“I’m a broke college student,” when asking relatives for additional funds or support can wear out over time. Plus, it might be a personal goal to manage some of your own finances, so you can begin to experience your own means of financial freedom.
Budgeting during your college years can be tricky, especially with the current price of tuition and room and board. You also must consider whether you’re going to live at home, on-campus, or off-campus. With so many factors, we have a college living arrangement calculator to help you decide which option will be best for you, as well as tips for renting an apartment for the first time.
If you’re living off-campus, you’ll want to create a budget to help manage your daily spending and monthly expenses. If you’re living on-campus, room and board are typically paid at the same time you pay tuition, so you may not have to worry about that as a monthly expense. If you’re living with your parents and not paying living expenses, your college budget may focus more on student life, but if your parents expect you to pay a monthly payment include that in your budget.
College Expenses to Expect
As you’re preparing to live on your own, it can be helpful to know what expenses to expect. To help cut down on surprise expenses, contact your school’s financial aid office and ask what the average costs of attendance (COA) may be or you can begin with a simple search on the school’s website.
Some might think that college expenses begin and end with tuition, but that’s not true. The COA typically includes tuition, fees, room and board, books, and supplies, and that doesn’t always include everything. You’ll also want to factor in expenses like:
- Clothing
- Healthcare
- Technology (laptop, phone plan, etc.)
- Food (not including on-campus dining)
- Transportation costs (gas, maintenance, parking pass, etc.)
- Miscellaneous fees (i.e. using a printer, vending machines, activity fees, etc.)
Also, there may be other expenses you may want to consider as you think more about your college aspirations, such as joining a fraternity or sorority, which can add up. For additional support, try contacting an existing student or your resident advisor (if you’re living on-campus), to find out what kind of fees are typical throughout the school year.
Make a list of expected expenses as well as their frequency (i.e. paid by the year, semester, quarter, monthly, one-time, etc.). Organize and total the final list and you’ll start seeing the real numbers for your expenses.
College Student Budget Example
Below is an example budget for a four-year in-state institution for someone living on-campus.
| Expense | Amount | Cadence | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Tuition
|
$10,440†
|
Yearly
|
|
|
Room and Board
|
$11,510†
|
Yearly
|
|
|
Books and supplies
|
$1,240† (two semesters $2,480)
|
Semester
|
|
|
Sum
|
$24,430
|
Student loans, grants, scholarships, and college savings (529) accounts can be used for the expenses listed above, but also consider that some books and supplies may only be covered if they’re purchased at the campus bookstore.
If you’re financing your higher education with student loans, the amount you get in loans may be more than the costs of tuition, room and board, and books. If that happens, you can either have the full amount paid out to you, which then you may be issued, what’s popularly known as, a refund check, or you can return that money to the lender. But keep in mind if you decide to get the full payout, the surplus borrowed money you keep will still have interest applied to it, so if you’re not using it to cover necessary expenses, it might be best to return it.
It might be helpful to ask your financial aid advisor or friends and family with experience receiving financial aid support what they would recommend.
Working in College
When you create a monthly budget, start with your income. Do you plan on working part-time or full-time while attending classes? Or, will you be working during the summers and not working during the school year? These are all important factors to consider as you build out a budget that will work for you.
After you’ve calculated your college expenses (tuition, room and board, etc.) and your anticipated income during the school year, you will need to figure out your regular living expenses. We mentioned this earlier, but our college budget calculator for living expenses can be a huge help for this step.
This is a lot of work, but after you’ve listed your income and expenses, you must subtract your expenses from your income and that’s how much money you have leftover. If you get a negative number, then that means you’re spending more than you make and your budget needs to be adjusted.
At this point, budgeting gets easier because Huntington offers online tools to help you track your spending.
