By Angela Pender
Staff Writer

As a college student, keeping money in your wallet is not the easiest thing to do.

You hear constantly to budget your money, but do you really know how?

Learning to budget your money is easier for some than others, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t learn.

For starters, you have to differentiate your wants from your needs.

By creating a list of things of what you want versus what you need you will save money.

You did not go over your spending limit and plus you can always get it for next time!

A tip that studentaid.ed.gov gives is that “Overestimate your expenses.

It’s better to overestimate your expenses and then under spend and end up with a surplus.

Also, underestimate your income.

It’s better to end up with an unexpected cash surplus rather than a budget shortfall.”

By doing this it gives a sort of a price check for you, so that you can save as much as possible.

Next, keeping track of how much you spend may seem like a lot, but trust me it will benefit you in the long run.

Try keeping a daily goal of how much you want to spend a day and don’t go over that limit.

It also keeps you on track from your wants and your needs.

Another tip is don’t order out all the time.

It’s OK to treat yourself once or twice a week to something good to eat because eating the cafeteria food can get tiring and it’s always nice to treat yourself.

I know this would be the last thing to do, but actually by involving your parents, they might help you budget your money.

What better people to ask is them when budgeting to them is like second nature.

Finally, a fun way to save money is to pretend like you’re going on vacation.

That way by pretending to save up for one, when the summer time comes you have the money saved.

Email Angela at:
apender1@live.esu.edu