no guarantee rate or promise of even catching one fish. So we continue to cast and attempt until we are finally worn out. So I wonder... did this addiction to sporadic reward really just start when our iPhones came out? Or has it been around far longer?" 

Biking & Bucks
Clayton is an avid biker who I constantly find working on his bike. He oftentimes will come back with a bag of new things for his bike. I also like to bike but definitely not to the same extent, so I wondered what he was buying so often and how much it cost. He noted how if he becomes more stressed he oftentimes will purchase more. I found this interesting and was curious as to how often things become linked.

What's This All About? 
I did a recap of what had occurred so far in the blog and brought up the idea of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and began linking the social needs as well as safety and esteem needs. I found it interesting to see what needs were satisfied by each of those spendings.

More Biking & More Money
I got to hear from my good friend Blaine, another person who I learned budgeted his money. This also brought up the question of how many of us begin spending more in college because we do not have our parents around to limit our spending. In college is the first time we are truly free to choose how we spend.

King Sized Spending
I began with my first of "adult life purchases," with Julia's interview. She purchased a mattress and noted that she had budgeted and saved up money for it. This brought up the question if it's something we need then will we save up money? I wondered if this showed the importance of the item--how much we saved and how much we'd spend.

Vroom Vroom 
My friend and roommate EJ made a big purchase many of us will have to go through at some point in our lives. She spent time researching before finding the right car as well as save money for a long period of time. I saw that this satisfied Maslow's Safety need and wondered if again she saved and budgeted because she was purchasing something so important. But I also had to ask... does this spending depend on the person or the nature of the object?

Shiny & Spendy
One of my favorite interviews came from my good friend Logan. I had the privilege of attending his wedding this summer. He and his wife are two of the kindest people I know, so I obviously was at first thrilled to hear when they got engaged, but as a college and business student, wondered how Logan went about saving and making this purchase. Logan noted he waited for a sale, found something in his price range, and used money he had saved while in a financially secure situation. I also found the entire idea of engagement rings interesting as to why they have become such a tradition as well as it's become such a custom that they are so fancy and expensive.

A Look Back 
My final blog will be a post reflecting on all I've learned throughout this process. It comes with the story of how this idea came about as well as many of the things I've learned.

Shiny & Spendy

Logan and Janae are some of the nicest people I know, and so when I learned they got engaged last winter, I was thrilled. I couldn't wait to see them and hug them and look at the ring like the enthusiastic person I am. 
As a business major and college student, I was also intrigued to see if Logan spent all of his money on this ring, set a budget, or just found a good deal. I was excited to hear about how his spending went. 

Janae's actual ring
Lindsey Jane Photography

1. How did you decide you wanted to go forth in this purchase?
So one, I decided I had a couple of thousand saved up for whatever I needed, and this was the next thing I needed. 
I shopped around and already had some savings ready to go. It's hard because you're supposed to do x amount-- maybe 3 months of your income--but when you're in college, you don't make any income, so you don't have a base. I just used what I saved up. And waited for the December sale. 

2. Do you set a budget for spending on this type of stuff? Did you change your spending budget after this purchase?
I didn't have a set budget. I didn't really know what kind of range I wanted to look at. It kind of depended more on Janae, and what she wanted. She didn't want to spend a ton of money on it; she thought the outrageous amounts were stupid. If we could find something that worked well, I knew I'd want to spend anywhere from $3,000-$5,000 and that's about where we landed. That's kind of what I had saved too, so it worked. 
It didn't really set us back or anything. It wasn't a huge deal because I was kind of already planning on using it for that. 

3. Have you forgone participating in other activities or purchasing other items in order to purchase this/these item(s)?
Yeah that investment fund was originally supposed to be for college, or just money to get me out of a bind if I screwed up, I guess. It kind of hung me out there for awhile but it wasn't really that bad. You can always take out loans--if I end up in a bad situation and I already had a job lined up for the summer that would pay well.  

4. How much would you say your spending habits changed while in college? On a scale of 1-10 how much would you say it has changed? And why?
(1-Not at all, exactly the same as before college. 10- It has done a complete 180 and I spend much differently)
Hmmm. I would say it's definitely changed. It for sure changes when you get married. Like when you start in high school, you make money then spend what you want because you don't really have expenses since you live with your parents and such, but once you hit college, you have to pay a bunch out, or take out loans. I definitely think I probably got a little more frugal and more comfortable with having what I have and not having the next thing. I think it's a good change. I would say it's probably a '7'. 

5. Do you think you will you continue to spend the same after college?
To some degree. I think that for sure right after you have to be pretty frugal. You'll have to pay back the debt and such. And make bigger purchases like buying a house and other stuff like that. 

My thoughts: 
I loved hearing that Logan noted he was saving up for what he needed and this was his next need. He had the money set away for something important, and to him this was the next most important thing. Waiting for a sale as well as understanding a price range (despite his lack of income, as he noted) was helpful to his decision to purchase something so important.  I was really interested on the subject of rings for a couple reasons: it's a big purchase that many students begin to make around this age, and it's not necessarily a need--but in a way it kind of is. For many, a ring symbolizes a lot about love and is seen as tradition as well as something that most women will wear for the rest of their lives. But still... can anyone truly say they need a ring? 
With social media outlets such as Pinterest and Instagram, pictures of rings are popping up everywhere, making the purchase seem like a necessary aspect of relationship behavior. And it is not just driven simply by jewelry companies, but now the consumers themselves. I knew Logan and Janae wouldn't fall into the consumer driven trap that has been created and get an expensive ring just because Pinterest said to.  
I then found it interesting and funny that his now-wife Janae, didn't want to spend a ton because she thought it was stupid to spend so much... which truly shows where the value is placed on the ring--what it symbolizes.

Vroom Vroom

A car. Buying your own car. In every teen movie ever to be written, buying a car was the epitome of becoming independent and being an adult. Being able to buy something that was such a major part of your life, that you used almost every day... what could be cooler?

For many in our generation, hand-me-down cars happen to be the new thing. For myself, I had my dads old car then my moms old car. It was exciting, but I knew I didn't have the same excited self accomplishment felt by my friends who happened to buy their own. 

For my friend EJ, I remember her discussing that she had wanted a car for almost the whole time I knew her in college. Ever since she entered college I remember her excitement to purchase her own car. 

How did you decide you wanted to go forth in this purchase?
I had been on the look out to buy a new car for basically a year. I had looked into other cars, but this one was definitely the best deal and it was the best car. 

Do you set a budget for spending on this type of stuff? Did you change your spending budget after this purchase?

I had a budget. I’ve been saving money for years. I knew I didn’t want to spend all my savings but I wanted to buy a car that would last me a while. So I wanted to save enough so that I could afford a good car. And no, my spending budget hasn’t changed since then. 

Have you forgone participating in other activities or purchasing other items in order to purchase this/these item(s)?

I haven’t foregone participating on other activities, but whenever I had the chance to buy something for fun, I always would ask myself whether or not I actually needed it. And usually when I thought about it, I didn’t need it. So I saved my money. 

How much would you say your spending habits changed while in college?
(1-Not at all, exactly the same as before college. 10- It has done a complete 180 and I spend much differently)
Why?

I would say I am a 5. I have had to take on many more financial responsabilities so my spending habits have changed. I would say it’s much easier for me to justify buying something I don’t necessarily need because I have a job and have an income. 

Do you think you will you continue to spend the same after college?

I think I will try and be smarter about my spending after college, but I don’t really know how realistic it is for my spending habit to change a lot unless it really is a priority. 

The idea of saving was something that EJ did quite a bit of. It wasn't simply saving for a new expensive sweater or a new fly rod, it is thousands of dollars. Was it simply the fact that it was more important or was it the fact that it was so important? 

I wonder if the importance of the item and the fact that it satisfies Maslow's safety aspect, but I guess we could only know with further questioning. I do find it quite intriguing that she didn't really budget or change many habits after. Does this depend on the person or is the nature of the object? Again, I may only find out after further question or even analysis.