Budgeting for College

In our blog “What Does College Really Cost” we talked about the cost of college; the next step is budgeting!

You might be asking yourself how do you create a budget? Well it’s actually quite simple: you create a list of all your incoming funds (such as OSAP, jobs throughout the school year), create a list of all your expenses (such as rent, tuition etc.) then subtract your incoming funds from your expenses and see if they balance.

Many students work all summer and save for the school year. If you aren’t planning to work throughout the school year here is how you can figure out your monthly income: (OSAP + summer savings) – (tuition + books + any additional upfront costs) = total/ 8 (number of months in the school year) = “monthly income” if you don’t plan to work.

Budgets are great as they allow you to see what the cost of your, week, month, year etc. will be. Budgets aren’t set in stone, unexpected costs arrive and life happens, so use your budget as a strong guide, put any left over money into savings. Remember your budget will never be perfect, but it should be pretty close.

Here are two examples of a budget breakdown that you can use that divides your income by 8 months. One can be used if you are not working during the school year and the second can be used if you are working during the school year.

*Please Note: This is a draft budget everyone’s budget will be different adjust to fit your personal needs.*

Download your Example of the College Student Budget here Study North Budget

Here is an example of a budget if you do plan to work. Download your Example of the College Student Budget – Working here: Study North Budget – Working