If you're a college student or recent grad, you need a budget. It will help ensure you have money for essentials — and the fun stuff! Here’s how to get started.
Sun says it's OK if you prefer to track your expenses in a Google spreadsheet. Her team has also created a simple college budget worksheet you can download —. Or, if that's not your style to have to track every detail yourself, use your debit or credit cards to track your expenses and set up an alert to let you know when an expense goes through.4. Schedule regular money check-ins
Francis likens money check-ins to stepping on the scale when you're on a diet. "I have a love-hate relationship with my scale, but what I will tell you about the scale is that it doesn't lie," she said. "It tells me exactly where I'm at so I can make better decisions."The Good Brigade | Digitalvision | Getty Images
The value of that weekly or monthly check-in with yourself is to get real about what you're spending. During these check-ins is also a good time to see if you are able to increase the amount you are putting into savings. Make that a regular part of your check-in — can I go from saving $20 a month to $25? And, if you take on any side hustles or odd jobs like babysitting or walking someone's dog, try not to blow all of that money. Put some — or all — of it into savings.
One way to make it a little easier, Sun suggests, is to try the buddy system — just like you might do when you're dieting or exercising. Get a friend who agrees to track their money along with you and you can compare notes. You can cheer each other on when you're crushing it, have a sympathetic ear to turn to when you've overspent or got stuck with an emergency expense, and just generally discuss your questions about money, seek out the answers — and share what you've learned.
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