On a budget

Costs limit extracurricular activities for students: TD survey

A new TD report suggests university students who are having a hard time funding extracurricular activities need to make smarter choices with their budgets.

The survey found that when it comes to paying for extracurricular activities, 52 per cent of current post-secondary students surveyed say costs prevent them from joining up or limit the number of activities they can participate in.

TD offers the following tips to help students make the most of their money.

• Flash your student card:

University or college memberships can provide instant access to numerous extracurricular activities — usually offered at a reduced rate for student and sometimes even for free. If you’re not sure if a discount is offered, don’t be afraid to ask.

• Track your spending: Money

management apps can keep students on track with their budgets by sending instant notifications the moment you pay for something, letting you

know if you’re above or below your typical spending for the month.

• File your taxes: Even if you

don’t make enough money with your student job to owe the government money, you could be entitled to a tax refund by claiming the tuition and textbook tax credit. Also, CRA will determine if you are eligible for payment of the GST/HST credit if you file.

• Rent textbooks: Consider

buying used textbooks — or even renting them — and then resell them after your course is done to make some of your

money back. • Pay credit card bills on time:

To avoid late fees and accruing interest charges, pay the balance in full every month by the payment date. Later on, you’ll need a healthy credit score to borrow money for a home mortgage or auto loan, so this is a simple way to start building credit.

TD Bank Group commis

sioned Environics Research

Group to conduct the custom survey of 6,337 Canadians aged 18 and older, including 803 current post-secondary students.

Responses were collected

between Feb. 25 and March 17,

2016. The polling industry’s pro

fessional body, the Marketing

Research and Intelligence Association, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.