How to Create a Budget

For years I have been making budgets and have thoroughly enjoyed organizing my money. Below are my methods of budgeting as a college student with a part time job.

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The first step is to determine your income, whether that’s weekly, biweekly, or monthly. Then you want to determine what your costs are that have the utmost importance. This would be any payments and bills such as car payments, gas, groceries, and rent.

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Then, decide what savings you have. This would be for future travel, a new car, or retirement. 

Lastly, determine your allotted spending money for things such as food or shopping. 

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There are apps that can organize your budget, but I prefer just using my notes on my phone. I put the amounts on the left column and the reason on the right. Personally, I like having some of my spending and saving money in cash so I have a mini safe. For costs such as nails, a car wash, groceries, and food money, I like to paperclip the cash and put it in an envelope. Make sure to put money into your checking account for any automatic withdrawals and online shopping. I don’t recommend putting all of your money in your checking account as it leads to spending. Trust me, you won’t want to look at your account and how all of the little Starbucks and Forever 21 trips added up. A great way to save you money more wisely, are to save up any tips and spare change. I have been saving my quarters for quite some time and always keep them around for parking meters. I use other spare coins for giving to any organizations on campus such as Spotted Pig or other programs such as Pennies for Patients. It’s very important to always have some extra money for emergencies whether it be a traffic citation, oil change, or emergency doctor visit. 

Prioritizing your essential costs and then putting spending second is a great habit to start and creates much maturity.