Millennial Focus #1: Sri Ramakrishnan

College is one of the toughest times to manage your personal finances.

We know this and this is why we interviewed a (relatively) recent college grad and budgeting maestro Sri Ramakrishnan to learn more about his approach regarding college finances and personal tools.

Our conversation here below:

Tomo: Hi Sri, thanks for taking the time to chat with us! How long has it been since you were last in college and what did you study?

Sri: Thanks for having me! I graduated undergrad in 2017 and I majored in Economics.

Tomo: Did you have any jobs or internships during college?

Sri: I did indeed, I had a few jobs through my years in college. I was an English tutor during my sophomore year, worked as a barista at Starbucks for a summer, did a part-time internship at a technology startup alongside my classes during my junior year, and I did a full-time summer internship between my junior and senior year.

Tomo: What were your spending habits like when you were in college?

Sri: To be quite honest, I was (and still am) a fairly frugal individual. Throughout college I’d find ways to stay within specific budgets I had outlined for myself and make sure that I saved a significant percentage of my income when I was working.

That being said, I always made sure to spend money on things that made my life easier or on areas that I felt were investments in myself. Through my senior year, I made a conscience effort to spend more money on experiences that I thought would enrich my life and would become memories I could look back on as opposed to material objects that didn’t give me much joy after the first purchase.

Tomo: Did you have a credit card during college? If so what kind?

Sri: I did but it was just a standard credit card issued by my bank with barely any rewards.

Tomo: Did you use any tools to manage your budget or personal finances during these years?

Sri: During my time in college I didn’t have a specific budget tracker as I do today (I currently manage all my monthly expenses manually on an excel spreadsheet) but I did use a few apps to invest my money and to generally become more financially literate.

I first opened a Robinhood account during my junior year to put my money in a few individual companies I felt very strongly about. I was very compelled by the commission-free trading proposition and wanted to get involved with these stocks that I felt were promising. At the same time I opened an account with Coinbase and invested in Bitcoin and Ethereum after doing a lot of research. This was early in 2017, just at dawn for all the publicity that was brewing around the blockchain/crypto space. For personal transactions and peer-to-peer expenses I used Venmo, as it became impossible to navigate the college landscape without it. Other than these three, I just used my bank’s standard web portal to oversee my expenses and income.

Tomo: Looking back, was there anything you wish you had done differently in regards to your personal finances?

Sri: Honestly, I remember after my senior year vividly wishing I had a high rewards credit card through my time in college. There were so many random expenses from a variety of categories (especially food/travel) that I could have reaped rewards from. On top of this, I was paying the rent for my senior year apartment through Venmo to one of my roommates who would write to our landlord the check for all of us. I figured if I had a high rewards credit card throughout this time, I could have built my credit history through these consistent payments and potentially had secured some cash back.

Tomo: Any tools you wish you had used or had during this time?

Sri: Not to sound cheesy but a Tomocredit card would have been huge for me along with many of my peers during this time in college. I know it was hard for a lot of college students to qualify for high rewards credit cards during our pre-employment years without significant credit history or a credit score. Not to mention for me, especially during my years in college to have had a credit card where I could earn rewards in crypto would have paid off tremendously with the huge bull run for cryptocurrencies experienced in late 2017.

Tomo: Any advice you’d give college students who are trying to manage their personal finances?

Sri: Live within your means and try to save a little bit from every paycheck. Start investing in low cost Index funds as early as you can. Pay off any debt you may have as soon as possible (student loans, credit card etc). Once you have enough of a savings cushion, try to live within your means but don’t forget to go spend money on experiences and with people who will bring you joy. You only have one life so go live it up!

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To learn more about budgeting, and personal finance tips you can connect with Sri Ramakrishnan on Twitter and Instagram (@sreezy3000) or reach out to him on LinkedIn.