For many young people, going to college is both exciting and scary because it is usually the first time they have to live and manage on their own. Not everyone has the backing of their wealthy parents, so students can have a hard time with money. Those who are going to college can use these tips to better manage their money and get better grades while they’re there. It’s not as scary as it seems, and once you get an understanding of these lifelong principles of money, you will become a money managing rockstar.

College brings with it new experiences, new friends, more freedom, and several opportunities. As a consequence, college comes with a lot more obligations than we expect, such as learning how to manage your money and becoming a responsible adult. College costs can rapidly pile up — from textbooks and tuition to pizza and parking. If you’re a first-year student, a returning student, or the parent of a college-bound child, read the money management tips in this post and think about how you can use them.

Many young people have a hard time managing their money for the first time. It helps them learn a lot. It’s a shame and quite unfortunate, but a lot of students aren’t sure how to manage their money. Oftentimes, students have to quit college because they can’t afford it. This is usually because they didn’t learn how to manage their money when they were younger, and those bad habits carried over into their lives as college students.

As a college student, financial preparation is probably the last thing on your mind. College is often thought of as a time to figure out what you want to do with your life, figure out how to get a job, and, of course, party with friends on campus. When you go to college, you will have to make financial decisions that will last for years, or even decades.

With the cost of college going up, more and more students are taking out loans to pay for their education. There are a lot of ways that debt can affect your future, from what kind of car you can buy to how much money you can save for retirement and if you buy or rent a house. However, consumer debt can have an impact on your future in a lot of ways. Remove debt now, and your life will be a lot easier when you finish school.

In college, it’s not natural to be broke. Why should you be broke just because the majority of students say they are or because the media makes it sound cool to be a “broke college student?” I hate the idea of being broke, and I suggest you should too. Don’t ever think it’s cool to be broke, because it’s not. I don’t want to sound harsh, but if you were my sibling, that’s what I would tell you.

The smartest students understand this and use financial knowledge to their advantage by learning good money habits that will help them for the rest of their lives. Learning how to budget while in college is a great way to start.

I don’t recommend being stingy with your money. I want to encourage you to have an abundance mindset instead of always thinking you need to be parsimonious when it comes to basic stuff like your daily latte or cappuccino. In this post, I’m going to outline exactly how you can be more successful with money than your peers and some tips and tricks to shift your thinking.

Long-Term Thinking

Where do you want to be in ten years? Most likely, your dream includes some kind of financial security, stability in terms of your living situation, maybe international trips, a new car, and a lifestyle that makes you feel happy with your life.

When you graduate from college and go out into the world, you don’t want to be in a position where you feel anxious at the thought of going out to eat dinner with friends or buying tickets to your favorite concert.

As the cost of going to college has gone up, so has the amount of debt you have to pay back. The number of first-time homebuyers in the US has hit a generational low because younger people like us are having a hard time managing our money due to huge amounts of college debt.

So, the more you think about your financial future, the more success you will have. I know that thinking about financial things can be tough when your income is low and you feel worried about money, but it’s one of those things you have to do. You just have to eat the frog.

When you are away from home at college, managing your financial accounts like bank accounts, credit cards, and investment accounts can seem like a huge and daunting task and can sometimes cause anxiety for students. But the truth is, if you don’t handle your money properly and be conscientious about how you make and spend your money, you might soon lose control of your finances. Managing your money while you’re in college needs some skill and discipline, but with these tried-and-true techniques, you can surely do it.

If you are currently in college or are on your way to college soon, the tips and advice in this post can help you get your finances on track. The money habits you learn in this post will teach you exactly how to manage your personal finances as a college student.

College is the perfect time to learn about money management and to form habits that will help you achieve financial success for the rest of your life. Even if you haven’t given the term “personal finances” much thought, this is the best time to learn smart financial techniques that will set you on the right path for life. With a greater awareness of your spending and saving habits, you may work toward broader goals like paying off student loan debt, traveling, and preparing for future milestones like moving to a new city after graduation.

While the main goal should always be to get a high-quality education while you’re in college, it also provides a fantastic opportunity to develop the financial skills you’ll need after graduation. If you make mistakes in college with your finances, you can learn quickly and bounce back. To create a robust financial foundation for the future, you need to start making wise financial choices today or as soon as possible. The fact that you’re reading this post on how to manage your personal finances as a college student shows that you are taking initiative, and this will pay huge dividends in the future. This mindset will help you quickly build a strong foundation of financial literacy that will last a lifetime.

Too many students graduate in debt and are forced to make difficult financial choices when they begin their professions. You can avoid that trouble by creating a money management system that works for your situation.

Continue reading to learn 10 money management methods for college students if you want to get your finances in line and graduate from college in good standing.

This guide will be updated frequently, so keep this URL bookmarked and be sure to check back from time to time.

Here are the top 10 ways to manage your personal finances as a college student.

1. Find Work

This seems super obvious, but it’s amazing how many students think that getting a job might hurt their grades in college or take time away from other important things. That is simply not the case. Juggling multiple responsibilities is just part of the package when it comes to being an adult. In the world we currently live in, finding a job where you can work remotely or not have to go into the office every day is a real possibility. Holding a job while you’re in college will expose you to more opportunities, and finding ways to make more money is always fun.

2. Make a Short-Term Budget

Your financial situation will not always be what it was when you were in college. And hopefully, with these tips, you can come up with ways to expand your financial reach and think more long-term. So, you don’t need a permanent budget. Just create what I like to call a “temporary budget”. This will help get you on track for financial stability and progress.

Most of us are unaware of how much money we spend each week or month. We add up our large expenditures and entirely disregard our lesser ones. If you maintained a meticulous record of your costs for a month, you’d be surprised at how much “smaller” items might add up to.

In college, the same thing might happen. You may be in for a nasty surprise if you do not keep track of your income and spending. Do not wait for this to occur. Rather than that, immediately set a budget. It will not only help you stay debt-free, but it will also give you important information about how you spend your money.

Make a note of all your income sources in your temporary budget, including savings, parental allowance, and earnings if you work (which you should). Then create a list of your anticipated monthly costs. This list should contain both needs like school supplies, personal care products, food, travel, and laundry, as well as non-essentials like going to the movies, late-night munchies, socializing, dining out, and coffee.

There are several personal financial management solutions that are accessible online. Utilize one of them to assist you in tracking your expenditures and sticking to your budget. At no point should your spending exceed your income. Spending more than you earn guarantees that you will go into debt. If your budget allows you to save some of your money each month, it’s a success, and you should definitely think about investing a portion of it so you can start building long-term wealth.

3. Don’t Lend Money to Friends

Unless you have a friend who you know will become a billionaire (which is unlikely), you should not lend money to anybody in college. Of course, this is totally up to you, but in my experience, giving money to people in college is a sure way to not only ruin the relationship, but it also creates a very awkward scenario. If someone begs you for money and you want to be a baller, simply give them the money and tell them not to worry about repaying it and to never ask you again for money. However, if you are not in a position to do so and believe you would give money to a friend with the expectation that they would repay you, don’t. As a general guideline, don’t give money to anybody in college unless you are financially secure enough to assure them they don’t have to worry about repaying you.

4. Keep an Eye on Your Financial Accounts

Keeping a close eye on your accounts forces you to know exactly how you’re doing. This is an important practice because if you don’t do this, you will feel anxious about checking to see how you’re doing. So, the best way is to make a list of all your accounts and set each account up so that you receive an email every morning with your balance. I would recommend that you design a system where you are able to see your entire financial situation, from bank accounts, to investment accounts, to credit cards, and loans. You should be able to get a snapshot of exactly what’s going on inside your accounts every morning before you go about your day. You can create a separate email address that you use with the financial institutions you do business with and forward those emails to your personal email. You can also set up filters in your main email to send emails from your financial institutions to be stored under a separate label. This will make it as simple as just clicking on the label and viewing a snapshot of your accounts. Monitoring your financial accounts will also help you think of new ways to increase your income. And that brings us to the next point.

5. Build Additional Income Streams

If you are in college and you’re not working, I highly suggest getting a job. Even if it’s a part-time gig, it will act as a forcing function that will allow you to gain confidence in the workplace, become a responsible adult, and help you make more money that you can ultimately use to invest and grow your long-term wealth. If you can figure out a way to make an extra $500 a week by doing something that you enjoy, don’t hesitate to do it. It might take time away from you being able to study for classes, but you should still be able to manage. We’re all familiar with Parkinson’s law, which states that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”

If you are wondering what types of income streams you can add, take a look at this post I recently wrote where I listed several techniques on how to make more money.

From dog walking to mobile car detailing to pressure washing and organizing, there are so many side hustles you can do. The beauty of a side hustle is that you can choose to either scale it up or scale it down depending on how busy you are with college work. There might be some initial set-up time to get things going, but once everything is set up, you can choose how much you want to work on growing the business. One of my friends had an ice cream truck while he was in college, and he ended up selling his ice cream business (which was essentially his side hustle) after he graduated. So, the possibilities are endless. Just pick something for which there is a high demand and create the solution. You can’t really go wrong with ice-cream.

6. Establish Credit

You’ve been given “imperfect” knowledge if you’ve been told that credit cards are harmful. Credit cards aren’t awful as long as you understand the “product” or “card” you’ve signed up for and all of the advantages, fees, interest rates, and other terms before you use it. Your credit score will determine whether or not you can rent an apartment, purchase a vehicle, or buy your first house. There are several strategies to attempt to enhance your credit score.

Consider making tiny payments of $50 or $75 on your student loans while you’re still in school to show that you’ve made payments in the past. These payments will be reported as on-time payments on your credit report.

Paying your payments on time and borrowing exactly what you need are the greatest ways to establish credit. Credit Karma also allows you to examine your own credit report for free. The worst thing you can do is fail to make a payment on time. Late payments might linger on your credit report for up to 7 years, depending on where you reside, so try to never be late on a payment.

Learning about the factors that influence your credit report and FICO score, as well as what you can do to improve your score, are critical steps in gaining financial control. Also, be cautious with your credit card debt and avoid overspending. Many college students have damaged their credit by using credit cards and falling into a debt hole they can’t climb out of. The reason for this is that when you first start off, it might be difficult to figure out how to use cards. You don’t want to learn the hard way about fees and interest.

One method through which most students learn about credit cards is by paying for small items such as textbooks or gas. If you make little purchases and pay off the debt in full on a regular basis, there will be no interest costs. This will aid in the improvement of your credit score. This is how you intend to use your credit card. Carry the balance at all times. The first step is to compare credit cards and learn about the various APRs, fees, and alternatives available.

Credit cards are ideal for students since they are the first step toward establishing a positive credit history. While you’re in school, having good credit may not seem crucial, but you’ll need it later on if you want to purchase a vehicle, a home, or obtain the best credit card rates. If you have terrible credit, you may be unable to get a job or rent an apartment. Here are the finest college credit cards.

7. Create an Emergency Fund and Automate Your Finances

Automate, automate, automate. Get a bank account that is flexible and easy to use, and one that allows you to open multiple checking accounts at no additional cost. Once you know how much money you’re making (approximately) every month, you just need to automate the flow of your money so that some of it goes into your emergency fund account while the rest of it is divided up between your investment account, “cash” account (this is the one you use daily), and your entertainment account. Yes, you want to have an account that you use for entertainment. This is the account you will use when you need to go out for dinner with friends and spend money on a weekend trip. Make sure you have an app where you can see all of your accounts in one place. If you don’t have enough money in one account, don’t move money around. Just figure out a way to make additional money and build up the account you’re lacking in.

8. Eliminate Impulse Purchases

Make it a rule to never purchase anything on a whim. This rule will save you from the buyer’s remorse you feel when you make an impulse purchase. If you see something you like or want, just tell yourself, “I’m going to sleep on it.” Having the discipline to say that to yourself will not only make you a strong individual, but it will also make your finances strong because you won’t be spending money on things you might not really need.

9. Reduce Your Largest Expenses

There are four major spending categories, and they are called FETA (Food, Education, Transportation, and Accommodation). This is where you’re going to spend the most of your money. If you can cut food costs by maintaining a healthy meal plan, then go ahead and do it. Similarly, you can find ways to cut down on your education, transportation, and accommodation costs.

10. Learn About Investing

Last but not least, learn how to invest. You can start by reading my list of the top 10 books on investing. If you get started when you’re in college, you will know so much more than the average person, even before you graduate in a few years. If you don’t want to take the time to read, just put away 30% of what you make (or preferably more) in the S&P 500 index fund.

Bringing it all together

You’re doing the right thing by researching how to manage your personal finances as a college student. Keep up the great work, and just remember that good money decisions are based on knowledge. The more knowledge you can acquire on the topic of money and wealth, the better off you will be.

When it comes to your finances, if you can think long-term, get a job, start a business, focus on making more money rather than saving pennies, and invest a large chunk of what you make, you will be on your way to wealth.