No budget is still a budget

For information on how and when to repay educational loans, contact Temple’s Department of Collection and Credit at 215-204-5705. For additional information, check out these Web sites:   www.ed.gov   vocschools.com After college, managing your money becomes

06 December 2001 Uncategorized
For information on how and when to repay educational loans, contact Temple’s Department of Collection and Credit at 215-204-5705. For additional information, check out these Web sites:
  www.ed.gov
  vocschools.com

After college, managing your money becomes a tough reality. You may not have the extra $20 to spend on a CD or even an extra $5 to get a value meal from McDonald’s. Then comes that one moment of enlightenment, and you quickly realize why your parents continue to wear the same old sweat suit from 1985. They are too busy paying for everything you need, along with the electric, water, heat, mortgage and food bills, and cannot afford the luxury of a modernized Hanes sweat suit. When huge bills start to roll in, while huge paychecks do not, you learn that your wants are a thing of the past. You are in the real world now, and managing your money is one of the keys to your survival.

Savvystudent.com offers these budgeting and money-saving tips:

  • Bring your lunch to work with you. It saves on unnecessary junk food snacking and the high cost of take-out.
  • Use automatic bill pay. You will save on stamps, and it can prevent late fees.
  • Avoid vending machines when you get the munchies. If you want junk food or snacks, buy them at the market, preferably in bulk. You will get a lot more food for your dollar.
  • Turn off extra lights around your house or apartment. It will help lower your electric bill. In addition, turn off anything you are not using, including water, to save some pennies.
  • Buy what you need, not what you want. Enough said.

    No one wants to plan a budget, but sometimes it is necessary to keep track of your expenditures. Savvystudents.com also offers easy tips to help first-timers stick to a budget. These include:

  • Keep it simple.
  • Keep track of all purchases, large or small.
  • The only way to spend more money is to make more money.
  • If you do not have cash, then do not buy it.
  • Cut living expenses by finding a roommate.

    Holland College’s Web site also offers words of advice on the importance of money management:

  • Live within your means.
  • Minimize stress and worry about money.
  • Achieve the money management goals you set for yourself.
  • Feel good about your ability to balance your budget.

    For more tips on budgeting and money-saving strategies, check out these Web sites:

  • www.thefrugalshopper.com/articles/student.com
  • www.betterbudgeting.com/article1041.html
  • www.financialplan.about.com/msubbudg.htm
    • The Temple News

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