Budgeting for Students

Why Budgeting is Important for College Students

The best and sometimes only way of controlling your spending is by maintaining a budget. This holds true for those who are working as well as students who are still to graduate from college. Regardless of whether parents give college students allowance or the student's work their way through school, budgeting still remains one of the essential skills that they would do well to learn.

Wondering why budgeting is so important for college students? There are several important reasons in answer to this question. First of all, budgets give students a more concrete knowledge of their economic situation. Secondly, budgeting helps students identify what a major chunk of their money of their money is going towards and it can help them cut back on unnecessary expenses and save their much-needed money.

Budgeting is also a great way for college students to show their parents or anybody else who may be funding their education that they can be trusted and know how to be responsible with their finances. More importantly, budgeting helps college students determine exactly what they can safely afford by way of monthly expenditure. This goes a long way in preventing the student from accumulating debt or overspending.

Basically, budgeting for college students is much the same compared to any other kind of budgeting. Keeping a written record is essential for college students who are maintaining a budget the same way as it is for everybody else. It is almost impossible to adhere to any budget that is only stored somewhere in your memory. It is important to make a written list of the various items you need to track including your earnings and other income as well as your expenditure.

Another fundamental budgeting rule that can be applied to any budgeting that is meant for college students is the need to prioritize. Knowing what your priorities are is vital for creating a sustainable budget. It is the only way of ascertaining that you will be able to meet your monthly requirements. Buying new clothes or new shoes every month is not as much of a priority as keeping aside sufficient funds for paying the house rent. Budgeting forces you to keep money aside for the more important essentials, before spending on luxuries and non-essentials.

Students who are lucky enough that are still being fully funded by their parents can still stretch their budget and make their money go far by refraining from being over-indulgent. Certainly a few occasional luxuries are to be expected but most of the time a lot of money is needlessly spent on stuff that can be absolutely avoided such as too many night-outs or weekly spa treatments. Another thing students can consider in order to increase their budget is taking up a part-time job.

Resisting the temptation of spending your personal loan at one time and being loyal to your budget will help you avoid falling into a debt trap.

Basics of Personal Budgeting

Personal Budgeting

Personal budgeting can be considered among the most critical and necessary life skills. The knowledge of budgeting basics is vital to your financial success. It is important to always track your earnings as well as your expenditure, whether you are doing financially well at the moment or whether you are struggling with your finances.

The first essential step of budgeting is really simple- write down the numbers. Let your starting point be the salary that you get in hand after paying tax. Budgeting does not make too much sense if you are unable to see the actual figures. It may be easy for you to figure out what your earnings are every month, but as you begin writing down the figures, you may be in for a shock when you physically see how much are you actually spending.

To get a better idea, you need to go ahead with the second step of the basics of budgeting – collect all your receipts and bills pertaining to car payments, credit card bills, house rent, house mortgage, groceries, utilities and insurance payment. First make a list of more important expenses and then list the non-essentials. Making a concrete list and actually looking at it is a bit like clearing up our vision as it helps you see exactly where your money is going. Usually the small items seem trivial enough to be ignored if you consider them individually, but when they are all added up the total amount can be substantial. You may be surprised at how much you actually spend o seemingly trivial things.

Now you can determine exactly what your major expenses are and where you tend to overspend. You certainly do not have to forego eating out completely. You can still continue indulging in all your favorite activities but what you could do is reduce the frequency. It is important not to impose rigid restrictions on yourself. If you continue treating yourself now and then you are more likely to stick to your budget. When making your budget, remember to factor in relaxation and recreation as well.

Building an emergency fund is your next step. As the name indicates, the money that you would deposit into this fund would be reserved only for unexpected situations and emergencies. Be very strict with yourself when it comes to withdrawing money from this fund. A one-day sale at your favorite department store does not quality as an emergency. Reserve that money for real emergencies only, such as a sudden illness, an accident or major car or house repair. It is these unforeseen adverse events that have the potential of busting your carefully planned budget so it is important to take note of them when chalking out your monthly budget.

In short, personal budgeting basics include collecting your monthly receipts and bill statements, listing down your total expenses and subtracting that figure from your monthly net income. Remember to make allowances for everyday requirements including gas, food and other miscellaneous expenses.

Basics of Personal Budgeting

Personal Budgeting

Personal budgeting can be considered among the most critical and necessary life skills. The knowledge of budgeting basics is vital to your financial success. It is important to always track your earnings as well as your expenditure, whether you are doing financially well at the moment or whether you are struggling with your finances.

The first essential step of budgeting is really simple- write down the numbers. Let your starting point be the salary that you get in hand after paying tax. Budgeting does not make too much sense if you are unable to see the actual figures. It may be easy for you to figure out what your earnings are every month, but as you begin writing down the figures, you may be in for a shock when you physically see how much are you actually spending.

To get a better idea, you need to go ahead with the second step of the basics of budgeting – collect all your receipts and bills pertaining to car payments, credit card bills, house rent, house mortgage, groceries, utilities and insurance payment. First make a list of more important expenses and then list the non-essentials. Making a concrete list and actually looking at it is a bit like clearing up our vision as it helps you see exactly where your money is going. Usually the small items seem trivial enough to be ignored if you consider them individually, but when they are all added up the total amount can be substantial. You may be surprised at how much you actually spend o seemingly trivial things.

Now you can determine exactly what your major expenses are and where you tend to overspend. You certainly do not have to forego eating out completely. You can still continue indulging in all your favorite activities but what you could do is reduce the frequency. It is important not to impose rigid restrictions on yourself. If you continue treating yourself now and then you are more likely to stick to your budget. When making your budget, remember to factor in relaxation and recreation as well.

Building an emergency fund is your next step. As the name indicates, the money that you would deposit into this fund would be reserved only for unexpected situations and emergencies. Be very strict with yourself when it comes to withdrawing money from this fund. A one-day sale at your favorite department store does not quality as an emergency. Reserve that money for real emergencies only, such as a sudden illness, an accident or major car or house repair. It is these unforeseen adverse events that have the potential of busting your carefully planned budget so it is important to take note of them when chalking out your monthly budget.

In short, personal budgeting basics include collecting your monthly receipts and bill statements, listing down your total expenses and subtracting that figure from your monthly net income. Remember to make allowances for everyday requirements including gas, food and other miscellaneous expenses.

Oil Price Today.

Crude Oil
$45.77	▼2.21		4.61%
2:56 AM EST - 2008.12.12

Oil price today is $ 45.77 in world market. Good news for consumers like us, bad news for oil tycoons.

10 Steps to Ensure Your Success

1. SET YOUR GOALS

What do you want to accomplish? Do you want a new home? Do you want to save for your children's college education? A new car? You can have whatever you want, but you must want it enough to do the things that have to be done in order to get it. Set your goals, write them down and set a target date for reaching them. Set short-term reachable goals and long term higher goals, yet don't set them too high. This will cause you to become discouraged if you don't achieve
them.Work consistently towards accomplishing your goals each day, each week and each month until you reach your short-term goals. When you have attained your short-term goals, set them a little higher each time. Ultimately, you will achieve your long-term goals. Goal setting is a must in every area of life.

2. BE SELF DISCIPLINED

Get up early each day. Get ready for your job as if you were working outside your home. Have a list of all the things you want to accomplish during the day. This will give you an organized approach to each day.It's amazing how much you can get done using a "To Do" list.

3. BE SELF MOTIVATED
Set up a schedule and stick to it. Be Enthusiastic. Enthusiasm generates its own energy. Energy and good health are synonymous with motivated, happy people -- achievers.

4. BE ENTHUSIASTIC
Positive thinking will literally be your key to success. You have to convince yourself that you can succeed at whatever you desire,because you can.

5. DO NOT ALLOW YOURSELF TO BECOME DISCOURAGED

Remember... The more "No’s" you get, the closer to a "YES" you become.

6. SCHEDULE YOUR TIME WISELY

A schedule is your roadmap to success. If you have no direction, you'll travel in circles and ultimately never reach your goals. Plan your work then work your plan.

7. HAVE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE

Success is 90 percent attitude and 10 percent aptitude. Learn the art of positive thinking. You can do whatever you put your mind to. It's mind over matter. Your attitude will either guarantee your success or guarantee your failure. You're only a failure if you give up.

8. SET UP AN OFFICE AREA

Most direct marketers work from their own homes, but it is still essential to set up a specified work area. Take pride in your business to ensure your success.

9. HANDLE YOUR MONEY WISELY

Set up a written budget. Set aside a percentage of your business income to put back into your business. This is a must. Failure to reinvest your money will result in the failure of your business.

10. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF

Get plenty of sleep, eat right and take some time to stop and smell the roses...Be Persistent... Persistence pays off... Don't give up... Most Businesses fail Just at The Moment They Are About To Succeed... Sales is one of the highest paid of all professions. "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime."

Leverage On The Social Networking Sites:MySpace

Social networking sites such as MySpace,Facebook and Friendster are popular nowadays.Social networking has created new ways to communicate and share information. Social networking websites are being used regularly by millions of people, and it now seems that social networking will be an enduring part of everyday life. We can also use social networks for advertising.

Techniques and steps needed in order to make money on MySpace:

1. Create a profile on MySpace.

Before you do anything else on MySpace, you will have to create a viable profile that will actually convince buyers one of two things: 1) you are another human being; or 2) that you are a serious, professional business. Either option is fine; however, you must clearly demonstrate either in your profile.

2. Advertise on MySpace.

This requires some start-up cash, but if you have it, it may be one of the wisest moves you make. This is especially potent if you already have a profile setup on MySpace. You can simply advertise, drive traffic to that page, add friends to your list, and then send them periodic bulletins, as if you were sending out mailings to a list.

3. Purchasing bulletins on MySpace.

This is another effective technique for marketing on MySpace. Rather than going directly through MySpace, you can find people who have large friends lists and ask them if they are interested in "selling" a bulletin to you. You can either write this bulletin as you would a solo ad; or you can use it to announce some contest, which is probably a better option.

4. Use private messages to make sales to individuals.

Private messages keep the tone somewhat more personal than a bulletin would. Additionally, you will want to use first names when communicating through messages.

5. Don't ever spam your friends lists.

Remember that commercial uses of MySpace are not exactly encouraged; however, they may be tolerated, provided that your efforts are not overt and disruptive. For this reason, you will want to remain low-key. Avoid getting flagged or reported.

Make Your Website Success

how to turn your website into online success:

• Make your site unique

• Attract new visitors and keep them coming back

• Prepare and submit to hundreds of search engines and directories
to be listed in the top search results

• Maximize your Web site promotion using meta-indexes

• Pull traffic to your site by implementing a personalized, targeted
e-mail campaign

• Develop an effective banner ad campaign to draw the right customers
to your site

• Use newsgroups and mailing lists to communicate with your target
market and build your reputation

• Hype your company in the media for increased exposure through
interactive press releases

• Increase company and brand awareness with webcasting and
rich media

• Use one of the most effective Internet marketing tools—links

• Find and use free promotion tools available on the Internet

• Develop your own affiliate or associate program

• Use permission and viral marketing effectively.