Smart Money Management For College Students On A Budget

Learning to budget is a task that might seem difficult to the majority of college students – especially to those who are on their own for the first time. However, learning about money management becomes much easier when you have some solid budgeting tips to help you out. If you are a college student and are struggling to manage your personal finances, these five budgeting tips will help you start down the path to financial stability. Keep reading the article to learn more about these tips right now.

5 Budgeting Tips To Help College Students

1. Create A Budget And Stick To It

The first thing you need to do when it comes to managing your money is to create a budget and stick to it. Creating a budget will be the thing to help you stay accountable for your spending. And setting up your budget – and actually sticking to it – doesn’t have to be too difficult. In fact, you can split your expenses into three separate categories to begin. Here are the three main categories that a realistic budget should include:

• Your monthly income;
• Your required spending; 
• Your recreational spending.

Keep track of where the money is going, and start trimming the expenses from the third category, if you find it hard to make ends meet. And keeping track of your budget is simple because there are plenty of apps and websites you can use to help keep your expenses in order. And if you’d rather not use an app or a website for whatever reason, you can write down your expenses – either weekly or monthly – on a notepad.

2. Take Advantage Of Student Discounts

The next thing you need to do is take advantage of student discounts from different companies. Plenty of student deals will give you 10-15% off, but you can easily find discounts at 50% off or – in some cases – even higher! Though you should still compare the discount prices to any other deal available, your student ID might end up helping you save a small fortune.

There are plenty of businesses that use your student ID to get you some pretty nice discounts. AMC Theatres, for example, offer discounted tickets to college students, while Reebok can offer you 50% off if you have verified your student status with UNiDAYS. It won’t hurt to ask for a discount wherever you go as the chances that the store or service provider does have an offer for students is quite high. 

3. Start Meal Planning

If you have a kitchen that you can take advantage of – or even something simple like an electric griddle – you should definitely start meal planning. Planning out what you’re going to eat through the week can help you save a hundred bucks or more each month. Firstly, you won’t be spending money on cafes, fast food places, or restaurants.

Secondly, you will avoid impulse buying food you don’t need at the grocery store as meal planning involves using a shopping list. You also can make sure the food you are preparing are healthier than what you’d get somewhere else. Last but not definitely not least, you won’t be throwing any products away simply because you forgot that you had them. 

4. Share Expenses With Your Roommate

If you live with a roommate, the best way to manage money as college students is to split expenses with your roommate. To help you out, you can use such apps as Splid to keep track of expenses and borrowings. This will help ensure that no one forgets to pay their part of the bill. You would also have to brainstorm compromises when it comes to utilities.

Perhaps the both of you could agree to keep costs low by remembering to turn off lights when not in use and take shorter showers. Buy shared items separately, so that you know exactly who takes what if and when either of you move out. Simply try to balance out how much you spend on the items (one can buy a vacuum cleaner and the other can purchase the table and chairs, for example).

5. Save On School Supplies

Students spend nearly $300 annually on course materials when they might not need to. The good news is that you can easily avoid paying the whole price when you do some shopping around. When it comes to textbooks, always check the college library for the required literature or rental sites before buying brand-new books. By the way, electronic versions of textbooks might also be available. 

And when it comes to buying other school supplies, you should see if the store you go to does price matching if the item is cheaper somewhere else. You also can’t forget to check thrift stores because you can find some good things at discount prices. Finally, you can reuse school items like binders and folders that you may have or maybe even a friend that are still in good condition.

What To Do In Case Of An Emergency?

Of course, it’s great to have a fund set aside, but realistically only about 40% of college students are trying to build a financial cushion. And the majority of them don’t even have at least a few months’ worth of expenses saved. If you don’t have the necessary funds to cover an emergency expense that you're dealing with, then you might want to consider taking out a title loan from us at Wisconsin Auto Title Loans, Inc. right now.

If you’re over 18 years old and you own a car outright, you might qualify for up to $15,000 in only 30 minutes. In case you’d prefer to go for an unsecured loan, you can choose to take out a signature installment loan and get access to up to $1,500. Either way, you can easily find out if you qualify for approval and get the quick money you need. We at Wisconsin Auto Title Loans Inc offer both loan types and will help you get the cash that you need in the shortest timeframe. 

Start Your Money Management Even On A College Student Budget!

Even if you have to be on a tight budget – which most college students are – that doesn’t mean you aren’t able to improve your money management. These five tips can help you get on the right path with your finances and actual survive college without too much financial stress. And if you do run into an emergency, remember that you can come see us at Wisconsin Auto Title Loans, Inc. for our title loan or installment loan. Fill out the online form on our website today to learn more!

 

Note: The content provided in this article is only for informational purposes, and you should contact your financial advisor about your specific financial situation.