Whether this is your first year at college or you are a returning student, planning your finances, determining the financial support you need and budgeting your money are best done before the semester starts.
Be honest about your financial needs. Investigate all the financial resources available to you including support from your family, scholarships, government loan programs, work on campus and bank loans.
Once the semester starts and you are kept busy by your class schedule and meeting friends and faculty, you won't have enough time to create a budget and think about ways to keep within the spending limits of your budget. These steps will help you plan your budget.
Effective Planning Tips
Determine your full expenses for tuition, books, living, transportation, miscellaneous, etc.
Organize the resources you will have at the start of the academic year.
Investigate scholarships, government loan/grant programs, bank loans and/or work on campus if your resources do not cover your educational and living costs.
Apply for scholarships, government loan/grant programs in March, April, May or June depending on application deadlines. This will allow enough time to submit further information, supporting documents or signature sheets.
Review your resources and adjust your educational and/or living expenses to be within your available resources.
