It’s no surprise that college can be costlier than you might have anticipated upon coming to college. There’s your tuition, room & board or rent, meal plan or groceries, and the little miscellaneous things that, overtime, can add up to more than you expected or originally had budgeted for. Not to mention, emergencies or unexpected finances that are impossible to budget for. While it may seem hard to manage your money, or even be intimidating at times, it’s not impossible to do! All it takes is honesty and the desire to take the actions needed to start saving now. It’s never too late to start so follow these steps to start your budgeting journey now!
Sit Down and Prioritize Your Expenses
After high school, your list of expenses more than likely gets longer. You have tuition, housing, food, and all the other little things that add up, that your parents maybe used to always take care of, but you didn’t even realize you’d need to buy on your own now. Some of you may even have to pay your phone insurance, car insurance, or health insurance. These are your NEEDS. One of the biggest things that you’ll need to do when prioritizing your expenses, is realizing what is a NEED and what is a WANT. After calculating all your needs, then see how much money, if any, you have left over for your wants. Without the money to pay for things that you want, your happiness levels decrease. While a want isn’t a necessity, we all still need them to some extent to find joy in our day to day lives. Whether this be a new shirt for a special occasion, going out to eat to reward yourself for getting an A on your test, or going to see a movie with friends after a stressful week, it’s okay to treat yourself. However, don’t make this an everyday expense and try to even find substitutes! For example, instead of buying a cup of coffee every day, try and make your own coffee! The hard part is to determine your needs and how much they cost, your wants, and if you have any leftover money for savings or an emergency fund.
Create a Budget Tracker
Once you’ve determined your expense priorities, it’s important to hold yourself accountable to those expenses. An effective way to do this is by creating a budget tracker. If you have an empty notebook lying around, use it to create your daily budget tracker! In this, you’ll set a weekly allowance for yourself, as well as a way to track what you spend each day. Doing this holds you accountable and is a quick way to see where you can cut unnecessary expenses. It can be shocking to see how much you spend each day and especially how fast all those small expenses add up each week! Remember to be honest and to reevaluate your budget every month to make sure you’re staying on track.
Decide on a Money Mantra
What is a money mantra? A money mantra is a short, powerful statement created to attract wealth and to stay on track for your goals. This is essentially the WHY you want to save money in the first place. Is it so you can be debt free? Is it so you can travel after college? Is it to own your own house some day? Whatever the reason, everyone needs a money mantra so whenever times get hard or saving seems impossible, you can think back to your money mantra for motivation. Once you’ve decided what yours is, write it down somewhere you can see it every day or even in your budget tracker!
Vision Board
Along with a money mantra, a vision board can also inspire motivation to saving money! This vision board can embody all the reasons why you want to save money. Want to save money so you can travel after college? Print out pictures of all the places you hope to go someday and all the sights you want to see. Want to own your house someday? Print out pictures of your dream houses or rooms that you want to own. Get the picture? Being reminded of and seeing your goals every day will help you the next time you’re in target considering whether or not you need this $30 shirt that kind of looks like one you already own. Print out pictures of your goals and put them in your budget tracker or make a vision board to hang somewhere!
Download an App
As 21st generation college students, you probably have your phone with you 24/7. You can actually download money saving apps that connect with your bank account to track your spending and give you weekly/monthly rundowns of your money activity. The app I currently use is called Cleo and it allows me to choose whether or not I want it to motivate me or roast me when it comes to my spending habits. It also alerts me when I go over my budget, have bills due, or what I spend my money on most. It’s really helpful and seeing my money habits laid out to me makes me more self-conscious about how much money I’m spending. There are a variety of apps out there fit to your needs, but remember to read the terms and conditions carefully before allowing them to connect to your bank information!
While this may seem stressful and intense, even the smallest actions can start to make a big difference in your spending and saving habits. If you’ve read this far, you clearly want to adjust your budget and gain insight into how to become more responsible with your money, so don’t stop once you finish reading: act now because it’s never too late to change your habits!