“70后赚钱，80后欠钱，90后花钱”；“90后已经成为消费狂欢的绝对主力”；“论花钱，90后可比80后在行多了”……类似的报道不绝于耳。

根据中国艾瑞咨询集团的报告显示，2018年中国大学生常规消费规模已经达到4200多亿元，占全国GDP总量的1%。怎么样，是不是对年轻人的购买和消费能力刮目相看呢？快来看看外媒眼中的年轻人到底是怎么花钱的吧！

美国年轻人一般怎么花钱

美国CNBC对此做了详细报道：

According to a new report from Charles Schwab, millennials spend more than other generations on comforts and conveniences like taxis, pricey coffee and dining out.
根据一份来自查尔斯施瓦布公司的研究报告，千禧一代（注：一般特指1982年-2000年出生的人）与他们的父辈相比，更容易在个人舒适和便利方面进行消费，比如计程车、高级咖啡以及“下馆子”。

Sixty percent of millennials admit to spending more than $4 on coffee, 79 percent will splurge to eat at the hot restaurant in town and 69 percent buy clothes they don't necessarily need.
60%的年轻受访者表示他们会购买超过4美元一杯的咖啡，79%的受访者表示会去“网红餐厅”打卡吃饭，还有69%的受访者表示他们会购买一些其实并不是很必要的衣服。

美国市场研究机构Bigger Markets专门针对大学生怎么花钱进行了研究：

College kids spend $27 billion on things deemed to be "non-essential items". According to the study, students ages 18-24 spend $5 billion each year on clothes and shoes, and $5.5 billion on alcohol. They spent another $2.4 billion on entertainment, which includes things like music, DVD and on-demand movie rentals, and video games.
学生们在被认为在“非必要物品”的东西上花费了270亿美元。比如18岁至24岁的学生每年在衣服和鞋子上的花费为50亿美元，在酒精饮料上的支出为55亿美元。在娱乐方面花费了24亿美元，其中包括音乐、DVD和点播电影租赁以及电子游戏等。

看到这里，是不是觉得自己的钱包正在瑟瑟发抖呢？但是，剥离消费数字的表象，我们再深入了解一下年轻人的消费心理，他们花钱的时候在想什么呢？

The Kansas City Star撰文分析了现在年轻人的消费表现：

More than possibly any other generation, this is a group that relies on word of mouth — even if it's from strangers. Online reviews are a hot commodity when considering a purchase. They'll pay for experience over material.
比任何其他一代人都更重要的是，这是一个严重依赖口碑的群体——即使是来自陌生人的评论。来自其他购买者的评价在购买时是一个重要的参考因素。他们将更倾向为经验而不是实物买单。

Millennials are more likely to pay for events or memories — like concert tickets, bar tabs or road trips — than they are for tangible items.
与有形物品相比，千禧一代更有可能为活动或记忆买单——比如音乐会门票、酒吧账单或公路旅行。

也有媒体深入分析了年轻人所处的社会背景和经济状况，其实年轻人的消费并不像我们想象的那么“大手大脚”。根据lexingtonlaw.com的报道，年轻人在娱乐方面的花费其实只有他们父辈的2/3。怎么样，惊不惊喜，意不意外？

学会聪明地花钱

大部分国外的年轻人需要依靠贷款来支付高等教育的费用。因此也使得他们在计划自己的开支时更加谨慎，因为糟糕的财务状况可能会拖累你的未来发展，影响到你以后几十年的生活水平！

不妨和双语君（微信ID：Chinadaily_Mobile）一起来学习一下国外专家给大学生的花钱建议。

ConsumerReports.com官网给出的建议是Make a Budget（做好预算）：

1. Know your cash flow.
了解你的现金流。

People who budget typically do it monthly, but it makes more sense for students to build a spending plan around each academic period. First, tally up the money you expect to have for the semester. It's likely to be "lumpy". You may have a chunk from savings or refunds from financial aid (that's money left over after loans, scholarships, and grants are applied to your tuition, room and board, and fees) at the start of the semester, and some regular income from your parents or a job.
预算通常是按月做的，但学生在每个学期前后制定支出计划更有意义。首先，需要计算一下你在这学期里能支配的所有钱，数字不一定需要很精确。你可能会有一笔钱来自之前的储蓄、或是从财政援助计划中得到的补助（扣除了贷款、奖学金和助学金后剩下的钱，可以用来支付你的学费，生活费和其他费用）；在学期开始，你通常还会从父母和兼职收入那里得到一些钱。

2. Track your spending.
记录你的支出。

Next, figure out what you spend in a typical month. Look at your debit card, bank account, and credit cards over the last few months to see where your money is going and what big-ticket items popped up. Once you see what you've been spending money on, you may be surprised at how much is on nonessentials.
接下来，记录下你在一个典型的月份里花了多少钱。看看你的借记卡、银行账户和信用卡，看看你的钱去了哪里。一旦你看到你的账目记录，你可能会惊讶于有多少钱花在了非必需品上。

3. Identify your needs and wants.
区分你“需要的”和“想要的”

Now comes the hard part: Categorizing your spending into two buckets, needs vs. wants. Needs are staples like clothing, housing, school gear, food, and transportation. Wants: concert tickets, your second soy latte of the day, beer, and that spring break plane ticket.
把你的支出分为两个部分：需要的和想要的。需要的可以包括服装、住宿、学习用品、食品和交通等。想要的可以是：音乐会门票, 你当天的第二杯大豆拿铁，啤酒，还有在春假期间的机票。

能花钱，也要会投资！

如果你想进一步拓展自己的财商，为自己未来几十年的生活准备一个良好的财务开端，那么，外媒同样给出了年轻人在投资方面的建议。

《福布斯》相关报道中提到：

Let's say you invest $300 per month starting at age 20 and don't stop until you're 60-years-old. If you managed an 8 percent return during that time, you would have more than $1 million dollars in that account alone.
假设从20岁开始每月投资300美元，并且一直持续到60岁。如果能使投资回报率维持在8％左右，那么仅凭这一个帐户你就可以获得超过100万美元的回报。

Now let's say you waited until you were 30 to get started. By the time you reached 60-years-old, you would only have $440,445 in your account. Those first ten years you missed out on would cost you more than $550,000 in returns — even though you only skipped $36,000 and ten years of deposits!
如果说等到30岁才开始同样的投资，当你达到60岁时，你的账户中只有44.0445万美元。你错过的前十年会使你少拿到超过55万美元的回报。即使你仅仅少付了这十年的3.6万美元！

《美国新闻》相关报道对年轻人长远投资做了具体建议：

Perhaps the strategy's most significant benefit for younger investors is capitalizing on their greatest asset: time. "Investors with decades in front of them have a huge opportunity to take advantage of compounding interest," says Amanda Lawson, communications specialist at Matson Money in Scottsdale, Arizona.
也许这一策略对年轻投资者最重要的好处是他们可以充分利用他们最大的资产：时间。亚利桑那州斯科茨代尔的Matson Money公司的客户联系专家Amanda Lawson说：“年轻的投资者有很大机会利用到复利。”

She says a millennial who invests $100 a month and generates a 12 percent average rate of return from holding investments long term could have a portfolio worth nearly $2.4 million by age 65.
她说，千禧一代每月投资100美元，并且通过持有长期投资获得12％的平均回报率，到65岁时可以获得价值近240万美元的投资获利。

看完以上的建议，是不是对花钱这件事又有了更深的认识呢？让我们为了以后财务自由的幸福生活，冲鸭！