OP: Why every college student should start budgeting

5 February 2019

Abby Jadali

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    There is nothing better than finally leaving the wonder that is high school and moving into the crazy world of college. But while college is all fun and games, it is also a hotspot for emptying bank accounts.

    With the full schedules that students today have with school, work, clubs, sports, etc., sometimes it can seem almost impossible to watch what is happening every time you swipe your card and reach for the money in your pocket.

    But these things can all be fixed if students just learn to budget the money that is coming in. Whether you get a paycheck once a month or every two weeks it is so important to use the proper tools to budget.

    One budgeting app that works rather well is called Intuit Mint, or just Mint. Mint is an app that you can use on your phone and computer to always be on top of your budgeting.

    Mint is completely free and after creating a login, you can hook up your bank accounts (both checking and saving), investment accounts and even your loan information. Once Mint has your bank information, it can help give you ideas on how to budget the money you make.

    You can set up your own parameters to what you spend your money on each month and how much of it you spend. You can also set up when you have payments that are due so it can give your reminders and you never forget. Mint is also good for figuring out how to save money. You can use it to make goals to save money for big events that you have coming up or things that you want.

    By learning to save your money and budget while in college, students will be able to have more money each week than they thought they could. Even if it doesn’t keep a lot of money in their pockets, it makes students more conscious about their money.   

    Budgeting is so important in all aspects of life and the earlier a student starts, the better their student experience will be. But also the better it will be when they are graduated and off into the world.