How to Survive on a Budget in College

How to Survive on a Budget in College

Like most college students, I have a limited amount of money and have to stick to a budget. I love to watch movies, shop, eat out etc. but, I always wonder why and how my money always manages to disappear so quickly. I usually start off each semester with a “semester plan” but end up blowing that plan and splurging on food, clothes, or a bunch of things I could've done without. This usually leads me to being broke mid-semester and forcing me to find a job to make it to the end of the semester. It wasn't until I started paying attention to my spending that I decided to make a budget.

Here's what my spending looked like:

My budget was $630.00 per month, but I went over my budget by $300.00 each month which added up to about $1500.00 dollars over budget each semester. If I didn't eat out twice a day every day, and go to the mall every weekend to pick up a bunch of things that I didn't need, I could've invested that extra money or put it into savings. After seeing how much money was wasting, I decided to make a track my spendings and find shortcuts on spending when I could.

“The Plan”

Set up a spreadsheet to track spending, set a budget and stick to it.

Category	Budget	Total Spent	Remainder
Food	200	50
Clothing	50	0
Bills	200	200
Entertainment	100	40
Budget	450	290	160

How to chose budget:

1. Listed necessities

• Food
• Bills
• ….

2. Separate “Must-haves” from “Nice to haves”
3. Set a budget for each category

After setting a budget, look for ways to get the most of your budget by trimming corners where possible.

I.e.

• Food

• Clipping Coupons
• Attending events that offer free food
• Use friends with meal plans
• Eat out when restaurants have specials
• Grocery shop on Wednesdays (items are usually cheaper)

Your best friends: Coupons.com, CouponMom, SmartSource, Groupon, Living Social and Restaurants.com

“The Reward”

Now that you've saved up all of this cash what to do? Invest it, treat yourself, put it towards your retirement, really do whatever make you happy(just don't blow it all). It's nice to have money saved up as an emergency fund, money student loans, basically money for you!