Student money management
What does your budget look like as you pay student loans?
Are you an athlete? Excellent at math? Maybe you're a history buff. Whatever your interest is, learning how to handle your expenses in college can help you succeed. Avoid worrying about how to pay off student loans later with these tips to help you create and stick to a budget:
- Make a list of all your sources of income. This can be money from jobs, funds from your parents, and even financial aid, such as student loans.
- Write down your fixed costs. This includes items for which the amounts and due dates stay the same each month, such as tuition and fees, room and board (or rent if living off-campus), your car loan, or credit cards.
- Write down your flexible costs. Flexible costs are items such as snacks, groceries, gas, recreation expenses, and personal items. The amount you have from your income after subtracting your fixed costs helps you budget how much you can spend on these items.
- Subtract your fixed costs from your total income. This will tell you how much you have to spend on flexible costs.