<p>How did you manage your money last year? Any tips?</p>
<p>What did you pay for ? What did your parents pay for?</p>
<p>Did you ever call home for more $$$$? How often? With what result?</p>
<p>Um... save quarters, they are very useful for laundry and other things. Get a debit card so you don't overspend.. and make sure you get one that has ATM's located on campus.. if you don't you get charged $2+ every withdrawal, and over 9 months that adds up to a lot of wasted $.</p>
<p>Uh I basically paid for a lot of my stuff during the start of the year, but the rest of the year my parents paid for most of my expenses.</p>
<p>Yea I called home every 2-3 weeks or so for like $50 to my checking acc.. honestly I didn't need it but I got so SICK of cafeteria food that I ate subway like everyday, or close to it.. </p>
<p>Take my advice and GTFO of dorms while you still can.. you will regret eating cafeteria food after a couple months.</p>
<p>My parents gave me no money. <em>shrugs</em> I wrote out a budget and shot to go as under it as possible.</p>
<p>i wish i had parents or a home :(</p>
<p>My parents gave me some money during my first two years of college but not a significant amount. I used internship earnings to pay for stuff during the school year. My tuition was paid for with scholarships and loans. When I transferred to a commuter school I was able to live at home and drive one of the cars for free. I didn't pay rent but I paid for gas and car maintenance and for anything extra that I wanted. I went to Cornell for my first two years and the dining hall food was excellent, so no need to eat out often.</p>
<p>My parents covered tuition, books, and an extra $50 a month and that's it. The rest is from my summer job and what I saved here and there. I'm careful with my money, so it's enough to last the semester.</p>
<p>Job + budget. Or in lieu of a formal budget, just a general strong don't-spend-money-unless-I-have-to vibe. Parents cover tuition, room, and board and occasionally help with books, so the only things I absolutely have to cover are gas, car insurance, clothes, and some of my books. After that stuff... DON'T get in the habit of eating out; if you get tired of cafeteria food, cook for yourself because even takeout a couple of times a week adds up quickly. If there's a movie you want to see, find out what local theaters have cheap matinees or student discounts. Etc., etc., etc.</p>
<p>Having a job actually helps a lot with budgeting, since if there's something I want to buy or a concert I want to go to, I can conceptualize it in terms of "is this really worth X hours of work?" Sometimes it is--you only live once, and a splurge every once in a while (read: not every week! not every two weeks!) goes a long way toward not feeling deprived. Sometimes, you realize that you don't really need a shirt that costs 2 hours of your time.</p>
<p>i worked two jobs over the summer and had $3k in the bank when college started. i paid for EVERYTHING except housing and tuition. my parents paid that. its simple, only spend as much as you have in your bank account and you can get a credit card. get a student credit card, its fine as long as you KNOW how to use it. there is no such things as free money. they'll probably give you a relatively small credit limit anyways so you cant overspend. also enroll your bank account online so you can track it easier. i dont like debit cards b/c most bank companies set a limit you can withdraw everyday so theres a chance you might not even be able to buy all your books in one day or somethign like that. i wouldnt recommend getting a job unless you really are desperate for money. try not to eat out so much b/c you probably paid for food in your dorm anyways. put aside some money to pay for cover at parties b/c you need to have a social life.</p>
<p>I have alot of financial aid so I didn't need any help paying for anything except this summer. I only got enough to cover my tuition this summer and my job doesn't pay enough to cover everything, so I've basically been living off of savings and my credit card, along with a little bit of help from my mom. She is going to pay my rent for August because I don't have enough $$, but she owes me about that much anyway, so it works out. Fortunately, I get paid next friday and I only have one more bill to pay this month (and it's only $13) so I'll get by until the fin. aid comes in a couple weeks.</p>
<p>Write your parents an email letting them know how you're doing.</p>
<p>But replace every single "s" with "$"</p>
<p>Use a debit card and account which you can control from the internet. It gives you the ability to see how much you are spending each day/week/month/quarter, etc. For this to be effective, I would recommend using the debit card for most purposes to that you can get an accurate idea of how much you spend.</p>
<p>you can do the same thing with a credit card and learn how to pay your bills on time.</p>
<p>I made a ridiculous amount of money at my graduation party and worked extensively during the summer before my freshman year. That said, all that money (I'd say it was in the low 6,000s) was gone by the middle of my sophomore year. With books, club dues, medicine costs(I had a staph infection for about 2 months), and feeling like I had no spending limit (because face it, anything over $200 is alot for a college student), I spent my money like an idiot. Oh well though, you live, you learn.</p>
<p>Last year I used money from my summer job and didnt work during the year so my parents gave me a little bit of money here and there. Basically I was on my own. I'd go two months without buying anything because I was out of money and my parents wouldn't give me anything, not even $10 because it was MY fault that I spent all my money--which is completely true. Nobody forced me to buy that new school tshirt or that souvenir at the basketball game. I did and I paid for it by not having money for a couple months.</p>
<p>I know that my parents won't give me anything this year, mainly because they're remodelingn our house completely and money is tight. But I've worked everyday this summer at two jobs and the only thing I've bought is food and gas. No clothes, no movies, nothing. I'll be working 15 hours a week ($7.50/hr) during the school year and not driving except when I have to for my internship (unpaid). Thanks to my internship I'll get most t-shirt for free that I would normally buy, and I don't have to pay $230 for tickets to all the sports games because we get in free for that with the intersnhip also.</p>
<p>Spend how nobody wants to now so you can live like everyone wants to later.</p>
<p>like everyone said, get a summer job; I'm working 40 hours a week right now and hopefully making enough $$ to last me through the next year or so. (15 dollars an hour)</p>
<p>Also, instead of getting a debit card, get an atm card. I know it's inconvenient, but I think it's much easier to just swipe your card and buy that sweatshirt opposed to handing over 35$ in cash.</p>
<p>Plus having to go visit the ATM every week or so makes you very aware of exactly how much money you're spending.</p>
<p>Thanks for some of the tips guys! I'm going to be starting college in the fall so this is definately useful. Hopefully I'll make enough money from my job to last me the year.</p>
<p>get a job when you're at school. it's NOT as hard as it seems, and if you're working even 5-10 hours a week, you probably ownt be significantly taxed, and it'll definitely add up.</p>
<p>My parents are having me contribute $1000 per year from my summer jobs and are giving me $100 allowance per month in school.</p>
<p>My parents gave me 2000 dollars in the beginning of the year on top of tuition and board (which my school covered alot of.. they paid like 3000-4000 dollars per semester) and then they took away 1000 dollars to pay 2nd half of my tuition. So i had 1000 and i made 800 dollars per semester, 1600 dollars in the end. When the year was over I had 500 dollars which isn't so bad considering i had to buy food sometimes and pay for my car registration.</p>
<p>So basically, get a job, it'll cover for alot of your expenses. i never had to ask my parents again for money, i worked with what i had. My bro on the other hand,asked my parents pretty constantly for money and his loan is double mine. Don't overspend, know the value of money.</p>
<p>Debit card. You can set it up so your parents can automatically transfer money into it.</p>