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Not Going Broke 101 ---- Opinion on How to Manage Your Budget

Apr 21 '01 (Updated Oct 21 '05) Write an essay on this topic.

The Bottom Line Stick to your budget, and you will have money left for fun!

Going broke in college is a major concern for most students who attend a University. It especially becomes an issue if you are a student attending a college nowhere near where your parents live. This is the case, because the security blanket is gone and it becomes a "support yourself" atmosphere. As a student who does not have everything paid by either the Government, or my parents, I am in the position that I must watch where I spend my money. The issue becomes "how will I pay for tuition or those books, if I go out tonight?" Questions like that have to always be asked of yourself, if you fully expect to survive while supporting yourself at a University.

First thing to remember if you are going to retain any of the money that you have at college: You can not eat out every night. It is just not humanly possible. If you eat out every night, then you are going to go broke extremely quick. The trick, is to spread out the times that you go out to dinner, or hang out with your friends at restaurants. By doing that, you are still not missing out on anything, and at the same time you are saving some money.

One process that has worked for me, is to buy some foods in bulk that will last me a long time. These include Mac and Cheese, spaghetti, Top Ramen, soups, and cereals. You can even throw peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in there if you so wish. The point is, that you need to do some grocery shopping, and also some minimal cooking for yourself. It does not have to be anything extensive, but rather anything that you find it easy to prepare for yourself.

Having saved a lot of money by cooking at home, you then have that extra cash to go out on Friday or Saturday night. You just have to make sure that you budget in the most important things before you decide to go out and have fun. You first need those school supplies, and then you need to figure out how you are going to eat. Once those two main things are figured out, you can worry about going out, or going places. The best thing to also do, is find a part-time job that will help reinstate the money that you are spending. By having a source of income, you are more likely to stick to your budget, because it will be something that you are thinkings about while you are working.

With all of those things in mind, you can even take the step of breaking down a daily, weekly, or even monthly amount of money that you feel should be enough to get you through a month. You decide the amount, and then you can spend it any way you want. But, if you spend it all at the beginning of the week, you have to be able to keep yourself from going over-budget. The real key here, is to have self-control enough to stick to the budget that works best for you, and go from there! :)

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