Frustrating Friday's

"Don't spend more than you earn."

Have you ever heard that? This phrase is thrown around all the time and it is ringing true more and more in our society today. It is a hard habit to break when you become a college student.

People, college students to be specific, are choosing to spend far more than they earn to put the cherry on top of their school tuition sundae of debt. An easy way to avoid this dilemma is to prepare or budget for something you want.

For example the picture above makes a joke about getting an iPad when you can't really afford it. There is nothing wrong with an iPad considering you can purchase e-books on it and it can help you stay informed with your school schedule in an efficient way. However, spending a significant amount of money on something you can't afford is a poor decision.

If you're considering purchasing something with a bigger price tag think about ways you can save up for it. Take a certain amount out of your paycheck every week make that purchase a positive one. When you save up for it, you won't feel guilty and you will probably feel even better about your purchase.

Get this...when you don't spend more than you earn you start saving money! It's quite simple, but a hard habit to begin.



Most students today would not be in the significant amount of debt they are in if they chose to spend LESS than they make.

It's a simple rule to follow that could change that sundae to a "guilt-free" one.



Online Banking

How often do you check you bank account?

Banks today are in high efforts to be more involved with technology making banking more convienent for the average person or college student.

As college students wanting to take more control of our finances and budget plans online banking is essentially important. Choosing a bank that fits your needs is extremely important when beginning your budget plan.

Personally I bank with Chase. One of the first reasons I chose Chase was beacuse of how close their locations were in my area. When you need to stop by an ATM you want it to be your own bank. Why pay a fee of $3 (on average) to get your very own money?




Another reason I chose Chase was how easily my account can be accesssed. Virtually I can do all of my banking through my smart phone. As a college student I am always on-the-go and this specific bank fulfills my needs far more than my expectations.

I am actually able to take pictures of my checks and deposit them within 24 hours using the banks mobile app. I can even transfer money from my checking to savings account right from my mobile smart phone.

When starting your budget plan choose a bank that will personally fit your needs to make it convienent for you. Make sure your bank is on board with you because starting a budget is difficult enough.

Pocket Change

Do you have any change?

Check your pockets, the bottom of your purse, or your car cup holders. It's highly likely you will find a good amount of change.

Yet, how often do we disregard change like it has no value?

It does have value!

Get a bucket or container to hold a lot of change and add to it every time you have some. Give a year or two of time and you will see shocking results.

My family and I have been saving our change for two years. We recently poured it out onto the floor and counted it all. The change amount came to $720 dollars.

Change does in fact have value!

This change could be used for personal savings or open up opportunities to give to chartities in your own community. It doesn't take much effort to save your change and you will see fulfilling results. There are so many opportunities waiting for you just by collecting loose pocket change.

There are many local charities your savings of change could benefit. Charities like Angela's House or non-profit organizations here in South Bend. There is so much need in our area or anywhere around the world.

An important aspect when beginning budgeting is never become a scrudge. Often when giving to those in need you see that money come back to sometimes in doubles. Of course it is important to budget and one of those envelopes can certainly be charity.

Start a change bucket with your family or room mates and get long term results. Besides you're never too old for a piggy bank.

Feel free to share where you collect your change and it's progress.

The Envelope System

Do you have a debit/credit card? How easy is it to swipe away without a second thought?

An easy way to start your budget plan is to begin using envelopes. Dave Ramsey, well-known financial adviser, introduced the idea of the envelope system.

These categories often include things like:

• clothing (shopping)
• entertainment (movies, etc)
• food (lunch date, etc)

When using the envelope system you are able to limit yourself and reward yourself at the same time. Budgeting can be difficult to start possibly making you feel like you're limiting yourself from having enjoyable opportunities.

However, it is merely there to help you physically see your money and how much you are spending. It's harder to be attached to your money when you can't see it be swiped out of your account with a plastic device.

The envelope system enables you to see not only how much you're spending, but where you are spending it.

This system also helps you to feel less guilty about spending because that money was specifically set aside for that certain category.
 

About this Blog

As college students, our schedules are packed and sleep has become our last priority. How can we possibly find the time to budget our finances? This blog will reveal simple ways to manage your money and inform you on simple tricks to save more of your hard earned money.

As a college student myself I have seen how financial issues can really chnage someones life and have gained a new passion for becoming debt-free. Majority of my extended family has found difficulty with staying financially stable.

For example, do you know there is the price difference between a McDonald's Mcdouble and double cheeseburger? There is actually an 80 cent difference because the double cheeseburger has an extra slice of cheese. Yet, how many of us just say, "I'll have a double cheeseburger"?

This blog isn't supposed to teach you how to be a tightwad. Rather, it is supposed to help inform you to become a more educated consumer while getting on track to becoming debt free.