We have all been there – in line at Starbucks, Pita Pit, Strong Hearts; wherever you may frequent on Marshall Street. You go to pay, and you either genuinely have no idea if your card will be declined, or you check your balance and you simply do not have enough money to pay for your coffee, pita, or smoothie.
For many students, budgeting is not a routine, but it should be.
To avoid stressing in the Starbucks line, or when it comes time to pay your rent, budgeting can save you time and most importantly, money. Budgeting shows how your spending matches your income, and where your money will go before you earn it.
By tracking your monthly income and expenses, you can see if you have money left over, or if you have overspent. If this is the case and you are spending more than you make for the month, lower your expenses and raise your income. One way to increase your monthly income is to check out on-campus or local jobs. Since having a job may not be feasible for some students, emphasizing decreased spending can be very important. Easy ways to do so include limiting the number of times you eat out per month and limiting non-essential purchases, like that Uber to class, the cute shirt you saw on Amazon, or those new Nikes you saw pop up in your Facebook feed.
Though it may seem stressful thinking about the numbers, budgeting gives you the power to make a change that can help you spend less than you make per month, and begin saving.
One of Syracuse’s hidden gems, the Syracuse Smart Money Program speaks the language of budgeting, and its Orange Budget tool, a pre-programed Excel budget, makes it easy for you to start budgeting.
Once you fill out your Orange Budget, make an appointment with a Smart Money Coach to review your results. Do you need to decrease your spending? Increase your income? Whatever it may be, the Coaches can provide insight. Log on to Orange Success, and you will be halfway to controlling your own finances.
Written by Melissa Marchetti ’20, The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs