Advices for a 19 years old mustachian student

[rosh]

Hi everyone,
I'm from Italy and I'm 19 years old. I'm studying mathematics in college ( I'm in the first of three years ). College tuitions are really low 600€ per year but can become 2000€ per year if I don't keep good grades ( but I'm doing it ).I live with my family  very close to college so i don't have to commute, and I usually have lunch at home. My parents pay the college tuition for me and give me 50€ month. I currently put aside 2600€. The past summer I worked as a programmer and made 10€/hour after taxes. These are my questions:
1) College is really intense and I want to get good grades, should I work to make some side money o should I use my free time to relax and just do programming for personal fun?
2) should I try to keep that money that I saved or should I use that to travel and enjoy my age?

I'm currently happy, I have friends, go out, do a few travels. I don't want to seem to you like an asocial person obsessed with money saving :)

Thank you, Matteo

[BCBiker]

I think you are in a really great place. You are building important skills and have very low costs.  I don't think you should worry about making money as a primary motivation as long as your everyday bills are basically covered. If you are interested in long term success, I think that you should devote your free time to thinking about how you can apply the skills you are acquiring in academics in the real world.  Think about ideas that you have advantages over everyone else because of you special expertise in math and consider starting a business that can exploit your specialized knowledge and interests.  That way when you finish college, you will already have real world experience, which is highly desirable for employers.  Also, if your company is financially successful you might be able to quit that job and work for yourself and reap all of the inherent advantages of working for yourself.
 
Just my two cents but I wish I had been given this advice at your age.

[lil_miss_frugal]

Hi rosh,

I think you're doing good right now considering you are saving money and doing good in school. Considering your age and how serious you are about college, I personally think you should focus on school right now and continuing getting better at programming in your spare time. I also think you should continue to save as much money as you can right now but don't be afraid to travel and enjoy life at this age! Just remember right now, school comes first and everything else... i.e. a job, fun, etc is just an added bonus.

[GlobeTrttr]

Keep it simple for now.  Prioritize like this:

1.  Focus on school.  Education is the foundation of your future money-earning capacity.
2.  Save 20% of what you earn from any side-jobs as a rule.  It's important to solidify this habit early.
3.  Enjoy your life as a student.  You'll never get this time back. 

Commit to traveling as much as your time and money allows you to.  You're young and have lots of free time now, even if not much money to live large while abroad (who cares?!).  You also will find many people your age traveling the world for months at a time, surviving on nothing but ramen noodles and cheap beer, but having the time of their life.  The experiences you will have are some of the most fundamental and enriching in your personal development and you will discover that true happiness is rooted in relationships and experiences rather than in material goods and other junk.

[larmando]

+1. Keep studying, save but don't sacrifice travel and life experience. Give up on electronics and "buying stuff".

[rosh]

Thank you all guys :)
I really appreciate your words