5 Budget Tips for College Students

With college life comes newfound freedom, and challenges. One of those challenges you’ll be faced with in college is budgeting. You’re not going to be making a lot of fun, and with countless experiences and opportunities, it’s tempting to indulge and rely on your parents for financial safety. But if you can learn to manage your money as a college student, you’ll live a financially stable life after college. So if you don’t want to be a broke college student, here are some tips on creating and keeping a budget.

Track your spending and cut down on unnecessary spending

The key to budgeting is knowing what you’re spending money on. Before you create a budget, create a spending log for a month and record every penny you spend. Then take a look at your spending log and determine where you can make changes. For example, if your spending excessive amounts of money on eating out, look into cutting back to save money.

Separate Wants From Needs

A need is something that is needed to survive, while a want is something you desire to have. So let’s say you go out with a friend and see a cute dress at the mall. You’re thinking about whether to buy it or not, in reality, you probably already have something that looks like it. Most of the time, the items you want are an unnecessary need. So ask yourself when you’re out and about or shopping online is this something you need or want. Doing things could help you save a bit of money.

Use Cash Instead of Cards

Using cash instead of cards makes you aware of the money you’re spending compared to cards because you actually feel the loss. When you go out, consider leaving your cards at home and taking cash instead to help you save money.Cash instead of card

Buy on sale and use coupons

Using coupons or searching for deals might not sound like the cool thing to do as a college student, but paying the full retail prices is a foolish financial decision. Saving that extra money by using coupons or buying an item while it’s on sale. It can be the difference between having extra money or barely making it.

Create a budget using the 50/30/20 budgeting rule

With the 50/30/20 budgeting rule, you dived your expenses into three main categories: needs, wants, savings. This will help you focus on the bigger picture and spend less time setting out your finances. Then you take your after-tax income and budget 50% of your income towards your needs, 30% towards wants, and 20% into your savings.50/30/20 method

Free Budget Planner

To go with these budget tips, here is a free budget planner to help you track your spending and manage your expenses and income.

Free Budget Planner Printable

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Related post: 5 Easy Vegan Meals For College Students

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Angela Louise
Written by Angela Louise
Angela is the owner and chief content creator for Weird Louise and is working towards becoming a full-time blogger. In addition to blogging here on Weird Louise, she is an artist and owner of the Social Awkward Club. She also has a passion for helping others discover ways to live their best lives.