How Students Keep Personal Budget

Tia Moreen
3 min readJun 1, 2016

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Many students are strapped for cash as they try to balance their school life with their daily expenses. Unfortunately, most of them don’t earn and spending the little cash they get from parents can be a huge problem. However, with proper budgeting students can make it in school without getting broke. This requires deep analysis of income to create a budget. Also, finding free stuff, shopping smartly and keeping something for the rainy days can do wonders. Let’s look at these points in details:

Analyzing personal income and matching it with expenditure

College students might have different forms of income from different sources. These include: student loans, grants, bursaries, money from parents, scholarships, savings and those from part-time jobs. On the other hand, there are lots of expenses that need to be paid from the same money. These include: tuition fees, rents, internet, gas, electricity, water, insurance travels, phone bills and credit card debts. Therefore, prioritizing stuff is very important here. For instance, tuition fees, house rent (if any), electricity, water and travel must be given the highest priorities.

Finding free and low-cost stuff

As a student, you must adopt instant money saving tips by looking for free stuff that can help you to bring expenses down. For instance, most shops have great offers that you can take advantage of e.g. Buy one get one free promotion. This will help you to save money for other stuff. Similarly, you need to shop around before purchasing items to compare different prices from sellers and go with the affordable one. In the same senses, if you have a health problem, try to look for free health services offered by the government in your area or get an insurance cover.

Use your money in a smart way

Most students spend a big portion of their money on transport. In this regards, it is advisable to use the cheapest methods out there. For instance, you can sign up for a rail card to reduce your transport costs by almost a half. Remember, since you are a student, you don’t have to travel on luxurious cars and buses. Also, shoppers have good deals for students and most of them have discount/loyalty cards that can help you to save a lot and get cash back whenever you make a purchase in supermarkets that participate in such programs.

Develop a habit of saving

Spending money wisely on a budget is not enough. You need to develop savings habits to stay on the map. To do this, you need to set a goal of how much money you want to save in a particular year. You can then use the money to purchase different items that you could no longer purchase instantly. Also, most of the money can be used during an emergency. To nurture your savings habits, attend seminars offered by money advice services in your local area to learn more savings tips.

Don’t deviate from the budget

Sometimes, you can manage to spend your money wise and save enough but impulse buying may “eat” all your savings in one day. So, stick to your budget tightly unless something essential comes up. You have to say “no” to temptations especially if you are fond of junky foods. However, eat well and don’t strain to stick to your budget.

Source: https://essaypro.com/blog/how-students-keep-personal-budget/

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