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ANNUAL BUDGET EXAMPLE
The word “budget” sounds really official, but really it’s just an account of your expenses and the resources that you’ll have to cover those expenses over a period of time. Since you don’t have unlimited resources, you need to stick to a budget—this means that you’ll have to watch what you spend, and make sure that you don’t spend any more money than you actually have coming in during that period.
You should start by estimating your expenses and your available resources, and then creating a budget should be easy. Start with figuring out your budget for the entire year, and then you can do this month by month.
The first thing to do is to take the two components--your expenses and resources--and compare them. Here's an example of how you might want to do this.
|
Expenses |
Resources |
| One-time total |
$6,740 | n/a | n/a |
| Tuition |
$15,000 |
Savings |
$3,000 |
| Housing | $4,000 | Parents’ Contribution |
$10,000 |
| Meal Plan | $3,000 | Scholarship 1 |
$5,000 |
| Books | $2,500 | Scholarship 2 |
$7,000 |
| Cable | $480 | Loan 1
| $2,625 |
| Parking | $1,200 | Loan 2
| $3,000 |
| Gas | $500 | Work-study |
$4,200 |
| Entertainment |
$1,000 | --- | $ |
| Clothes |
$500 | --- | $ | | Other personal |
$500 | --- | $ |
| TOTAL | $35,420 | TOTAL | $34,825 |
In this example, using the numbers we’ve pulled out of the air, there’s a total shortfall of $595. This means that you need to find a way to either increase your resources by that amount--perhaps by working extra hours during the summer--or to reduce your expenses--by not getting cable, leaving the car at home, or reducing the amount of money you spend on clothes, as a few examples.
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Copyright © by NATAVI GUIDES.
For more helpful tips and proven strategies from students and recent grads on applying for financial aid, understanding and comparing financial aid packages, maximizing your offer, managing your money at college, staying out of credit card debt, and much more, buy the Students Helping Students® guide titled GETTING THROUGH COLLEGE WITHOUT GOING BROKE, available at bookstores and online stores, such as Amazon.com.
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