The year is 20XX. Your bank account holds three dollars and 81 cents, your credit card is maxed out, and you can’t afford to finance anymore burritos on Klarna (buy now, pay later). You might have made it into the prestigious college university, but it sure hasn’t been all it’s cracked up to be. Debt seems to hold you back at every turn. Looking down at your ramen packet, you sigh, wondering where it all went wrong, and if there’s such a thing as second chances in life.

   Okay, that was dramatic, but unless you’re in a lucky minority, chances are you’re probably going to experience some kind of financial hardship during your college years. Whether you’re fully in it for the “college experience” or just want to get your diploma with as little debt as possible, it’s definitely necessary to learn what your situation will entail financially, and plan accordingly. In other words, you better learn to budget.

   According to a website that helps students, budgeting may seem boring, and maybe a little scary, but it’s really not so bad. There are tons of resources to help you get started, and many actually offer pretty great advice. The long and short of it all is that a budget has to account for income and expenses, and income should be underestimated, while expenses should be overestimated, as it’s much better to underspend than end up in a deficit (studentaid.gov). This is very general, but important as the core idea.

   According to a website about college, one popular money-saving strategy is the Zero-Based Budget, where one plans out where all of their income will go each month, and any leftovers are saved or used to pay debt (bestcolleges.com). Generally, this is a pretty good strategy. Many, if not most, college students have a low or unreliable income, so it’s important to make sure every penny, and every necessity is accounted for. Another popular template is the 50/20/30 budget, where roughly 50 percent of one’s income goes toward necessities, 20 percent towards savings, and 30 percent toward optional expenses (bestcolleges.com). Working around these percentages is great in theory, but it’s unlikely a college student would manage to earn enough to be able to put half of their income toward savings and unnecessary expenses.

   Head Counselor Kelsey Bradshaw offered her advice on saving money during college. She stated, “Really start to write down and figure out what everything costs. When it’s happening, it seems like it’ll be a long time before you have to pay everything back, but when you start to see how the numbers accumulate, that’s when you see how rough it is.” In other words, keep up with your expenses, and don’t let them creep up on you, lest you end up in a mountain of debt later on. There are tons of things to think about, like food, housing, clothes, textbooks, and fees. By knowing exactly what you’re paying for instead of just throwing money at stuff you will end up better off.

   Bradshaw also offered her own special warning to students. She said, “My budgeting was a mess. I highly recommend you do not take the credit card that they offer you, because there’s always some random person on campus who’s like, ‘oh, sign up and get a free t-shirt.’ Do not get the t-shirt!” Indeed, it’s very easy to get wrapped up in consumer debt, and ruin your credit by overspending on credit cards early on.

   College may provide an easier path to a comfortable living, but that path is riddled with financial pitfalls that one must be careful to avoid. Budgeting is absolutely necessary, as a few free college years are certainly not worth a lifetime of debt.