What comes to mind when you think of college? Classes, parties, clubs, finals… but what about money? Tuition, books, room, and board are the big expenses, but how do you budget so you’re not living on ramen while cramming for exams?

Budgeting can be tricky, even for the pros. Life loves to throw curveballs—unexpected bills, job market changes, and surprise emergencies are all part of the game. But mastering the art of budgeting is a cornerstone of financial literacy. Today, we’ll cover the essentials to help you take control of your finances and get started on the right foot.

The Basics

Set a Time Frame for Your Budget

Before crunching the numbers, decide how long your budget will cover: weekly, monthly, or by semester. A monthly budget works best for most students since it aligns with regular income and recurring expenses like groceries, bills, and transportation. Breaking things down monthly makes it easier to manage your money and stay on top of your goals.

If your room, board, and meals are covered in your tuition, your budget will look a bit different. With fewer daily expenses, you’ll have more flexibility to allocate a larger portion of your income toward saving for life after graduation.

Let’s Talk Income

Many students dedicate their lives fully to their studies, and will not pursue a part-time job, a work-study job, an internship, or even a side hustle. While we do recommend pursuing the opportunities listed above, it is perfectly acceptable to focus on your studies during the duration of your college career. 

Start by figuring out how much money you’ll have coming in each month. Here’s how to fully assess it:

• Include sources like pay from work, financial support from family, and financial aid (scholarships, grants, work-study, or loans).
• If you’re working, check your pay records to determine your monthly take-home income. If most of your earnings come from summer jobs, calculate your annual income and divide it by 12.
• Don’t forget to account for financial aid credit balance refunds—leftover funds after tuition and fees are paid—that can go toward other expenses.

When I was in college, this is what my monthly income looked like: 

Income Source	Monthly Income
Pay from Work (paid bi-weekly, twice a month)	$1402
Side Hustles (art, babysitting)	$200
Help from Family	$100
Total Monthly Income	$1702

Everyone’s income is going to look different. The universal truth is that most college students struggle with finances as they prepare to enter the world on their own.

Tip: Be gentle with yourself. You aren’t far behind your peers if you struggle with your income at first. 

Now, Expenses

To get a clear picture of your spending, start by tracking everything you spend in a month. It might take some time, but it’s worth it to see where your money goes and how you can manage it better.

Next, review your bank and credit card statements for any automatic payments you might have overlooked.

If you’re in college or preparing to attend, be sure to estimate your education-related costs. Beyond tuition and fees (if not fully covered by financial aid), include expenses for books, supplies, room essentials, equipment, and travel. Check out tips on reducing college costs to help keep your budget on track.

Here’s what my monthly expenses would look like in one month while I was in college: 

Expenses	Cost
Rent (with family)	$500
Adobe Creative Cloud	$30
Eating Out (Restaurants, Uber Eats, etc)	$100
Groceries	$150
Subscription Services	$125
Savings	$100
Emergency Fund	$45
Tuition (paid monthly)	$700
Total	$1750

As you can tell… I was living on the edge for a little bit. 

Typically, you’re going to have two types of expenses: 

Fixed expenses, which are expenses that you know you’re going to have to pay every month no matter what. This includes rent, tuition, money set aside for savings, car payments, phone payments, etc. 

Then, you have variable expenses, which are expenses that are controllable and flexible like clothing, eating out, entertainment, credit cards, etc. 

There are tons of websites and apps that can help you as you learn how to track your expenses. I used programs like Rocket Money, Google Sheets, and Notion to keep track of the important bits and refine my budget as I went.

Tip: As you’re starting out, try to find templates that work for you. There are templates for weekly, monthly, and yearly budgets. Don’t limit yourself to just one! Test them out, and find the right one for you. You can find budget templates at Etsy, or on TheGooDocs.

Figuring out the Balance

A big mistake, including one of my own, is that I would allocate way too much of my income on variable expenses rather than the important things like savings, emergency funds, etc, despite a large chunk of my income going to fixed expenses as well. As such, when I balanced my budget, it looked like this: 

Total Income – Total Expenses = +/- Difference 

1702 – 1750 = -48

Total Income	– Total Expenses	= +/- Difference
$1702	– $1750	= – $48

As you can see, I ended up with a negative balance. This means that I was spending more than I was earning in one month. This means that I was also using my credit card for extra expenses, which added to my total debt. Due to this, I was having trouble finding a balance between my expenses and often found myself stressed whenever emergencies came up and I had to cut out both my savings and my emergency fund. If you are like me when I was in college, I highly recommend that you sit down and ask yourself the following questions: 

• Is it necessary? 
• Can I afford this? 
• Do I need to save the money I would have spent on this purchase in order to meet a financial goal? 

A positive balance means you’re spending less than you earn—giving you more flexibility to save and work toward future financial goals, like buying a car or saving for a home down payment.

Another perk? Extra income can go toward paying off student loans while you’re still in college. Chipping away at loans early can ease the financial stress when repayment begins after graduation.

Saving For Emergencies

I’ve been there—scrambling to cover unexpected expenses and pulling from savings when emergencies came up, like vet bills for my dogs or unexpected household costs. I didn’t allocate enough for emergencies, and it made things harder than they needed to be.

Learn from my mistake: set up a solid emergency fund. Your future self will thank you for having that financial cushion when life throws surprises your way.

50, 30, 20

One of the most popular budgeting methods is the 50/30/20 rule, which financial experts recommend. The basics of this method are:

• 50% of your income for needs (like rent, utilities, and groceries).
• 30% for wants (things like entertainment, dining out, and shopping).
• 20% for saving and repaying debts (including emergency savings and loan payments).

This simple framework helps ensure you’re balancing your spending while also setting aside money for the future.

The 50/30/20 rule is a great starting point, but it’s not set in stone. You might not hit the exact percentages, especially when you’re just starting out or facing life changes. If you experience a setback, don’t worry—just try to get back on track as soon as you can. And if your budget is doing well, feel free to increase your savings rate to build a stronger financial cushion.

This is what my expenses would have looked like if I had stuck to the 50, 30, 20 rule when I was in college, based on my monthly income of 1702. 

50% to needs: $851 

30% to wants: $510

20% for saving and repaying debts: $340

Expenses (Needs)	Cost
Rent	$500
Tuition Payment	$700
Emergency Fund	$45
Total	$1245

As you can see, my total for needs exceeds 50%. Because of that, we adjust the other portions.

Allocated Amount (Needs) – Total Expenses (Needs)  = +/- Difference (Needs) 

Difference (Needs) – Allocated Amount (Wants) = New Allocated Amount (Wants) 

851 – 1245 = -394 

510 – 394 = 116 to wants. 

Expenses (Wants)	Cost
Dining Out	$50
Entertainment	$35
Subscription Services	$20
Shopping	$10
Total	$115

Things happen, and budgets change. But, we’re able to allocate accordingly depending on what needs to be done. This budget would change if it was the summer, and there was no tuition payment. It would also change if I picked up an extra hour or two while babysitting or made an extra 150 dollars through commission work. 

Now, let’s see how my savings and debt repayment would look now that we’re using the 50/30/20 method. 

Expenses (Savings and Debt Repayment)	Cost
Savings	$290
Credit Card Payment	$50
Total	$340

And now, we have a proper savings account that will go toward future financial goals. 

Budgeting is something that changes as the year goes by, and sometimes we don’t meet our goals and that’s okay. But it is important for high school and college age students to develop their financial knowledge so that they aren’t going into the world blind. 

Conclusion

Now that your budget is set, make sure to update it regularly. Here are some tips to stay on track:

• Review regularly: Regular check-ins will keep you aware of your spending and help you avoid surprises.
• Set Realistic goals: Don’t shoot for the moon on the first try. It will only frustrate you if you miss your target. Start small and gradually increase your desired savings and/or debt reduction goals as your circumstances change.
• Forgive small mistakes: Overspending happens, especially with impulse buys. If you slip up, don’t stress—just get back on track. The next time you’re tempted, take a moment to reconsider before making that purchase.

Parents, it is important to have the budget talk with your children before they go off to college. Passing down the knowledge that you have developed is key to ensuring their future financial success long after they graduate from college. 

---

• 

  EDCAP’s Scholarship Guide

• 

  Getting Financial Aid & FAFSA 101

• 

  2025-26 Student Aid Guide

• 

  College and Job Prep 101: A “How-To” on Internships