How You Can Start Budgeting Now To For Summer Spending

Many people do not realize how much they spend until they become college students. As a college student, even four dollars spent on coffee will hurt. Yet, many of us still spend without thinking about the consequences of our purchases. Instead, we disregard our monthly bank statements, we immediately throw away our receipts and we swipe to the home screen of our phone screens to escape the red minus signs from our orders. But now that it is almost summer, maybe we should consider budgeting. Summer is all about taking road trips, spending time with friends and family, trying out that new aesthetic restaurant, buying new clothes and swimsuits and doing all sorts of spontaneous things! However, we cannot spend in the summer if we do not have money to begin with. There are only a few months left until summer, which means there is still time to follow through with a budget plan. After all, not being able to go anywhere because you do not have money will make you wish you had given up your four-dollar coffees. 

Budgeting can begin with small things. For example, you can start by walking instead of paying a few dollars for a Bird scooter. By starting small, you can slowly prepare yourself for the larger changes. Of course, getting rid of those small spending habits will be difficult since you have gotten used to spending money on those things. However, it is necessary so that you can gradually develop the mindset of spending only when you really need to. I admit that I am also a habitual spender, and I tend to waste money on things I do not need. However, to limit myself, I have started to budget. For instance, I now try to eat at home before going out so that I will not have to spend extra money on takeout. Thus, small steps, such as eating at home before going out with friends, walking instead of taking a Lyft or pushing down the urge to buy unnecessary items will go a long way. In the end, you might even save yourself a few hundred dollars just from preventing your habits of small spending. 

Another way to budget is to set aside a proportion of money for yourself. If you have a job, you can calculate an amount of your paycheck that you want to save for the future and an amount you will allow yourself to spend. However, be careful that you do not only save a small portion of the paycheck for your savings, while you spend the rest on yourself in one day. If you do not work but get an allowance, you can do the same with this allowance.

Budgeting can also be fun! You can make a rule for yourself that you want to maintain, such as putting a few dollars into a money jar whenever you go out or forcing yourself to pay up when you fail to go to the gym. Of course, rules like going to the gym and saving money will benefit you in the end, so picking a good rule that will benefit you may be best. 

Although still months away, the summer season of spending season will be arriving in no time. Summer is a time for you to get a break from school and to enjoy time with friends and family. Summer is also the time to spend money on going out and eating out, but you cannot do this if you do not have any money from spending so much during the school year. Though it may be difficult at first, getting rid of those small habits will save you a lot in the future. Do not wait until summer to realize that you there is nothing in your bank account. Start saving now so that you can spend later! 

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