Student’s Guide to Managing Finances
Learning to manage your finances is important as it can help in avoiding unnecessary debt, improving your credit, and also help you feel more confident and in control of your financial future. Here are some tips and resources to help guide you through the ins and outs of managing your finances while in college (and beyond).
Resources for Managing Finances:
Learning how to Budget: Learn How to Budget and More | Ascent Funding
Money Management Tips: Managing your finances: Money management tips | Citizens (citizensbank.com)
Student’s Guide to Personal Finance: PNC Insights | Personal Finance | PNC Insights
Student Debt Guide: Student Loan Debt Guide | SoFi
Investing Basics for Beginners: Investing 101: Navigating the Basics of Financial Investments (sofi.com)
Additional Financial and Budgeting Tips
First – Track your purchases!
- Monitor and track your spending in three areas for one month (ie: food, clothing, entertainment) to see where you are spending the most.
- Should you find yourself overspending in certain areas, come up with solutions on how you can budget those purchases more efficiently. Example: If you are overspending on entertainment, give yourself an allotment each month in that category and limit your movies/concerts, etc. to one large purchase a month and engage in more cost-efficient activities throughout the rest of the month.
Second – Pay Yourself First!
- The ultimate goal is to spend less than you earn, and one great way to do that is to set up a direct deposit transfer from your paycheck where a certain amount (10%) goes straight into your savings account right when you are paid. This way, that money is automatically withdrawn from your paycheck before it gets deposited (and spent!) This can help in alleviating financial stress when an unexpected expense arises.
Last, but not least – Be Cautious of Credit Cards!
- Think very carefully before signing up for any credit card, and ask yourself these questions first: “Do I pay my bills on time? Am I forgetful in turning assignments in on time? Will I be able to pay off my balances on this card every month?” Asking yourself questions like this can help you determine if you are ready to take on a financial responsibility such as a credit card.
- If you are interested in building your credit through something like a credit card there are other options available – such as a secured credit card, where you pay the bank a specific amount of money (security deposit) and then you are able to borrow against this amount responsibly.
- Remember, even if cards claim to have a lot of rewards or benefits, read through the fine print, and make sure you are aware of certain things such as: interest rates, late payment fees, credit limits, other charges/fees, and terms and conditions.
Need help creating a budget? These resources can help:
Mint.com – This site lets you keep track of all of your money in one place. It allows you to create a budget, track your bills and check your credit score. This works great if you are comfortable linking your bank accounts with this budgeting software.
Budgettracker.com – For this site you enter your bills manually and assign your own categories. It requires a bit more work, but you do not have to give them any bank account information.
Budgetpulse.com – This is very similar to Budget Tracker above and with this one you also manually enter your bills and set up your budget.