How to Make a College Budget

A budget is just a customized plan for your money where you decide—before each month begins—how much you’re going to give, save and spend. So the first step to making a budget is figuring out how much money you have to start with.

1. Write down your income.

2. List Your Expenses.

To get you started, here are some common monthly expenses that apply to most college students:

Food: Whether you have a campus meal plan or you buy your own groceries, you’ll have to pay for your food.

Textbooks: College book prices are out of pocket. And by that, I mean they’re expensive! But you can save money on textbooks if you know where to look.

Transportation: Whether you drive a car, ride a bike, or take the bus, you’ll be paying for transportation. This can include the basics like gas, oil changes and car insurance, as well as extras like parking passes.

Housing: Unless you live at home, you’ll either pay for a dorm or an apartment. Or you can do what I did and pay $150 a month to sleep on your friend’s futon. Either way, it’s going to cost you, so you need to budget for it.

Entertainment: You’ve got to have a little bit of fun in college, right? These costs can cover everything from movie tickets to paddles for intramural pickleball. (Hey, you do you.)

Giving: Generosity doesn’t require a degree! I recommend giving 10% of your income each month—either to your local church or a charity.

Savings: Make sure you have money left over each month to put aside for emergencies or future tuition payments.

How to Make a College Budget - Continued

Once you’ve assigned a dollar amount to every category, it’s time to whip out your calculator.

3. Subtract your expenses from your income.

All you need to do is add up the expenses you just listed, including what you plan to give, save and spend. Then, subtract that total from your income.

You want that number to be a big fat zero. Why? Because a zero-based budget, where your income minus your expenses equals zero, is the only type of budget that works in the long haul. It means giving every single dollar a job.

So, if your total expenses are less than your income, give that leftover money something to do—maybe you add it to savings or give it to a cause you care about. And if your total expenses are more than your income, you have two great options: increasing your income (trust me, there are plenty of ways to make extra money in college) or cutting back on your expenses.

Next Step...TRACK YOUR EXPENSES

Once you get to this point, you’ve officially made your first college student budget. Give yourself a minute to celebrate this win.
But you’re not quite done with the entire process. Turns out, you can’t just make a budget and expect something to happen—you have to stick to it. The biggest key to sticking to your budget is tracking your spending throughout the month. If you wait until the end of the month to see if you’re on track, you’re too late!

And most importantly, all expenses are NOT created equal.
You must prioritize your living expenses above your "wants" throughout the month. Remind yourself that the thing you may be wanting right now, will still be there in another month, giving you time to save for it and plan it in your budget.

Excellent Resources for Financial Literacy:

• Dave Ramsey (link on next slide)

• Cutting Expenses

• Earning extra income