Freedom or Chains- College Students Need to Manage Their Money

Generally speaking, when we think about college we think freedom and fun. Though, frequently stressing over finances is definitely not "fun" and being chained to an ever-growing heap of debt is not my idea of "freedom". Money management will help you avoid these stressful situations. You're going to have to start sometime in your life and it might as well be today.

What students ought to know about managing their money:

In order to manage your money properly you must create a budget. Budgets help you form a realistic plan for spending (and saving!) your money. Because your income and expenses are always changing, whatever budget you choose needs to be flexible.

First, write down where all your income comes from. This usually consists of income from a job, grants, scholarships, allowance from home, etc. The next step is to outline your expenses. This is much easier if you divide them into two catagories: fixed and flexible.

Fixed expenses are exact amounts that are due on specific dates. Flexible expenses are ever changing amounts of money that you spend on your wants and needs.

Example Fixed Expenses:

- Housing

- Car payment (including insurance)

- Health insurance

- College Tuition

- Savings

Example Flexible Expenses:

- Books and various school fees

- Transportation

- Going over on your cell phone minutes or long distance telephone calls

- Social expenses (movies, dates, football games, etc)

- Personal expenses (clothing, food, health costs, haircuts, etc.)

Add up the amount of income and expenses you have (you may have to guess on expenses). Now look it over. Do you have more expenses than your income can cover? If so, figure out what you can do to increase your income or reduce your expenses (or a little of both). This process may seem elementary, but it's essential if you want to stay out of the hole during your college years.

It is going to take some sacrifice to reduce your expenses. Many college students are used to impulsive spending. This type of poor money management leads to financial bondage. If you are ready to lower your expenses try some of these tips:

- Pay all your bills on time

- Watch out for peer pressure

- Buy used books

- Avoid impulse buying

- Use coupons

- Don't eat out and stop buying junk food

- Share an apartment

Everybody is going to need a different type of budget to fit his or her individual needs. However, you can find basic budgets online, in financial books or you can simply ask your parents or friends to give you some ideas. Don't let debt to chain you down. Form a budget, use it, and be okay with sacrificing a little to stay out of debt.

NOTE: Use of this article requires links to be intact.

To learn more about money management please visit our Managing Student Debt page. A college student herself, Elise Fisher loves writing articles for her website About-Student-Loans.