| Every college student knows what is involved in | | | | every two weeks and most bills come once a month. |
| managing money, or the lack there of, while living away | | | | The next step would be to evaluate all of the variable, |
| at school. The art of budgeting is one that involves | | | | more flexible expenses that deflate bank accounts. |
| trials and errors and needs careful planning and | | | | Students must take a look at their own lifestyle and |
| forecasting to be effective. Budgeting one's bank | | | | prioritize which costs are most important. This may call |
| account is more difficult for college students than any | | | | for a serious change in lifestyle. Fashion label clothing |
| other age group because students already have the | | | | may have been a priority in high school, but that may |
| unpaid full time job of attending classes. Aside from | | | | not be the case in college. This is also the time when |
| the time spent in the classroom, every college student | | | | soup and Ramen noodles take the place of the usual |
| needs to put in the out of class hours preparing, | | | | take out orders or home cooked chicken and steak. |
| studying and completing assignments. It is extremely | | | | These dinners will soon become a luxury. One might |
| difficult to generate enough income outside of these | | | | want to adopt new methods of transportation for |
| hours spent focusing on school to cover the numerous | | | | short distance trips. Riding a bike to class is much |
| college-student expenses. | | | | more efficient than guzzling gas at $3.30 a gallon. |
| If I had known how thin my budget would be stretched | | | | School necessities and books fall closer to the fixed |
| during college, I would have started saving up for it in | | | | costs categories, along with rent and monthly utility bills. |
| my freshman year of high school. If you can picture | | | | One quick tip is when buying books to check the |
| the average personal Income Statement for a college | | | | prices on reliable discount websites, like or Ebay, and |
| student, the revenue would probably be relatively low | | | | compare with the school bookstore. This may cut a |
| compared to the expenses. This is because college | | | | significant percentage out of the book expenses. |
| students can't make much more than minimum wage | | | | When budgeting for utilities, it is important to think about |
| without having earned a degree. They also can't put in | | | | the seasonal changes and effects on the bill. Heat will |
| many hours because of the time dedicated to classes | | | | drive up the winter bills and air-conditioning will affect |
| and meeting the expectations of each professor. The | | | | the summer bills. Besides those small fluctuations, these |
| income that they generate hardly covers the | | | | expenses can be closely estimated on a monthly |
| continuous costs of tuition, rent, utilities, groceries, books, | | | | basis. |
| school supplies, and gas just to name a few. Even if a | | | | After summing up the monthly expenses, compare |
| student qualifies for loans on their tuition the remaining | | | | them with the cash inflow. By forecasting this ahead |
| expenses will still most likely outweigh the income. It's | | | | of time, students can decide whether or not they will |
| not necessarily a bad thing for students to have this | | | | need to pick up extra hours at work or apply for |
| burden. It teaches our generation how to be | | | | additional loans. If the income does exceed expenses, |
| responsible with money. If college students can budget | | | | make sure there is a cushion to account for incidental, |
| their accounts in the current conditions of living in a | | | | unpredictable costs. Unless there is a very large |
| recession with price inflation, then they will probably be | | | | cushion, it is a very bad idea to apply for a credit card |
| successful in budgeting for their business and/or family | | | | in college. College students accumulate more debt than |
| in the future. Students just need to go about allocating | | | | any other age group because of their desperate need |
| their income strategically. | | | | for money and their unreliable means of paying it back. |
| The first thing to do when budgeting is to gather an | | | | Every college student must go through this process of |
| approximation of any income that will be steadily | | | | budgeting for their short term future. It is very difficult |
| flowing in throughout the year. Whether it is from | | | | to make it through college without a structured financial |
| paychecks, loan refund payments or money from | | | | plan. Many students end up in large amounts of debt |
| parents, every student must find a reasonably | | | | from the absence of considering expenses ahead of |
| estimated number with which they will be working. It | | | | time. If every college student forms an organized |
| would be most organizational to divide this up into | | | | budget and sticks to it, then they will be able to |
| monthly increments. This is more realistic than weekly | | | | graduate debt free. |
| budgets because most jobs print paychecks once | | | | |