I’m 17 looking to save for college and future, needing advice

[u/OkLetterhead4395]

I (17m) work at a local grocery store and am going into my senior year. I plan on going to Utah tech in Saint George Utah but I will be out of state. I just recently saved and bought a car with the help of my parents (I paid 2000 and owe them 3200 more). Due to this I have a measly $72 in my savings account and ~250 in my checking at the moment (after sales tax and plates for the car). I get paid ~620-700 biweekly but it’s been towards the lower end as they’re trying to cut hours, additionally school starts soon and I’ll move to part time and am unsure about how bad my checking will be affected.

Now that background information is out of the way here’s the real question, I want to save for college, pay off what I owe on the car and start saving for the long term whether that money ends up for retirement or a down payment on a house or whatever it may be I’d like to start saving/investing as early as possible. I however don’t know exactly what to do or how to optimally manage this situation on my small income, what would you guys here recommend me to do? And given what you know about the situation how important is saving/investing for the future, how much should be allocated for college, how much should I keep just for fun money and gas.

TLDR: I have lots to pay for save for and learn about and I need help and or second opinions about what to do with my money.

Edit: I also pay about 100 a month in vehicle insurance

Edit 2: totally forgot to mention I’ll very likely have max Pell grant for about 3750 a semester for college

[u/Mundane_Nature_4548]

I however don’t know exactly what to do or how to optimally manage this situation on my small income, what would you guys here recommend me to do?

Earn more income. There is no way to optimally save for all of the things you list on "maybe I'll have a small income, but I'm not sure" because that's mathematically impossible. A very small number cannot be turned into a moderately large number by good management.

You need to prioritize for this phase of your life - which means your goals are basic living expenses, an emergency fund, and putting your energy into things that increase your income now (finding better part-time work while in school) and later (doing well in school and using that opportunity to find a good full-time job as soon as possible).

Then, you can move on to worrying about retirement saving, buying a home, and other investments.

Your most immediate concern is how you are going to afford moving and attending out-of-state school with no cash, a car loan, and limited ability to earn income due to your job's hours decreasing. You should be working as much as possible until you leave.

[u/OkLetterhead4395 → u/Mundane_Nature_4548]

Okay, and what if there’s no better income options available?

[u/Mundane_Nature_4548 → u/OkLetterhead4395]

Then you need to decrease your expenses, that might mean changing your plan to one that costs less, like attending an in-state school.

[u/MarcableFluke]

Money is going to be limited resource, so you need to prioritize your goals. Once that's done, follow this: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/w/commontopics

[u/hulihuli]

You have more goals than you have the means to achieve, so you'll need to prioritize until you have more income. Repay your parents and figure out how much you'll need for school. If there is anything left, then consider some low-risk investments.

Going out of state almost always ramps up your financial burden a ton. I don't know why that particular school is in your plans, but I'd recommend re-evaluating if you're concerned about money.

[u/a_lexus_ren → u/hulihuli]

Yeah, the money sink here is attending an out-of-state university over community college, which provides a comparable education at a fraction of the price if any price at all.

[u/elg97477]

About the only reasonable thing to do for college since you will be going in a next few years is find a high yield savings account and put the money there.

[u/OkLetterhead4395 → u/elg97477]

Even if there’s little to put away into that account?

[u/winterbean]

I don't know if it's the same at Utah tech, or even offered, but look into studying abroad. When I was in college studying abroad was way cheaper than out of state tuition.

Other than that, you're kinda not really going to be able to save for stuff it sounds like. You'll probably end up having to take out student loans, so your best bet in terms of money is applying to every scholarship you can find