How to Budget as a Student

Are you starting college after the summer but are unsure of how you are going to make it through with little to no income? Then you have come to the right place as we have created this handy guide for you detailing how you can budget as a student. Once you have mastered the art of budgeting, you will know exactly how to make your cash go further which is life skills that you will need anyway for life after graduation.

Your Incomings and Outgoings

The first thing that you will need to do is create a basic budget. This is simply a way to list of all the money that you have coming in, tracking how much of this that you are spending and then seeing whether your finances are balancing out. It is up to you how you want to track this. You can write it down on a piece of paper, write it down on your phone, or even just do the maths in your head if you are great with numbers. Just try to make this process as simple as you possibly can. We would recommend creating a spreadsheet with your budget. Enter in your much cash you have coming in each month, then log all of your monthly expenses. This should include everything from food to clothing to rent. A spreadsheet can do the calculations for you and will be able to track whether or not you are living within your means. This is also a great way to track if you can afford other expenses such as planning a holiday for the following summer. Ideally, you will always want to make sure that you have some cash leftover at the end of the month that you can treat yourself with.

Where Is Your Money Going?

We have all been guilty of the saying the phrase “I just don’t know where my money has gone this month!” And this is exactly why you need to be creating a budget! If you do not already check your finances daily, then this is something that you really do need to get into the habit of doing as you will most likely be shocked when you see where your money is going. This is the key to being a pro-budgeter and will help you keep track of your financial situation.

The best way to keep track of your cash is to have a student checking out that you can view online. With a bank account from BB&T, there is no monthly maintenance fee and no-fee online statements. Check your bank account every day online with a bank like BB&T to track where your cash is going and ensure you’re sticking to your budget.

Once the realisation hits that you are throwing away cash on things that do not really matter, this can be the motivation that you need to make those little cash savings that really add up.