A Course in Budgeting Strategies for College Students
Budgeting for a person in college can be difficult. Your mind is probably spinning over passing your classes and keeping up with your friendships, job, current events, and more. The truth, though, is that you cannot live a stress-free life unless you have your budget in order.
Therefore, we decided to put together a course in budgeting strategies for college students. Use the information in this course to start budgeting now and saving for your future. You can survive your college years if you use the information that we provide here wisely.
1. Start With the Basics: Your Income
Step one in creating a monthly budget is to figure out how much money you have each month. Your income is going to be the foundation of your entire plan. We recommend using the old "pen and paper" method to create your initial budget. You might find it easier to capture a mental picture of your plan if you write it down yourself.
Add up all of your sources of income, and do not skip one penny. You'll need to calculate the average of your monthly income if the pay from your job fluctuates. You can do that by taking the income figure from your tax return and dividing it by 12, or you can add up the last 12 paystubs (three months) and divide that amount by three. That will give you a good figure to use for your monthly income amount. Don't forget to add all of your projected income. For example, add your earnings from a side gig like a writing job or a contracted transportation job that you frequently do. Once you have that figure, you can move on to the next step.
2. Create a List Of Expenses
Next, you need to create a thorough list of recurring monthly expenses. Use a pen and a piece of paper to write these down initially. You can transfer the information later. Take the time to think long and hard about everything you have to pay during the month. Examples of expenses you might have are:
Rent or mortgage
Credit card payments
Car payment
Cable
Electric
Cell phone
Car insurance
Try not to miss any bills. You can even write a section in for old debt if you have some. That way, you can start paying toward that old debt when you get a chance. You can move on to the next step once you feel secure about the total figure.
3. Calculate Your Disposable Income
The next thing you'll need to do is to calculate your disposable income. The disposable income represents the money left over each month after you pay your bills. You can essentially use the disposable income for anything you want. Once you subtract your monthly expenses from your monthly income, you'll know exactly what you have left to work with. You'll use the rest of the money for savings, necessities, recreation, personal expenses, and the like.
4. Decide How Much You Want To Save
Budgeting strategies only work when you're committed to following them. Therefore, you have to be careful when you choose a monthly savings amount. Make sure that it's an amount you can stick to. Don't take too much from the money you have for your necessities. We recommend that you put away only 25 percent of your disposable income. Therefore, your goal should be to save around $125 a month if you only have $500 of disposable income each month.
5. Separate Your Spending Money From Bill Money
Another one of the best budgeting strategies is to separate your spending money from your bill money. You don't ever want to mix the two things because the situation can get confusing for you. You can hold two separate funds in two bank accounts, or you can keep two prepaid cards. Prepaid cards can work well to keep your spending and bill money on because you're going to exhaust those funds quickly.
6. Open an "Untouchable" Bank Account
You need to also have an "untouchable" bank account. Your untouchable funds is money that you are not going to touch for a certain period of time. Maybe you're saving that money for retirement. Perhaps you plan to put money down on a house or car or some other large purchase in the future. It's smart to keep this untouchable money separate and kind of tucked away so that you can almost forget it exists until the time comes when you need to use it.
7. Use Financial Applications
The use of financial applications is one of the most effective budgeting strategies we can offer you. These are especially good if you're not good with money, or if you tend to forget things. Here at Goalry we can help you learn how to manage your finances and budget better. Sign up for a free member key and we’ll provide access to a massive amount of articles and blogs to help you learn about saving money, smart investing, creating a budget and many other topics related to personal finances. Get your member key today.
Start Taking Care Of Your Finances Now. Visit the Budgetry Store.
8. Make Small Investments
Simple Ways to Start Investing With A Small Amount of Money
Another thing you might want to do is to make tiny investments. Apps like Stash and Acorns will allow you to invest small amounts in a variety of companies. You can put as little as $5 on something and watch it grow over time. You can use your spare change to do it so that you don't feel like you're losing something.
9. Create a Cushion/Emergency Fund
The Best Way to Create an Emergency Fund
You can create an emergency fund to avoid the above-mentioned situation from happening. Your emergency fund could be a subdivision of your savings, or you can build it as its own separate entity. It's up to you. There's no set amount of money you have to put away each pay period to build the fund. You decide what you're going to invest by taking an honest look at your finances.
Put away an amount you feel comfortable parting with and do it faithfully. Don't try to save $100 a week if you can only save $25 without breaking yourself. Do what you can because any amount will be better than having nothing when an expensive situation arises.
10. Add Extra To Your Credit Card Payments
Your budgeting strategies should include paying down your existing debt. The more debts you pay, the better your financial profile will look. Furthermore, you'll have more revolving credit available if you ever need to use it temporarily.
11. Use Coupons, Promos, And Discounts
Saving as much money as you can is another one of the most effective budgeting strategies we can offer you. One way you can do that is by taking advantage of discounts, promotional codes, and coupons. Leave no stone unturned when it comes to finding promotional codes. Many sites offer discount codes to some of the most popular stores in the world.
Groupon, Retail Me Not, and Coupons.com are examples of reliable sites you can search for promotional codes. Many stores also offer discounts to students who are officially enrolled in school. Furthermore, grocery stores offer discount cards and release circular ads. Start using these resources every time you think about buying something. Put the extra effort into conducting online searches and asking people some ways that you can save money. You'll be surprised at how many saves you can stumble upon that way.
12. Be Stringent With Your Limits
You have to treat your spending limits as if they are written in stone. It's the only way that you can get by on your budget. For example, let's say that you decide to put $100 away for your personal spending during the week, and you put it on a prepaid debit card. You have to be disciplined enough not to pull any more money from your other sources if you hit the threshold and spend all the money on your card. You must be patient and wait until the next pay period comes along. Discipline is a virtue that is just as important as patience is. Use them both, and you can become a master of controlling your finances.
13. Go To a Community College
This budgeting tip might be good for you if you haven't started school yet. You'll have the opportunity to sign up with a plethora of schools. No state has a shortage of learning institutes. However, some "for-profit" colleges charge astronomical amounts for their programs. You could go to a community college and take the same types of courses and pay much less in the end.
"For-profit” schools will sometimes charge $30,000 for the same program that would cost less than $10,000 at a community college. Consider that before you sign up for school because your student loans will be with you for the rest of your life or until you pay them off.
14. Look For Free Food And Fun
Looking for free ways to eat and have fun is another strategy that you can use. For entertainment, you can always search the internet for free music concerts in your area. Another free thing you can do is stake a nice long walk in the park with a friend or a loved one.
We have some ideas for finding free food, as well. You may be eligible to receive food items from a local pantry or a place that helps struggling people in the area. Let them know that you need food, and they'll arrange a meeting at some places where you can complete an application. Not all establishments will require you to complete such an application. Some of them will allow you to come by and pick up something of the things you need.
It's worth a try to do some investigating to find out what you might be able to get. Finding free food and entertainment can reduce your expenses a great deal.
15. Take Advantage Of Thrifty Shopping Stores
Another one of the budgeting strategies we like to push is to start shopping at thrift stores. You can find everything you need from furniture to clothing at a local thrift shop, and a lot of it will be in excellent condition. It's a great move to make if you want to save money, and you don't mind buying used items. Try it for a little while and count all the money you can save by doing it.
16. Stay Away From Financing Items
Stay away from financing items if you can avoid it. Companies charge people a lot of interest for financing. You could end up spending hundreds or thousands of dollars more than you intend to spend if you finance. You'd be much better off saving your money slowly and paying cash for something you desire. This part of the process often requires discipline. Practice this discipline the next time you want something, and you'll be delighted you did.
17. Avoid Eating Out
You can also save a lot of money if you avoid going out to eat. One meal at a restaurant will cost you at least $20 for the meal and at least $5 for the tip. You can enjoy an entire week of nutritious homecooked food with the same amount of money. Think again if you're considering stocking up on fast food. It might be cheap, but it's also horrible for your health. It's packed with bad fat, cholesterol, and sky-high amounts of sodium. Your body needs to have good fuel in it to run properly, especially if you're enrolled in school.
18. Pick Up Part-Time Work
You should try to bring some extra money into your household if you have the time to do so. Therefore, you may want to look for some part-time work if you can fit it into your busy schedule.
Your Guide to the Top Side Jobs You Can Do From Home
First, look for part-time work that you can do online and make your own schedule. A lot of businesses are hiring customer service representatives that work from their homes. The minimal requirements are usually very low. For example, you might only need to have access to a computer, a headset, and an internet connection to get hired.
You could also try your hand at freelance writing or transcription.
Alternatively, you could get involved in transportation jobs or food delivery jobs if you have a reliable car and you don't mind leaving your house.
The extra work can give you enough money to save a little something in your bank account.
19. Cut Unnecessary Expenses
The next one of the more effective budgeting strategies is to cut your unnecessary expenses. You could cut your expenses from a variety of places. Look at bills like the cell phone and cable bill first to see if you can trim some of the fat from them.
Easy Ways to Cut Your Bills
Next, look at your heating costs and your car insurance. You can always adjust your car insurance to pay less of a premium and free up a little extra money in your budget for a while.
Additionally, you can try to reduce your electricity bill. In the summertime, you can do things like opening windows instead of using the air conditioner. In the winter, you could dress in layers to avoid racking up a huge heating bill. You may want to get your home checked for good insulation during any time of the year. Making some small improvements to the way your home is insulated might just do the trick for you.
20. Kick Expensive Habits
The final one of our budgeting strategies is to kick all bad habits that are costing you money.
For example, smoking is a pretty bad habit that can put a serious dent in your income. You could save hundreds of dollars a month if you stop smoking today. Drinking, gambling, and gaming are other habits that might be helping to keep you in a struggling state.
Try stopping your habits for 30 days so that you can count the money you save. If it's an extensive amount, then you'll know that you should give up the habit for your greater good.
Contact Us if You Need Help
Hopefully, you've found the information in this article useful. You should now know several budgeting strategies that you can use while you're attending college and beyond.
Please contact us if you need additional guidance or assistance. We can also help you find some of the products and services you need, as well.
We are not a lender, but we can connect you to a lender. We can also help you find bank accounts and investment services if you want to try to make your money grow. Our site has a database of other personal financial information, as well.