Budgeting Help For a High School Senior

By

mom of towers

pay for everything with cash! hide the credit cards from yourself - 'til you can get a handle on things, cash is best - you can always "establish credit" later - you're young! besides, paying w/ cash will make you think about the purchase better - "Big Mac" or 2 cheeseburgers? Pepsi or water? full tank of gas or half? letting go of the actual money will have some thought behind it!

By wise 26. (Guest Post)

stay at home with mom and pop until you get married. Yeah right, I know! But seriosly save an emergency cash fund first!! Good luck!

By walker (Guest Post)

Budgeting is not fun but an essentual part of a happy life. Start by writing down in a notebook how much you bring in each month. Then write down each MUST pay amount. ( rent utilities etc.) Subtract these from your income. Be realistic. Shows and cd's are not essentual. PLace ten percent of the remaining amount in an emergency fund savings account in the bank. Plan on spending at least forty dallors a week on essentual food and other items. (if moving in with a friend they will need to share expences.) Take fifty percent of the remaining balance and place away in a safe place for clothes, gas etc. The rest goes in a checking account. Be careful not to over draw your accounts. Credit ratings are very important and in order to have a good one when you will need one (to buy a car home or take out a loan you must be careful and pay all your bills on time.) Once a year go to the credit bearu where you live and ask to see your credit rating. Take your drivers license and birth certificate. If you have things showing that you did not place on the report have them taken off. They will do a report check and clear the bad things that don't belong to you. Good luck. If you care for your money now it will take ccare of you later.

By (Guest Post)

i too am a high school senior and i have saved about 2 thousand and i have just began working....here's what i try to do:
cut down to only the essentials: you know if you need that new pair of shoes or not
if you eat out: dont splurge, stick to minimal portions
if you drive and gas is a problem: try to travel less, carpool, and dont over do it on accerlerations and braking, that uses up ALOT of gas
You just have to learn how to manage with less, it isn't that hard just cut back and keep an eye on what you buy

By Allison (Guest Post)

After you plan your budget, make sure you keep track of where your money actually goes. We keep all our reciepts and enter all our expenses on an spread sheet once a week-- it is really an eye opener to see how what we planned to do with our money differs from what we actually do. For instance, If you plan to spend 150 on groceries, but you really spend 250, this is important to know for future budget planning. Or, if you planned to spend 50 on going out with friends but you really spend 150, you need to know that, so you will know where to cut back. If you don't tell your money where to go, someone or something else will!

By Lisa (Guest Post)

Hello,
You are half way there already.. just WANTING to have a budget is half the battle !
First track your spending.. no matter how small.
Second .. read Anything by Dave Ramsey :-)
Third.. when you get paid.. give 10% to church... save 10% and spend 10% according to your budget.
Budget will include car insur. clothing.. entertainment& misc.
Some use the envelope system.. set aside a determined amount for each catagory.. when the envelope is empty !! no more spending :-)
Take care !
Lisa

By Kelly (Guest Post)

As you are just starting out, you really have no idea what some of your costs are going to be. I found a 4 page budget for here: http://www.ourfamilyplace.com/budget1.html

To begin, copy down which expenses you will have. Here at my home, I list them on the front of a 6x9 manilla envelope, titled by month. The bills are listed in order of when they are due. (actually, I created it on the computer and print them onto the envelope)
I also list the estimate of what I expect each bill to be. The actual payment is written in after I pay the bill. I can easily identify if I have misplaced a bill this way.
The paid bills are put in the envelope, along with bank reconcilations and other fiscal documents.

Good Luck, have fun and remain thrifty!

By

julieC

Jordan Anne,
Everyones been there. The benefit you have is you're still young.

Sit down with a piece of paper and create headings:
INCOME (less taxes)-FIXED EXPENSES (this would include items such as-car payments /rent/ utilities/
phone/insurance etc. )VARIABLE EXPENSES (this would include credit card payments(begin with the minimums and gradually work up to paying a bit more each time)/ gasoline, groceries, entertainment, shopping etc.) This gives you an idea how to sort it out and see where you are putting your money verses where it NEEDS to go. A really good idea is to take your daily, weekly, monthly and annual expenses and sort them out together. For example: if your car insurance is 1200 annually you will need to budget in $100 monthly to be sure you have enough money for that item when the bill arrives.

Hope this is what you're looking for!

Julie:)