Quote Of The Week:

It's not who you are that holds you back, it's who you think you're not. ~Author Unknown

Could I Be Any More Broke?

photo source: emmagem.com

This summer has been quite been quite a challenge financially. I made a huge accomplishment by purchasing my first used car in April (yayy me!) . However, it made a huge setback in the comfortability of my finances.Of course, I thought purchasing the car was all I had to get done. Haha, yeah right! After paying those inspection fees, temporary and permanent tags, car insurance, and minor car repairs, I was drained.

Here's the thing. I decided to pay for school this semester. So when I took the monthly school payments, plus all the car expenses, in addition to my cell phone bill and other personal expenses, I felt as if I was stuck in a corner.

This is when I had to put myself in check. I was so used to only one bill [cell phone] that once I started tackling more bills, I was clueless. I went into research mode for the past two months, trying to create a plan that would keep me on track and in control of my finances.

Budgeting: This is immensely important for us college students. Unfortunately, very little of us know how to. The fact that my school payment is only temporary [two more to go!], I drew out a financial plan until then. If your income arrives Bi-weekly like mine, then give this a try:

• The total amount of your monthly bills divided by 2 = the amount taken out the bi-weekly paycheck

For Example---> $500 [monthly bill amount] / 2 = $250

If you make $400 bi-weekly, then you subtract $250 from it. [$400-$250=$150]

• The remaining amount can be used for personal expenses [i.e. savings,gas, food, etc.]

Saving: One of the biggest challenges for us college students is the art of saving [ there will be a series of that later ;) ] . There are so many ways of saving the money that you make. However, being on this budget plan has helped me save in the easiest way:

• With the remaining amount of your paycheck, subtract 10% of it and place it in your savings account [if you have one].

For Example---> If you have $150 left over, subtract 0.10 = $15

...So that means $150-$15= $135!

Can you imagine that?! Just saving $15 every paycheck for 6 months can give you $180 dollars in your savings account. Of course the more money you make, the more you can save. Which is actually very exciting!

I know that my finances may not seem like a lot, compared to others. I still live at home. Therefore, I felt that it was necessary to learn the concepts of basic budgeting and saving. I am still learning [far from an expert] and this technique takes time as more and more responsibilities will come my way [loans, rent, etc.] in the future. What's important is that I am "prepping" myself for one reason; Being financially independent! <---Don't we all :)

-M.Kay<33