Estimated reading time: 18 minutes
Discover the reality of budgeting as a broke student. Learn how to balance your wants and needs on a limited income.
Today, I’m sharing a story about a broke student who went from picking up cigarette butts off the streets to millionaire status.
I hope it inspires people worldwide who struggle to find financial stepping stones.
Budgets Only Work For People Who Have Money
I can’t tell you how often I’ve heard someone tell me that budgets only work for people with money.
The moment I hear that, I know I’m in for a long conversation about life and how it all went wrong for them.
It’s the world’s fault that they can’t balance their wants and needs on their income.
I’m not talking about homeless people who have no money unless a stranger walking by spares them a few dollars.
I’m talking about the people who have money coming in month after month.
I bet some homeless people are better at saving or sharing what they have with others because they know they must make it stretch.
Not all homeless people are on the streets because of bad financial choices.
It’s not harsh at all, just reality.
It’s a reality that some people will never understand unless they live the lifestyle,
Most people have a roof over their heads, a steady income, and a means to spend less,
However, making excuses over making money work for you is easier.
No, You Don’t Need:
- A big house
- Expensive salon haircuts
- More tools or gadgets
- A mobile phone
- Brand-new clothes
- A fancy vehicle
- Subscriptions to anything
- To play the lottery
- A luxury vehicle
- To live in a costly city
Clean Slate Program
The hardest part about being homeless is getting back up again in hopes of finding a place to live and someone to give them a job.
I watched a video yesterday about a city in Fort Worth, Texas, hiring homeless people to help clean it up and paying them to do it.
This is called the Clean Slate program, and they do the job right and own it.
Helping others means inspiring them and giving opportunities to those who WANT to become financially independent.
“Once you get an area cleaned up, it’s a little bit rewarding,” Frank, a worker in the program, says in the video, and the same can be applied to your financial life.
Please clean it up little by little, and the rewards will come.
We have to start OWNING our money and taking back the control we’ve given away because we believe we WANT more than we need.
Reaching Home Canada
Do you know what it’s like to be homeless with no food or having to roam the streets looking for government services to help in any way, shape, or form?
If you haven’t, then you can’t say that you don’t have money to budget because when you have any money, you have money to budget.
Today, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, announced the Government of Canada will be making bold changes to the federal strategy to prevent and reduce homelessness.
Reaching Home, the Government of Canada’s redesigned homelessness strategy, will double support for communities to address the needs of those experiencing or at risk of homelessness. – Source
The Canadian government will provide more money with fewer restrictions with the goal of helping cities reduce homelessness by half over the next decade.
A research paper from 2016 found that at least 235,000 people in Canada experience homelessness in a year and 35,000 are homeless on a given night.
Budgeting Is Inspiring
The word budget doesn’t mean you have to make x amount of dollars before you can distribute that money into categories that help sustain your life for today and tomorrow.
It means that if you have a dollar and have four things to pay for, you divide that dollar between all four things based on needs.
One category might need $0.40, another $0.10, and so on until the dollar is used up.
One of those categories might be savings, and you may only have a dime left to put into it, but that’s what YOU need to do to start building wealth.
It’s time to cut the crap and get down to business because I don’t know if you noticed, but gas prices, grocery prices, housing costs, and just about everything is increasing.
Homelessness Is Not Always A Choice
People don’t just wake up in the morning and say, today, I’m going to be homeless.
Being homeless is not a choice, but there are options, and sometimes, we make the wrong decisions that land us in places we’d rather not be.
There are ways out, and community organizations are willing to help if someone is ready.
You might be here because you want help with budgeting, as you may or may not have made wise decisions with your money or are beginning a journey.
If you are willing to take steps that most often include change, I want to tell you there is hope and a way out.
When we have the means to make decisions that can increase our wealth by even a dollar, we’ve taken one step in the correct direction.
No one wants to be on the streets or to be broke, but we all need to live.
Determination For Personal Gain Motivates Broke Student
I remember Mrs. CBB’s story about her college days and how she plowed through $ 7,000 worth of OSAP.
By the end of the school year, she was picking up cigarette butts off the streets.
As disgusting as that sounds, we do whatever it takes to get what we want when we become desperate.
The problem is that we need to use this desperate mentality when we have something to get us to the next level.
Stop waiting until it’s too late; your only option is to do it now.
College Changed Financially Savvy Student
She went from being a frugal saver living at home with her parents to an out-of-control, broke student just to fit in with her college buddies.
If you’re a broke student or have been a student, many of you know exactly what I’m talking about.
When school was done for the day, she went home to prepare for dinner and a night out at the club.
There was a mentality switch when she left her parents, which she can’t explain but knows she never wants to experience again.
She had no food in her cupboards or bank account and called her grandmother, asking for money.
That never came without an argument, either.
Excuses were made because she became stuck in this circle of staying out, getting up late, and too tired to care.
She had no job as she couldn’t find one in the big city even though she was handing out resumes.
Giving Up What You Don’t Want To Get Ahead
Quitting smoking would have been the ideal solution here, but as an ex-smoker, I know that’s easier said than done but possible.
It took her 15 years from that time for her to quit smoking. We did it together.
You don’t have to be math-smart to know how much money she could have saved if she had stopped during those desperate times.
She could have said enough is enough and gave it up, but she didn’t.
Looking back won’t bring us wealth, but it can bring us experience and knowledge to pass on to others and improve our lives today.
Avoiding Money Mistakes
Perhaps you might learn from someone else’s mistakes to avoid making the same.
Eventually, we all have mistakes to share with someone else who hasn’t made them yet.
After taking in a boarder for two months to help pay the rent, it wasn’t enough without going on welfare.
Everything took its toll on her, and she had to leave the big city to return home to her parents, where she had started over.
Welfare Changes A Broke Student
When she arrived home, she was saddened to find her parents were suffering due to illness.
She felt guilty for all the money her parents spent on her when she was in need at college instead of trying harder to find work.
Upon return, she rented a small apartment and collected welfare until she found not one but three jobs.
Her daily routine began with working out daily, walking everywhere, and saving as much money as possible.
Going out with her friends only happened when she wasn’t busy working on her life and doing things that made her happy.
Related: Simple Budgeting Guide For Students
Hang Around People Who Fit Your Goalsphere
Hanging out with her friends at the gym was far more satisfying than going out drinking for a night.
Still, to this day, she is friends with her gym buddies and credits her determination to become more vital in helping her reach her financial, personal, and spiritual goals.
She went on to win two weightlifting competitions and learned that if you want something wrong enough, you must push hard to get it.
You have to do it day in and day out as it becomes a part of your daily routine.
Budgeting works the same way. It will never work if you don’t make it part of your life,
Related: Why Student Budgeting Is Crucial
Determination Works
Her journey to becoming a millionaire from a broke student had begun.
Those few short months of street picking and going without in the big city prompted her to ensure that the money she earned always had a surplus in the bank.
Back then, that was her emergency savings, and as she got older, she began investing in RRSP’s and TFSA’s along with a work pension.
She continued to be this saver until we married and began our Canadian Budget Binder journey using a budget.
We’ve learned much over the years about Canadian finance, and no one can tell me they can’t budget because they have no money.
This past month, we’ve surpassed our goal of becoming millionaires, but that wasn’t what set us free.
When we became debt-free, including our mortgage, we knew everything we had done and the sacrifices were worth it.
Since then, we’ve been on our way to being multi-millionaires because of consistency with saving, investing, and earning power.
Simple Things Matter The Most
In that time, we’ve also realized that we are happy with what we have, which is not a big brand-new house filled with stuff we don’t need.
It’s perfectly fine to have blankets and pillowcases that don’t match, your carpet has a few stains, or your tiles are broken.
Being comfortable and happy financially means sitting on our front porch in the morning with a cup of coffee and listening to the birds chirp.
The sounds of nature increase wealth in our hearts and minds.
Knowing that we appreciate the small things others miss as they fly by life in a hurry rings us joy. Not everyone finds this joyful spot.
Don’t Stop Caring About Your Financial Plan
We still shop secondhand for everything from clothing, books, toys, sports equipment, etc.
Everything we do revolves around budgeting because that’s the routine we set, and we know it works.
When you stop doing something that was the basis of your success, everything can crumble unless you have a solid backup plan.
Regarding budgeting, the only contingency plan that you need is to keep going.
So the next time someone tells me they don’t have enough money or make enough money to budget, I will say to them they have choices.
Don’t give up if you’re a broke student struggling to find your path in this world.
If you’re a student and want to start budgeting, start with Canadian Budget Binder.
Discussion: What sacrifices did you make to get where you are today?
Awesome article Mr CBB!
As with a lot of people, I have experienced the highs and lows of a financial roller coaster, been dead broke & without food a couple of times in my life and it made me want to always have some funds in reserve for emergencies.
I don’t get folks that won’t, and I don’t mean can’t, save even $1 per month and start their emergency fund. It’s not going to make you rich in a hurry but if you save $1 a month starting at you 16th birthday & your first job…20 years later there is $240 plus interest and that my friends will keep you alive with food for quite some time if need be. I have learned though, you can’t help those that refuse to help themselves and I have quit trying.
I have my own priorities…make sure that if I pass before hubby that there is enough for him to live comfortably all the rest of his days. What sort of a poor excuse for a wife would I have been if I spent money needlessly and my partner, my best friend, my husband had to suffer after I was gone and no longer able to be his helpmate? That is what motivates me to budget to the very best of my ability. ?
We need to get back to real love…the long enduring and unconditional kind. To get there we need to abandon the “instant” everything mentality and the “me-me-me” motivation. My father asked me on my wedding day if I loved my husband enough to put him and his happiness first in my life ALWAYS. Dad said that if we both approached our marriage with that motivation, ours would be long and happy one and it has been! Never did Dad promise we’d be rich or famous…just happy and together as a team. That’s not that our life has been without financial hurdles – we’ve sure had our share. When was the last time you did without something so that someone else could have a little more? I believe what goes around comes around and I try to restrict my desire for non-necessities and instead just focus the sheer joy of sharing whatever is available with my chosen partner – I am one lucky lady and really want for nothing!
THANK YOU for sharing this. It’s refreshing to hear positive feedback from those who understand the value in a dollar. You’re right when you say the pot may take time to grow but it will eventually. ??