Keeping Track of Those Finances In College

College is one expensive endeavor. No matter if you’re going to a small school, a large school or a public or private school, the bills will be high! If you’re fortunate enough to have a scholarship, that’s great. If not, it means that you and likely your parents too will be seeing some big bills. Tuition sure isn’t going down anytime soon, so you’ll have to keep reminding yourself that college is a lifelong investment … you’ll get those student loans paid off in good time!

 
Moving beyond those big tuition bills, there are a multitude of other expenses that college life will throw at you. Even if you enter college with the best intent of keeping track of all your finances, it’s easy to let things go awry! Whether you’ve saved up for college or if your parents gave you some allowance money, you might start off the semester feeling quite rich! … Only to discover a few months later that that money’s all gone. Yet if you plan and keep track of your personal finances along the way, you’ll be fine. It does take some work and persistence to keep track of all those pennies, but it’s a task that’s well worth it. 

First off, there are all those textbooks you’ll need. As you might have already heard, your school’s bookstore will stock most of those books, yet they’ll likely be more expensive there than from other bookstores or online vendors. If you keep those shopping sprees to a minimum, textbooks might very well be your largest expense all semester. If you allot enough funds for textbooks, you’ll at least have your biggest purchase out of the way right away. It’s best to get the biggest obstacle done first.

Now that you’ve got your textbooks, the financial planning really begins. From going to restaurants to buying dorm essentials to having some money for a night out with friends, it takes some disposable income to truly enjoy college life. However, if you’re not careful, it’s easy to lose track of all those expenditures! Whether you’re the type of student who pays with a credit card all the time or you like using cash, both are just as easy to use without regard. Some students actually avoid carrying cash, as they think that if they have cash in their wallets, they’ll be more inclined to spend it freely! Still, whether it’s cash or credit cards, both require some limitations.

Spend wisely during your first few weeks of school, but also start keeping track of how much you’re spending and what you’re spending it on. This will allow you to gauge those expenses for the rest of the semester. Whether it’s ordering pizza a couple times a week or buying some extra snacks or school supplies to keep in your dorm, the costs can add up quick. After you’ve checked how much you’ve spent and what you’ve spent it on, start making some goals. If you’re more of a long term planner, try planning a monthly budget for yourself. If you think you can better manage smaller goals, plan to spend a certain amount of money each week. With these goals in mind, you can save up for a week and you’ll have more money the next week. Then, spending money in college will feel more rewarding than draining, as it can often feel!

To keep those spendings under control, you can also limit how often you do things that require spending a good amount of money. No, college life shouldn’t be all about limiting yourself and squandering fun! Still, it’s nice to have some limits in place so you don’t end up broke by the end of the semester. If you like going out to eat with friends, do it! But only go a couple times a week, rather than almost every night. Keep those goals realistic, but don’t overburden yourself with limitations. There’s a fine balance between spending money and enjoying yourself and spending money to the point where you’ve enjoyed yourself too much. Find that point, and stick with it. Alas, the expenditures will never end, so you might as well start off next semester in the black!