#4 Pace Yourself
Below are eight tips for college students about money and finances.
1. Track your Expenses
If you track your spending for a few weeks, you will be better able to figure out where your money is going. Are you spending an exorbitant amount of money on Starbucks? You may want to cut back. Most college students do not realize where their money is going until they really take the time to pay attention to their receipts at the end of the week.
2. Formulate a Plan
The best way to manage your finances over the course of a semester is simply to sit down and really take the time to map out a budget. List all of your sources of income, tracking potential income and actual income earned. Then list all of your expenses, including tuition, books, groceries, and so on. When you have a plan formulated, you can better track money coming in and going out.
3. Make Room for Good Time Money
You need to make plans to have a little bit of personal spending money for entertainment purposes, eating out or other special purchases, otherwise you can easily throw your entire budget plan out of whack. Make some room for entertainment money and just vow to stay within your budget from month to month.
4. Pace Yourself
If you spend too much money at the beginning of the semester you will run out of money before the end. Give yourself a weekly spending limit based on how much income you have, and stick to it so you don’t end up tapped out by the end of the semester.
5. Go Easy on Credit
Credit cards are nice, and useful, but only for some purchases and not all. One quick way to spend way beyond your means is to use credit in the wrong ways. Use your credit cards sparingly if you have them, otherwise you may end up hooked on charging things, which is a great way to rack up unavoidable, unnecessary debt.
6. Set a Personal Credit Line
Just because your credit card has a limit of $2,000, that does not mean you have to spend that much. Only spend what you can actually pay back. If you only have $500 to attribute to paying back a credit card, only spend that much on the card and you will be fine.
7. Be Realistic
You can do what you want to do, but you cannot necessarily do everything that you want to do. Make some choices and be prepared to make some sacrifices because doing things and buying things is going to make a dent in your wallet, but some expenses can be easier on the wallet than others and provide just as much return on investment.
8. Plan Ahead for Emergencies
If you bust your entire budget this week on something you want to do, make sure to make up for it next week. If you constantly spend your entire budget frivolously, you can end up unprepared for emergencies like auto maintenance costs, course materials, health costs and so on.
Photo Credits: 1
Originally posted 2020-11-06 05:11:31. Republished by Old Post Promoter
Related Articles- 3 Ways to Increase Your Cash Flow If you’re finding it difficult to get by, one of the easiest ways to combat this issue is by increasing your monthly cash flow. While you may not be able to make a huge difference right away, slowly building up the amount of money that you have coming in, building……
- Personal Budget Planning /caption] The key to your financial success in life is your own personal money management skills. Your personal money management practices make up your own personal method of reaching both your goals and your dreams. No one likes the idea of personal budget planning, but you will never know if……
- Loanio Roundup – Dia de Los Muertos /caption] Good morning and welcome to the Dia de Los Muertos edition of Loanio’s roundup. Dia de Los Muertos is a holiday celebration that takes place primarily in Mexico and celebrates the dead. It goes by Day of the Dead in English and correspondingly it matches the Catholic holidays of……
- How Do I Plan For Retirement? One of the most common questions people have is how do I plan for retirement? Whether you’re looking at retiring in five years or thirty five, it is important to come up with a plan that will provide you with more than enough to live comfortably. It is no longer……
- 3 Tips for Teen Investing Parents like to complain that their teenage children do not listen to them. However, when it comes to matters dealing with money, the opposite is actually often true. Teenagers often welcome the advice that their parents have to give regarding finances, money management and investments. In the past few years,……
- Has the Recession Created a Long-Term Change In Your Money Habits? Obviously, the current economic condition has tightened just about everyone’s purse strings. The savings rate is up, spending is down, and people are becoming more educated about their finances and how to stretch their dollars as much as possible. But is the change real? Many people are being forced to……
- The Dave Ramsey Baby Steps: Everybody’s a Critic It seems a bit like a rite of passage for every personal finance writer to share their opinion of Dave Ramsey. That alone speaks volumes about Ramsey’s reach in the personal finance sector, but not all of the reviews have been glowing. I personally consider his book, The Total Money……
-
Easy Personal Finance Tips When you’re trying to save for the future and still manage to eat, it can be tough to find that right balance. We all need to plan ahead and having a savings account really is essential. This can be a cushion or that “rainy day” money that you need, and……
- 7 Ideas for Your Income Tax Fund You may be relieved to hear the tax accountant tell you that not only do you not owe in to taxes but that you are, in fact, getting a refund. The word refund means basically that you lent the government money and they must give it back to you sans……
-
Handle Your Personal Finances Like A Business Trisha Wagner is a freelance writer for DestroyDebt.com, a debt community featuring debt forums. Trisha writes regularly on the topics of getting out of debt and personal finance. Photo Credit: Alex Osterwalder Is it time for you to get a grip on your finances? Or perhaps you are just starting……