|
|
Budget? What's that?Feb 02 '00 Write an essay on this topic.When I first went to college, I had no idea how to budget money. I'd always been the kid who saved all my money and had a stash of it, but, of course, I had very few expenses either. Once I went to college and found that there were so many things that I needed and only so much money to buy it with, I was in trouble. When I got to college, I found out about all the things that I had taken for granted. I had never had to buy my own shampoo or contact lens solutions. I had never had to buy my own groceries. And those college text books--I never imagined how expensive they would be!!! So, how did I do it? Well, first of all, I had a small bank account to which my parents gave me an allowance. It wasn't much, but it was supposed to be enough for the "essentials". Well, I made lists of what I needed and approximately how much they should cost (boy was I surprised at how much some things actually cost!!). I used the money to purchase these things. I found that sometimes, buying generic brands, which cost less, was a good money saver. I also found some items that were not as good as I expected in the generic form and were virtually worthless. Over time, I learned which were good and which were not. I still found that I did not have enough money. When I told my parents that my "allowance" was not enough and I needed more, they obliged for a while, but then told me that they just could not afford the extra plus the college tuition. They told me that I'd have to make the money "last." How did I do it? Well, I tried to tighten my budget and spend less, but it still wasn't enough. I decided that I had to get a job. I easily found a job on the college campus. It turned out that they were very good about scheduling my work schedule around my class schedule. Because all of the employees are students, the were very flexible. I only worked a minimal number of hours, but it turned out to be enough to meet my needs and also have a little money left for some entertainment now and then. Another option that I had considered was to get a credit card and charge my extra "needs". I decided against this choice because if I couldn't afford to buy the items with cash, how ever would I pay off the credit card bills? I didn't want to owe more money than I had. I didn't need to start off my credit history with a "bad rating". Besides, if I had a certain amount of available credit, I figured that I would wind up spending up to the limit on things that I really didn't need and certainly couldn't afford. Over all, I found that I had to be very careful with my m money. I learned by doing that a budget was the only way to go and I couldn't overspend. It was hard and I often felt "broke" but I made it through. I found lots of activities that I could do for free or very low cost on campus and I figured out what things I needed and which I just simply "wanted." In all, I managed to work it out without overspending and I felt good about myself when I worked it all out.  |
| Write the first comment on this review! |
