Personal Finance for College Students

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The college seasons is fast upon us and college students probably only have one focus – getting good grades. While getting good grades is a number one concern for many, you can’t forget that you have to live life on the side. Whether you’re living on campus or at home, there are probably bills that have to be paid. Whether it’s future student loan bills, your phone bill or something extreme such as rent, it’s important that you manage the money that you have coming in. This article, personal finance for college students, is to help you budget your money the right way, here are eight goals every college student should have:

Financial planning for college students

1, Create a worksheet

Every month is probably going to look the same when it comes to expenses. Be sure to create a simple Excel worksheet or even write down your budget on paper.

Writing down your expenses will give you an inside look at how you’re spending your money month to month. Include things such as your telephone, utilities, rent, insurance, gas, entertainment, etc. Keep this worksheet posted in a place you won’t forget.

2. Cut the crap

Take a close look at that worksheet and see what you can get rid of. Remember, you’re a college student and the luxuries can wait. While it’s tempting to buy that $2,000 laptop or fancy iPad, this can all wait when you land yourself a nice professional job. Again, remember that you’re going to potentially have thousands of dollars worth of student loans to pay in the future!

It’s probably best to lower your bills as much as possible so that you can put most of your money toward your tuition. So that $150 cell phone bill and $50 Xbox Live account really isn’t necessary right now.

3. Focus on tuition

Tuition should always be your number one priority. Yes, while you can’t pay all of your tuition in one semester, there are many colleges that can help you with payment plans and even assist you if you work on campus.

Try to figure out ways to cut your tuition as much as possible, and try really hard not to touch your student loans. Graduating college without any sort of debt is a very great feeling, and it can be done if you budget properly.

4. Start saving money

Saving money isn’t that hard with the Internet packed filled with thousands of resources. Whether you use coupons at your local restaurants or the grocery store, every single dollar you save is going to count. This is a great habit to get into early because you can use this same strategy until the day you die.

Always try to buy things on sale, consider buying things used and just become frugal. Don’t forget that you can save hundreds just by buying books used! There are hundreds of ways out there to save money so take advantage!

5, Attempt to save

Yes, you may not have a lot of money each month but saving just $50 a month can add up so fast if you invest it right. For instance, did you know that if you saved $50 for 45 years collecting 8% annually, you would have more than $250,000 sitting in your account? Think if you amped this number up to $100? $500? $1,000?

It can be hard to save a lot of money during college and most understand that, but if you take the imitative just to learn the ropes of investing and attempt to save just a few dollars, you will be pleasantly surprised at how fast it can add up.

6. Start making money with side hustles

While classes are going to take up a lot of your time, it doesn’t mean that you can’t work. Even if you can only work 10 hours a week, try to do it. Chances are if you’re near a large college campus, there’s going to be retail, fast food and many other related jobs.

In fact, you can also check with your college to see if they have any jobs available right on campus. This work experience will help with your resume, and it will also help you build great work ethics.

7. Keep the credit low

While student loans may be necessary, a credit card isn’t! Unless it’s deemed a medical or rent emergency, try to keep that credit card in your pocket. Get in the habit of using cash or paying your card off in full.

Credit cards aren’t necessarily evil but if you don’t have the right discipline, it can spiral out of control pretty quick. Do your best to put limits on your credit spending.

8. Know your hidden costs

When you’re working on your budget, you can’t forget about your hidden costs that are going to pop up each month. These hidden costs are going to include groceries, your car essentials, dorm room supplies, laundry, eating out and entertainment.

If you have everything together in college, you will quickly find that it’s not that hard to keep your finances straight. Just remember that it’s best to keep your education first and focus on money second. Once you get your degree, this can then be your chance to earn the big bucks and actually enjoy life.

BONUS: Personal finance for college students

Moreover the above, here are some information and tips given below to help students to create wonderful budget, personal finance tips to manage their money in a better way, possible and working money saving tips and finally, some ideas to make some extra money.

Budgeting tips for college students

There are lots of information available in this space to help every student to create their own budget. Here are some tips and core points that students always remember when creating their budget. This would help the students to ensure their budget is right and exceptional.

  1. Involve your family members when you create your budget.
  2. A clear time-frame for your budget is mandatory with well decided goals. It can be monthly, quarterly or semester base by depending on what you feel better.
  3. You need to list all your income (pocket money, part time job etc..) and expenses such as fixed expenses and variable expenses
  4. Planning for emergencies in a must in the budget.
  5. Big ticket items and required savings to achieve that, needs to be taken care.
  6. Ensure your budget always gives you balances, that can utilize in a better way for achieve your goals.
  7. Need to track your spending and revisit the necessary areas to make adjustments.
  8. Also, Revisit your budget as your income and expenses change.
  9. Adding a miscellaneous category in your budget would help you to allocate some money for unexpected needs such as social outing, eat extra etc.
  10. Stick with your budget as planned, to ensure you are following the budget full heartily.

Financial tips for college students

  1. Always check for students discounts for your purchases especially online purchases
  2. Collect and use coupon and discounts codes wherever necessary. Freely ask for possible discounts when shopping things.
  3. Minimize students debts by controlling credit card spending, spending on unnecessary things, borrowing money from others
  4. Getting some free money always good. Find a part time job or business would help you to get some free, extra cash in hand.
  5. Costly entertainments needs to be avoided by looking for cheat but enjoyable activities.
  6. Major expenses for students would be buying books. So, check for discounts, seconds, libraries or borrowing books from friends.
  7. Utilizing public transportation than using your own vehicle would save you lots of money.
  8. Packing food from home or taking it in college/school cafeteria is a good idea than hunting for external foods that cost more.

Money saving tips for college students

  1. Don’t buy books you will only need for a short period of time – Rent such from friends or libraries
  2. Limit number of times you eat out monthly
  3. Walk or use public transportation instead of own vehicle
  4. Shop with places offers discounts for students
  5. Live with others so you can split rent and utilities.
  6. Check for free music, movie, apps sites than purchasing any of these.
  7. Pay all your bills on time to avoid late fees and penalties

Side hustles for college students to make extra money

  1. Start your own website or blog. Identify your niche first. Have a passion. Blogging required time to start earning.
  2. Join credible online survey sites such as Swagbucks, to make lots of money at your free time
  3. Write your e-books and publish on Amazon Kindle
  4. Review products that pays you well
  5. Search for students part time job opportunities and join
  6. Sell your notes and second hand books
  7. Sell old items such as CD’s, Movies, games etc..
  8. Involve in part time and holiday activities such as painting of houses, helping in garden etc..
  9. You can do lots of freelance activities based on the skills you have such as graphic designs, writing for blogs and sites, tattoo making, designing cloths etc..
  10. Babysitting has enormous opportunities to make money
  11. Working in customer service for local businesses
  12. Tutoring is another best and practical option for students to make additional money
  13. Learn a language and teach that. This would fetch you lots of money.You can even find options to teach your own language to students online.

This is a guest post along with Sherin