Managing your finances is hard. Managing your finances is even harder when you have absolutely no idea where to
begin. Living a life of one impulse buy after another, the word budget was foreign to me. I had only heard it a few brief
times when the parents were talking about how they were going to pay for my show choir and marching band fees.
The word budget punched me right in the face when my parents told me that I was going to have to pay for college by
myself. This was a scary time for me. No more random runs to the local Ice Cream shop, no more shoe shopping,
even when they were on sale. I had never budgeted anything in my life. I did not know what I was going to do.
Even though I had a small panic attack at that point in my life, I have since then learned a little about managing my
finances and what it really means to budget. I had to take loans out to pay for tuition and room and board here, which
I knew I was going to have to pay back. I picked a repayment plan that allowed me to pay back as much of the loan
as I wanted to each month. This was the first expense that went on my budget. Some time had passed, and I decided
I wanted to go through formal recruitment and join a sorority. I knew I was going to have to pay for this myself as well,
so I went into recruitment hoping and praying that I would like the one that only cost 600 dollars the first year. Of
course that wasn’t going to happen, and I ended up falling in love with one of the most expensive sororities. I added
the number 1,200 dollars to my things I needed to budget for.
Now as a sophomore, getting ready to move into junior status, I have added several more expenses to my budget.
Starting this summer, I will be paying roughly 360 dollars for rent on a house. I will be paying another, 40 to 60 dollars
in utilities for the house. Since I am living off campus, I will need to budget for food, as well as travel to get on and off
campus. Together I will estimate both of those costs to be about 100 dollars. Along with all of these expenses, I still
need to include my sorority dues at the beginning of the fall semester, books that I will need for my classes, and
paying back a portion of my loans. I also plan to study abroad in Europe the summer right before my senior year to
gain some field experience in my major. I need to start planning to set aside money for this expense as well. The
exchange rate in Europe is in favor of the euro, meaning it will cost me more dollars to be able to pay for necessities
over there. Last but not least, I need to budget for the adventures college takes me on, for the opportunities that
being at college will open up for me, and the memories that I will obtain from doing so. Yes, college is about growing
up and into my professional degree, but what other time am I going to be able to live in the Appalachian Mountains
for two months, hanging out with children from across the country and staff from around the world. What other time
am going to travel to southern Indiana and meet sisters from another chapter and hang out on their campus all day.
What other time, am I going to be able to see the look on my little buddies face, who happens to be mildly autistic,
when he finally learns what a Maracas is and sounds like. Those are the experiences that I am going to remember
forever, and yes, I had to budget fruitfully to get there, but it is always completely worth it.
My plan for managing my finances is simple, set aside money for each category, and do not go over the allowance for
each section. Step one: break down each expense to see how much it will actually cost. I started with the biggest
expense first which was tuition. I budgeted little out of pocket expenses for this because this portion will be paid
through scholarships and student loans. What I did take into account was the loan repayment plan of roughly 25
dollars a month. I moved on with my rent and utilities costing me about 400 dollars a month. Next, I included the one
time payment of sorority dues in August. Then I moved onto food and travel expenses and finally ending with a little
extra money to share between emergency, extra spending money, and adding some to savings. Step two: Get a job
to have some income instead of just expenditures. I have a job now working for a catering company roughly ten to
twenty hours a week and I am paid bi-weekly. With this money I will pay for the monthly loan payment of 25 dollars,
my utilities for the month, and part of my rent. My parents will pay the rest of my rent. If there is any left over, I will
keep and put into my savings. This coming summer, I am also planning on working at a summer camp, bringing in a
good chunk of money for the fall semester. I plan on using a portion of that money to pay for my sorority dues and
rent for a couple of months. Any and all scholarship money received for next semester will go straight towards tuition
and books. I will always remember to keep an emergency fund just in case something was to happen. This will be my
main budget for the remainder of college.