Investigate your lost money

It is amazing how fast a pay check can go. By the time you have you tank filled, your rent paid and you have the groceries for the week you bank account gets pretty close to zero.  Managing your money and still finding some cash to save can be difficult  However, by using the resources around it can be a little easier to keep money in your pocket.

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

            I think some people forget, including myself, forget how many free services the University offers to help students. Student Money Management Service (SMMS) offers counseling, advice and tools to help student properly manage their money. Interim Director of SMMS, Patricia Donnelly says, “We listen to help students identify their financial education needs.  Then, we help students develop a plan to meet those needs.  We also assist students as they begin to create a personal spending plan.”

From Student Money Management Students:

Ø  Schedule appointments with a finance counselor

Ø  Go to a group discussion on managing money

Ø  Track your daily and monthly spending habits

Ø  Use financial calculators

Tracking where your money goes helps you understand where you need to stick to a budget. This helps you see where the bulk of your money is going and avoid making unnecessary purchases. As with any problem you may have there is a solution online. At Kiplinger.com you can keep track of your purchases and visually see where your money is going.

            Clarky Davis, author of “Debt Diva's 2008 Financial Guide”, says it’s not only important to track where you money goes but to also make plans for where it’s going to go. For example:

	Budget	Actual
Groceries	$30	$ 32
Gas	$50	$ 47
Entertainment	$15	$18
Miscellaneous (Birthday present, dining out)	$ 0	$0

By keeping track of what you want to spend you can see what you are doing right and wrong when it comes to spending your money.

            From a student’s perspective keeping track of finances does help, “Too often have a got my credit card statement and realized that I should have been keeping a tighter budget on myself,” says senior Jason Brown. After spending more than what he thinks is a responsible amount to be spending, Brown made some adjustments on his spending habits. “Instead of eating out a couple times a week, I only went out to eat a couple times a month.”  Brown also says that he thought more carefully before making purchases, “I had to decide what I needed and what I wanted. And for the things that I really wanted I had to decide if this was the best time to buy it.”

            Deciding between your wants and need isn’t always an easy decision. You need the basics at the grocery store, however you do not need name- brand items and 8 different types of cookies, just get what you really need. After slowly building up information on what you spent and then analyzing, saving money won’t seem so difficult.

Related articles

• How To Set Up A Budget and Stick To It! (livingrichwithcoupons.com)