It's a well known fact that college students are graduating owing more money than ever. Not only are college tuition costs are rising faster than inflation, but credit card companies, car manufacturers, and a slew of other wolves are at the door for the student wallet. Paying off this debt takes serious self-control and some math  calculations that even art students should be able to handle.

The first step: Plan your expenses.

Think of this as a diet for your budget. What does one do when they want to lose weight? They carefully record their calorie intake and exercise levels and use the tried-and-true principle that you simply have to burn more calories than you put into your body in order to lose the extra weight.

This excerise is a one-month study of your financial habits. What you learn about your spending may surprise you.

The first step is to purchase one of the major finance programs. Quicken and Quickbooks are two very good choices, and shouldn't cost you more than $60 for the personal editions. Before heading to your local software store, check in at your campus student bookstore; they may be able to offer you as a student a discounted version for much cheaper.

Most of the advanced functions of these programs are more relevant for running a business and preparing taxes; try and at least skim these areas of the software first for later use, however for now you simply will need the 'ledger' functions. This is spreadsheet-type area of the software where you can enter your daily expenses.

For every single thing you purchase in the course of the one-moneth period, you need to first GET A RECEIPT. No one can be expected to remember everything they buy, get into the habit of asking everyone, down to the coffee shop clerk, for that little piece of paper, and stuff into your wallet right away. Pockets are a no-no, when you pull your paper-shred covered laundry out of the washing machine the next weekend you will understand why.

Each weekend of the month, fire up your computer and input these receipts. Yes, it's horrible, tedious work, but bear with it; it's one month of a little self-reflection that will free up your cash in the long run.

At the end of the month, most people will be surprised at the amount of 'convenience spending' they have made. Stopping at the coffee shop on the way to class every day and getting that triple-double-half-decaf sure does get you wired quickly, but the price of one month of these coffees you can buy a machine at the department store and a thermos. For the terminally lazy most machines now even offer an automatic start function. Think how much easier that is, your coffee machine will be much more effective than that alarm clock with it's tempting snooze button.

This of course is only one example of where to put your financial weed wacker to work on convenience spending. Sneaking food into the movie theatre, taking the bus instead of the car, vintage retro 2nd hand clothing instead of shopping mall, and buying your groceries in bulk at a warehouse store are all examples of concious convenience spending reduction.

For many students, post-secondary school day-to-say life is 'in the fast lane'; stopping to thinking about shaving a few dollars here and there is not really seen as cool, after all, there is so much else to do than worry about that ever-growing credit card payment. You can always justify it with 'when i'm out of school I will get a a great job and pay these debts off in a snap'; the sad reality it is 2004 and the economy is in poor shape. Planning now will save you much stress later.



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Article reprinted courtesy www.hungrystudents.com. Copyright 2004 HungryStudents.com.