Money is an important subject concerning college students. Everyone could use more and many students attempt to budget in order to have enough for what they need. However, not everyone has mastered the art of money management. Or flex management.

On any given day, the sub will be filled during lunch hours. And most of the students packing the sub are freshmen.

Most freshmen have a limited amount of flex dollars because most don’t have enough hours for the different available plans.

Olivia Griffin, a freshman pre-nursing major, experienced first-hand the consequences of not budgeting her flex.

Her meal plan had the allotted amount of $50 of flex but she was not aware that there was a difference between cafeteria meals and sub meals. She used up all of her flex dollars within the first month of school.

Griffin said she did not know the difference between flex dollars and Warhawk Express, nor did she know that there was a limit to her flex dollars.

“They didn’t give me a number. I just know that one day I spent it all. I thought the sub was a place to hang out. I didn’t know the money was limited,” Griffin said.

But Angela Stewart, a freshman pre-dental hygiene major, knew more about the flex process. She tries to conserve her flex dollars because she knows that they are limited. Angela saves her $50 of flex for desperate measures.

Stewart learned valuable lessons in a class she took about money management before coming to college.

“Don’t spend money on random stuff. You don’t need a different outfit for every event. Money is very precious in college,” Stewart said.

Money management goes beyond just saving your flex dollars. Learning good spending habits now will carry on into your adult lives where bills are real and your parents have closed their pockets to you.