A budget can help you sidestep impulse spending. It puts you in control of the decision to buy or not to buy, based on your needs and available cash. The time period of a student budget can be a month, a semester, or the school year. After listing all income, estimate how much money you will spend on the fixed and flexible items in your budget. Fixed items are a constant and easily defined.
Flexible expenses are more difficult to identify because of their changing nature.
Compare total estimated expenses with your total income then adjust the flexible expenses in order to balance your budget. Your spending practices will have a significant effect on shaping your financial security, and a budget helps you keep spending in tow. You will have access to credit cards as a college student. While credit cards are useful when used appropriately, the temptation to overspend can lead to expenses that could destroy your budget as well as your financial independence. Students sometimes wisely use credit cards to pay for unexpected expenses such as medical emergencies, with the full understanding that it costs money to borrow money if the credit card balance is not paid in full each month.