Create a Budget
What Is a Budget?
A budget is a plan for managing your money. It helps you track your cash flow by showing you how much money you have coming in each month and where that money goes. A budget can help you achieve financial and savings goals, prepare you for emergency situations and help you manage your student loan obligation.
How to Budget
Follow the steps below to create a budget:
- Identify Your Income. Start by listing all of your income sources.
- Track Your Expenses. Determine how you spend your money now. Keep your receipts and review them. Record all of your monthly expenses which may include your tuition, housing, books, groceries, car payment, entertainment and other bills.
- Analyze the Result. Add up your monthly income, then add up your monthly expenses. Subtract your total expenses from your total income and analyze the result. If you earned more than you spent, you may want to use your budget to apply extra money to your debts and ramp up your savings plan. If you spent more than you earned, your top priority should be to cut back on your spending and/or increase your income.
Use the budget calculator to start your budget.
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