How Coronavirus affects college students financially

The outbreak of the coronavirus has become a major disruption to colleges and students across Canada. Colleges have been forced to cancel in-person and move to online classes while the pandemic threatens students to change their look with their financial budget. As lockdown begins and all non-essential stores have been forced to close, many students have lost their part-time jobs. Amid this extreme economic uncertainty, students have been struggling more than ever and there is a huge problem that is affecting college students physically and mentally: financial stress.

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What is Financial Stress?

Financial stress refers to the feeling of worry, fear, and anxiety of an individual about finances. Sometimes, it can even cause physical symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, gaining/losing weight, and more. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there are many Canadian college students who are struggling with money. According to a survey conducted by Undergraduates of Canadian Research-Intensive Universities, 79 percent of students from 3,000 students interviewed said they are struggling with money and having financial stress due to the pandemic. So, how can college students save money and avoid financial stress during this period?

Here are some suggestions:

• Eliminate unnecessary expenses One of the best tips for saving money as a college student during this pandemic is to eliminate unnecessary expenses. You should start by making a list of everything you spend your money on including rent, food, utilities, internet plan, toiletries, … After that, you highlight only essential items that you need, everything else must go. For example, if you are paying for a magazine subscription that you never read, you should cancel it. Or, if you have an app payment that you want to end but forgot, now is time to double-check and cancel it. Remember that you can always find out your monthly outgoings directly from your online banking account.

• Be smart with your grocery shopping Besides renting, food may be your biggest monthly expense. Therefore, when it comes to grocery shopping, please remember to keep it low-cost by being mindful of what you want to put in your cart. You can do it by planning out what you want to eat for the week and making a list of the ingredients that you will need. By doing so, when you’re shopping, you will know exactly what you want to buy and thus you avoid impulse buys. If you want to know more grocery shopping tips and tricks for college students, please visit our previous blog post.

• Look for remote work Even though many companies are forced to close due to the lockdown, they have been adapting to the situation and have moved parts of their work from physical to remote, and they are hiring workers for these kinds of positions. Please spend some time renewing your resume, add skills that you have learned from your previous job and start hunting for an online job. You can start by searching “part-time work-from-home jobs” or “temporary work-from-home jobs” to job-listing websites such as Indeed and Monster.

• Seek financial support If you were forced to be laid off because of the outbreak, you may be qualified for governmental financial supports—such as the EI (Employment Insurance) benefits or the Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB). Please read the rules of these programs carefully and submit your applications promptly.

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This coronavirus pandemic has been hard for all of us, especially for college students. But we believe that it is important to spend some time thinking about what positive changes have occurred in your life during this pandemic and be grateful for these positive changes. And finally, please remember to manage your finances in this time of uncertainty.