The best part about creating a budget and living a little frugally during your college years is that the money you save can be put towards the cost of your tuition, books, making payments on student loans you've already borrowed and many other things that thousands of students everyday use student loans to pay for. That amount could cover a nice portion of tuition for you, thus resulting in $780 less in student loans you'd need to borrow that year. Fifteen dollars/week X 52 weeks in a year = $780/year. Depending on your drink of choice that could save you $15 a week. Imagine only going to a coffee shop once a week and making coffee at home the rest of the week. Those are easy fixes that can have huge impacts to your budget. You've heard it before and I'm going to say it again now: A daily run to a coffee shop or eating at restaurants several times a week can cost hundreds of dollars a year. However, you might be surprised at the wiggle room in your spending habits by making a few small changes. What's more, some people spend far more money than they make. Once your budget is created, you may be shocked at how much you spend. Take some time to build out an appropriate budget that includes all of those essential things like your rent/mortgage, car payment, groceries, etc. You can even have a category set aside for haircuts. This tool helps you establish spending thresholds for many categories on a monthly basis.
#Budget planning for college students free#
There are free products out there that do the behind-the-scenes calculations for you. Microsoft Excel is an excellent student budget planner tool but if you never gained a knack for using formulas in Excel, that's okay. Again, you are not alone! There are many tools out there to help simplify the creation of a personal budget and to make it a little more engaging than you'd expect. Maybe Microsoft Excel is not your friend. Part of the challenge here might be related to the fact that budgeting finances can seem daunting and perhaps a little bit boring. This important piece of the puzzle can quickly become deprioritized when you stack it up against the other obligations in your life. College students deal with so many other pressing issues like paper deadlines, tests, jobs and family obligations. If you find yourself pushing the thought of budgeting your personal finances into the back of your mind, you are not alone. Tuition & Financial Aid Tuition & Financial Aid.