Personal Finance Tips for College Students

by Laura P on January 28, 2009

Here are some steps that can help you be successful in school and set you up for financial growth after graduation.

Photo Credit: iChaz

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Identify your goals.

You don’t have to have a complex A to Z plan. You just need to figure what you need to be successful. Some important goals to have as a college student include:

Having a realistic budget: Many college students are on a shoe string budget, so making the most of it is essential. You can have fun; just don’t hurt yourself down the road with unconscious and debt incurring spending now.
Emergency fund of $500 or more: Bad things happen. Bad things that are expensive tend to happen to college students who are broke. Believe me, I’ve been there and dropping a couple hundred for car repair is enough to break your nerves, especially when it was the wee you have lots of exams.
Reduce (or don’t start) credit card debt: If you’re not in credit card debt, congratulations! Keep it that way. If you can afford to pay for things for cash, then you should wait. Even though college students have little or no income they are flooded with credit card offers.
Increase the scholarships and grant portions of your financial aid package: If you an even reduce your student loan amount by only hundreds of dollars each semester, you’ll be happy when you have to start paying them back. If you have a refund after your tuition and other educational bills have been paid, save some. Earmark a chunk to build your savings up.
Have a part-time job: While you have bills to pay, working more than 20 hour s has been proven to affect academic performance.

Break down your goals into short, immediate, and long-term goals.

I define short term as goals you want to finish in a year or less. Intermediate goals are a couple years off (like when you graduate). Long term goals are really big picture goals past a few years, like retirement and owning a home.

Eliminate barriers to your success.

We all have the very best intentions on following through our goals, but a small number actually achieve them. Why? Some barriers make it hard to overcome them.

Not having health insurance can very well sideline your best laid plans. If you can remain on your parents’ plan, then use it.

Another barrier to developing good money habits is knowing exactly how to get started. That’s not a problem. Today there many resources available (books, blogs, magazine, etc) for people interested in improving their finances. Here what I use to keep everything in check.

Get a bank that fits your needs – A local credit union may offer better rates on their accounts and more personal service. A larger bank can offer the convenience of nearby ATMs (be wise with this) around the country. Online banks typically have much better interest rates for savings. Weigh the pros and cons.
Use free online bill pay – After you set up the information for your different bills (which took me 30 minutes), I spend may spend a total of 30 minutes a month paying bills. Some banks may still charge for this. If this is true, consider switching banks. ING Direct does a wonderful job of making bill pay easy.
Use Google Docs to manage your budget - We use Google Docs to keep track our budget. I spend about 5 minutes every week to make sure everything is on track.
Keep a whiteboard to keep track of your budget. This is a great way to get a snapshot of your finances and keep up to date with your to do list. If tech isn’t your thing, this is a great option.

There is a difference between not caring and over thinking. Do not over think. It’s not hard to be successful financially. It takes discipline. I’m actually enjoying taking more control in my finances.

I hope this year is a great year for you! Please

let me know

how it goes.

Personal Finance Tips for College Students

Break down your goals into short, immediate, and long-term goals.

Eliminate barriers to your success.

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