Introduction

INTRODUCTION Money is any object or record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally in the past, a standard of deferred payment. Any kind of object or secure verifiable record that fulfils these functions can serve as money. Money originated as commodity money, but nearly all contemporary money systems are based on fiat money. Fiat money is without intrinsic use value as a physical commodity, and derives its value by being declared by a government to be legal tender; that is, it must be accepted as a form of payment within the boundaries of the country, for ” all debts, public and private”. The money supply of a country consists of currency (banknotes and coins) and bank money (the balance held in checking accounts and savings accounts). Bank money usually forms by far the largest part of the money supply. According to Walker, money what money does, but this definition of money cannot throw light on the definition of money because money does many things; it is just the functional theory of money. Robertson has given the most satisfactory definition of money. According to him, anything, which is widely accepted in payment for good or discharges other kinds of business obligations, is called as money. It is not the physical characteristics of money that makes money acceptable it is of social significance. The idea of general acceptability worries some people to take it as flimsy. Money like other goods is demanded because it is useful, but money differs from others in terms of utility. It is not a consumer because it does not yield any direct utility, it is not a capital good because it is incapable of performing feats of physical transformation. It is the commercial theory of money. (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Money) ETYMOLOGY The word ” money” is believed to originate from a temple of Hera, located on Capitoline, one of Rome’s seven hills. In the ancient world Hera was often associated with money. The temple of Juno Moneta at Rome was the place where the mint of Ancient Rome was located. The name ” Juno” may derive from the Etruscan goddess Uni (which means ” the one”, ” unique”, ” unit”, ” union”, ” united”) and ” Moneta” either from the Latin word ” monere” (remind, warn, or instruct) or the Greek word ” moneres” (alone, unique). In the Western world, a prevalent term for coin-money has been specie, stemming from Latin in specie, meaning ‘in kind’. (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Money) We have discussed about the etymology and definition of money. Now let us talk about how students manage their money. For many students, college is the first major landmark on the path to independence. Moving away from home means no more curfews, no asking for permission and no parents looking over their shoulders. It also means that the liberty-seeking college kid is now free to make his or her own mistakes. In such an environment, money management often becomes an issue. Knowing how to avoid these problems is the key to beating them.( http://local. youngmoney. com/Top_Ten_Student_Money_Mistakes. html) When it comes to standing on our own feet, it illustrates that we also have to be smart on spending our money. Unfortunately, many of the students fail to do so. They spend their money whenever they want without realising the consequences that they will face in future. This phenomena also happens in Penang Matriculation College (PMC). After realising that this matter is getting serious, we have decided to conduct a research on how PMC students spend their money. This research is not only to prevent students from wasting their money but also to identify the spending style of our students. Besides that, through this research we would like to provide few ways on how to save our money. OBJECTIVES Through this study, we would like to find out how Penang Matriculation College students manage their money. METHODOLOGY RESPONDENTS The respondents of this study consists of 50 students. The students are from three courses, namely life science, physical science and accounting. All students are between 18 to 19 years old. INSTRUMENTS The instruments used in this study is a questionnaire. Questionnaires were distributed to 50 students of PMC. The data obtained through this questionnaire has been analysed using descriptive statistics. RESEARCH PROCEDURE For this research, we obtained data by distributing questionnaires to the college students. The study was a non-experimental descriptive research or study that attempted to look into the ways of PMC students manage their money. DATA ANALYSIS Figure 1 : Gender Of Respondent The pie chart above shows the analysis from the questionnaire which is 50% of the respondents is female students and another 50% are male students. Figure 2 : Breakdown Of Respondents According To Courses The bar graph shows the breakdown of respondents according to their courses. 90% of the respondents were life science students followed by 8% of physical science and 2% accounting students. Figure 3 : Sources Of PMC Student’s Money The pie chart shows that most students get money from both parents and allowance. 96% of the students get the money from allowance, followed by parents which is 84% and 18% from siblings. Figure 4 : PMC Student’s Weekly Expenditure The pie chart shows the percentage of money PMC students spend every month. 44% of PMC students spend less than RM 200 per month, while 42% spend more than RM 250 per month. Only 14% of the students spend between RW 300 and RM 500 per month. Figure 5 : Breakdown Of PMC Students’ Expenditure According to the pie chart above, it obviously shown that most of students spent their money for food, which is about 86%. Studies take up 44% followed by 40% for top-up. From that it is clear that PMC students spend a large portion of their money on food whereas money spent for educational purposes and phone top-ups are almost proportional. Figure 6 : Breakdown Of Money Spent On Studies From figure 6, we can see that most of the students spent not more than RM 50 or about 54% on studies followed by 44% for students who spent between RM100 and RM200. Only 2% of students spent RM 200 and above on studies. Figure 7 : Breakdown Of Daily Food Expenditure According to the pie chart above, it obvious that 40% of students spent RM 7 and less on food per day while 36% spent between RM 7 and RM 9 per day. Only 24% spent more than RM 9 on food daily. Figure 8 : Monthly Top-Up Expenditure Of PMC Students From figure 8, we can see that 76% of PMC students spend money not more than RM 50 for phone top-up while 22% of students who spent above RM50. Only 2% spent more than RM 100 for their phone top-up in a month. Figure 9 : Outing Expenditure Of PMC Students The chart show money spent during outing among students. From the data collected, 48% of the students spent around below RM50 during outing. This is maybe due to the daily necessity for students. 46% of students that spent around RM100 and RM200 followed by 6% of students who spent more than RM200. Figure 10 : PMC Students Saving Habit Figure 10 indicates that most of PMC students do not save much money in a month. The majority of students save around RM 10 a month is indicated by the data obtained. 44% of the students save RM 10 and less while 40% manage to save between RM 10 and RM 40. Only about 4% of PMC students save more than RM 100 per month. Figure 11 : Balance Of Money In Account At The Of End Every Month The data indicates the balance of money in account at the end in every month among PMC students. Generally, the trend illustrates that most of the students retain money both from parents and allowance in their account. 62% of the students still have RM 500 and below in their account while 22% have between RM 500 and RM 800. Only 16% of the students manage to save more than RM 800 per month. DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS The survey on sources of PMC students money shows that most students get money from both parents and allowance. 96% of the students get the money from allowance, followed by parents which is 84% and 18% from siblings. Apart from that, we can assume that most parents of Penang Matriculation students are educated and they have careers to support their children. Their parents give money to support their children to provide ease and contentment for study. That is why Penang Matriculation students get money from parents as the second ranking for the source of money. As we know, the government had supply the allowance for all matriculation students which is RM 1250. 00 but some student seldom use it and may be they use the money that were given by the parents. We can see that most of the students spent not more than RM 50 or about 54% on studies followed by 44% for students who spent between RM100 and RM200. Only 2% of students spent RM 200 and above on studies. Maybe the students already have their own references book or better use lectures notes. From our view, most of students that vote for studies like to shop for novels. This is due to their hobbies to read the novel in their free time. From the data collected for outing expenditure among PMC students, 48% of the students spent around below RM50 during outing. This is maybe due to the daily necessity for students. 46% of students that spent around RM100 and RM200 followed by 6% of students who spent more than RM200. As we know, females have many items to purchase for health and beauty care that most important for each female. We can see that many students like to have new clothes, accessories and gadgets. From our view, when female students get back from outing, they will bring back the new clothes, shoes and accessories such as scarf, bracelets and brooch. Apart from that, we can see that many students like to buy new phone so that they can update the new brands in market. The other activities that they are doing while outing such as window shopping, having lunch and go home. Most students do not choose watching movie while outing because they do not have enough time to watch movie which take minimum 1 hours and 30 minutes per movie. They need to spent more time for buying their necessity. Most of PMC students do not save much money in a month. The majority of students save around RM 10 a month is indicated by the data obtained. 44% of the students save RM 10 and less while 40% manage to save between RM 10 and RM 40. Only about 4% of PMC students save more than RM 100 per month. This is maybe due to the obstacles that students have to face during spending and give reasons of high price of things , treat friends and shopping. As a teenager, friends are like a family. So, they will do anything to show their care and love to their friends. It is not impossible for the students to spend their money for their beloved friends. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION As a conclusion, this research have given us a lot of information about spending our money. We as the researcher also learnt a lot from this research for example we have to be smart when spending our money. We have found that students do not exactly know how to spend their money wisely. They tend to think that the allowance provided is not enough to support this two whole semester of study. Here we have some recommendations on how to save our money in a brilliant way. When it comes to spending money, it is a need to have a good spending budget. As a student it’s easy to get complacent when you don’t have a mortgage to pay, kids to feed, or other significant money worries. The problem is that students often have a limited or even sporadic income and if you don’t track this spending carefully it’s easy to waste money on things that you could otherwise save. (http://financialplan. about. com) Start by creating a simple budget. It doesn’t take long, but if you take the time to analyze your income and where you’re spending money you can get a better idea of where your money is going and where you can cut back. After all, if you end up spending more money than you have coming in you’re likely to end up with the problems like out of money. Next, use your allowance appropriately. Use the allowance smartly and spend on your important stuffs only. Other then that keep it safely in the ATM machine. Do not use too much of your allowance when you go outing. Letting friends to pressure you when spending your money is something to avoid. College life is full of opportunities to spend money, finals week smorgasbord, an evening out with friends, road trips and vacations… Not knowing how to say “ no” can cause students to spend money they just do not have. “ If you can’t afford it, just say no”, says David Fingerhut, a financial adviser with Pines Financial in St. Louis. Be careful when you let your friends to lend your money. Its not wrong to help your friends who have fianance problem but make sure that they return your money because once the borrow your money it takes thousand days for them to return it back. (https://www. higheroneaccount. com) In a nut shell, we are college students thus we have to realise that we have to be independence in all aspects including how to spend our money. During this era, we will have to face a a lots of hurdles and we have to be bold to solve our problems. A similar study can be carried out in other Matriculation College to gauge students’ money management capabilities. . REFERENCES 1. Money. wikipedia. org. ( 2012 ) Money (online) – Access from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Money – Downloaded on 20 February 2012 2. Young Money. com (2004) Top Ten Student Money Mistakes (online) – Access from http://local. youngmoney. com/Top_Ten_Student_Money_Mistakes. html – Downloaded on 20 February 2012 3. About. com (2011) Top Five Mistakes College Students Make (online) – Access from http://financialplan. about. com -Downloaded on 18 February 2012 4. Young Money. com (2012) Top Ten Students Money Mistakes (online) -Access from https://www. higheroneaccount. com -Downloaded on 18 February 2012 APPENDICES SURVEY — HOW PMC STUDENTS SPEND THEIR MONEY Gender-Male/Female Course : _____________ 1. What are the sources of your money? You can tick more than one answer. Allowance Parents Siblings Scholarship Other sources (Please state) : __________________________ 2. What is the amount of money you have for expenditure every month? RM 200 and below RM 250 and above RM 300 — RM 500 More than RM 500 3. On what do you spend your money most? Rank from 1 to 4. Studies Food Phone Top Up Outing Others (Please state) : _______________________________ 4. How much do you spend for studies? RM 50 and below RM 100 – RM 200 RM 200 and above 5. How much money do you spend for food daily? RM 7 and below RM 7 – RM 9 Rm 9 and above 6. How much do you spend for your phone top up in a month? RM 50 and below RM 50 and above More than RM 100 7. How much do you spend during outing? RM 50 and below RM 100 – RM 200 RM 200 and above 8. How much money do you save in a month? RM 10 and below RM 10 and above More than RM 50 More than RM 100 9. How much allowance is left in your account at the end of every month? RM 500 and below RM 500 – RM 800 RM 800 and above