Track Your Spending While In College
It can be hard to keep up with your finances while in college, especially when you’re so busy with classes, homework, and exams. However, it’s very important to keep track of all your spending. This way, you’ll be able to set up a budget for yourself and make sure you have money to spend on the things you need at any given time. We know that spending habits during college can be rather unpredictable at times, but it’s still an important thing to keep track of the money you’re spending as much as you can. Not to mention, there are so many ways you can now keep track of your spending and set yourself a budget. From apps to websites, there are plenty of tools out there that are here to make this as easy as possible for you.
Excel Sheet
If you know how to use Excel, even in a basic way, this is a fantastic tool to use to keep track of your spending. You can make a sheet in any way you want and update it as you go. This will give you a bigger picture of your spending habits and allow you to see where you can cut back to save more.
Notes App
Another way to keep track of all your expenses is with the Notes app on your phone. When you buy anything, just write it down. At the end of the month, you can add it all together or make a Google Doc that adds it up for you.
Keep Receipts
A lot of people tend to throw receipts away most of the time, but it can be very useful when tracking your expenses. When using a debit or credit card, it can be easy to lose track of the smaller purchases, which is why it’s good to keep receipts until you’ve written it all down.
Mint.com
If you mostly use your card to buy things, this is a great tool to use to keep track. Since this resource is free, however, it isn’t always too detailed. Each week you get a summary of your expenses and a chart to show you what you spend the most money on. On top of that, you can set yourself savings goals and the app will track how much you need to save every month plus how close you are to the goal.
Envelopes
This is a great system if you use cash more often than not. Since online shopping is so popular, this might not be the best system. However, it’s still great to use for all your outings and when you do use cash. Keep all the money you budgeted for eating out in one envelope, then write down how much of it you spent until it’s done. Once it’s empty, you know you can’t spend any more money on eating out without going over your budget.
