The University’s Student Money Management Center and the Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Relations plan to teach students how to set money-saving goals at the Paint a Pig Party at La Casa Cultural Latina on Thursday.

Participants will decorate piggy banks when they set a savings goal. The piggy bank will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. 

The hosts hope to celebrate the annual University of Illinois Saves campaign to help students set specific, measurable, agreed-upon, realistic and timely “SMART” goals for their bank accounts, Gioconda Perez, director of La Casa, said in an email.

The University of Illinois Saves campaign, or UISAVES, is designed to support a culture of positive financial habits across the University of Illinois system, Perez said.

“We know from research that people who write down their goals are more likely to achieve them,” Perez said.

Other tips the hosts hope to provide students with include how to share your goal and receive help from others, how to establish a financial plan and how to stick to that plan.

Cara Wiemeyer, sophomore in LAS, said she tries to use cash more often than her debit card, because this allows her to track what she has spent more easily.

Andrea Pellegrini, assistant director of the Student Money Management Center, said paying close attention to where you’re spending small amounts, such as food and entertainment, can help identify little behaviors that add up to big savings.

“To save money, I usually try to thrift my clothes and limit myself on spending money on food,” Sneh Pandya, freshman in Engineering, said.

Perez said establishing healthy financial habits while you are young can help students throughout their lives, as finances continue to get more complicated as you get older.

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