Hi I'm poor, help

[Fightthefire]

So I'm a college freshman this year, tuition is cheaper than it would be if I were going to a 4 year, but I'm not, I am very fortunate to have a community college with a great Nursing program that would only take two years after getting prerequisites done, which would take about a year, oh and they also have a BSN so I could get all the  necessary degree work out of the way to become a nurse at a fraction of the cost! Like yay but also I'm also poor cause college! Booo but anyway I'm working about 30~ ish hours a week and taking 15 credits each quater (which is about 1,500 for tuition). As for books my brother works for Amazon so any textbook I need I can get for very low to possibly nonexistent costs but for budgeting purposes let's take the amount the college websites says is the estimated amount of have to pay - $480) I bike everywhere so no extra cost for gas and I live at home where we are practicing Paleo principles so food is covered. 

 

So in all I'm paying for tuition and books (and a $25/month phone fee I pay to my parents because I am still on the family plan) , now I know this is vastly different than most of my peers who are at a 4 year but I'm still struggling to stay alfoat with having money. I don't pay any extra money, I don't drink Starbucks and any food I eat it's made from my kitchen and it's heathy. If it's a workout day for me I have free access to my school's gym because I'm a student. It's pretty well stocked too, which means I don't have to switch gyms because they've run out of heavy things for me to lift Lol! 

 

So in all I need help saving and keeping my money thanks for your help!

[Sloth the Enduring]

Honestly, it sounds like you're doing everything right. Gutting it out like this might not be easy now, but you'll be grateful when you have your degree and no debt. Good luck.

[Elastigirl]

You are doing fantastic.You've made great money saving decisions.  What really helps me is to  have a budget- write out my bills and what I need for them each month, and then figure how much money I have for enetertainment. I put my money in envelopes(especially entertainment money) Having envelopes makes it very real and hands on to me, if I have money in the envelope for a movie, then I can afford the movie, If I don't , I don't.

 

Hang in there, the next two  years might be tough financially, but it will be worth it. 

[SkyGirl]

Good for you @Fightthefire - I agree, it sounds like you are off to a great start! I also started in community college for financial reasons; I lived with my parents, worked a couple of jobs, and tried to keep expenses down so my parents didn't have to help me pay for any of my tuition or books (besides the first class or two). I agree with @Elastigirl, it may be bare bones for a couple of years, but it will make it much, much easier for you to graduate with little to no debt. I'm now in grad school, sharing an apartment with two of my siblings; and all three of us are debt-free.

 

Are you having some specific issues that you're still needing help with? It sounds like you have your bases covered, but you did ask for advice; so if there's something specific you need advice on, I'd be glad to offer what little I know.  

[Fightthefire]

5 hours ago, SkyGirl said:

Good for you @Fightthefire - I agree, it sounds like you are off to a great start! I also started in community college for financial reasons; I lived with my parents, worked a couple of jobs, and tried to keep expenses down so my parents didn't have to help me pay for any of my tuition or books (besides the first class or two). I agree with @Elastigirl, it may be bare bones for a couple of years, but it will make it much, much easier for you to graduate with little to no debt. I'm now in grad school, sharing an apartment with two of my siblings; and all three of us are debt-free.

 

Are you having some specific issues that you're still needing help with? It sounds like you have your bases covered, but you did ask for advice; so if there's something specific you need advice on, I'd be glad to offer what little I know.  

Hmm well I get a little pocket money from babysitting some kids in my neighborhood but that's not consistent but again I don't spend any money if I don't have to so that 20 bucks is still in my wallet from when it went in a month ago and besides that I don't draw out any cash, I keep whatever I get from work into my debt card through direct deposit. As for entertainment I'm sure this will pick up once school starts but also I'm pretty easy going on doing things that don't cost a lot of money, like watching a movie I already have or watching something on Amazon Prime (which I also get from my brother) but really all I've done this summer is work and do some light traveling before I started work (I've been working for about a month little over) and that wasn't at any cost to me, it was a graduation present to visit my brother down in Oregon for a few weeks and then the other trip was to D.C. Where I helped my cousin's move while they treated me to the city's rich history. 

 

As for advice i suppose just like basic budgeting advice, when I should get a credit card or start saving money for an apartment, other adulting things etc. I know I should have an emergency fund of like a thousand and about 3-6 months of apartment bills (rent, utilities etc.) before you start looking. I'm just trying to figure things out ya know?

[Elastigirl]

I like Dave Ramsey's budgeting books. I read Total Money Makeover, but when I look at the site I noticed the book, Complete Guide to Money, which may fit what you are looking for. Good for you for tackling this stuff now!

[Velkyn]

having a emergency fund is great.  I also recommend saving for an apartment because you'll always need more than you think with the downpayment, stuff to put in it, etc, plus I always advise getting renter's insurance, which is cheap. 

 

If you get a credit card, always pay it off immediately or at the worst with in a month or two.  Never longer.  I also recommend never ever getting a cash advance on it.

 

I used to work for the Pennsylvania Board of Nursing, so I do recommend that you do a lot of research into how you get your license long before you might actually graduate the classes.  So many new nurses hadn't a clue on what was actually required to get the license and they sure don't seem to teach it during the nursing classes.  I've had to deal with far too many young men and women crying on the phone because thy screwed something up and then had to wait months to get a license.  Call your state board of nursing and folks there will generally be more than happy to talk to you to make sure you don't get blindsided by anything because then they won't have to say "sorry, we just can't help you" when it's too late. 

[Mike Wazowski]

Congrats on starting your college career with what sounds like the right financial choice for you!

 

Couple points of advice, if you want it:

• Budgeting: I personally prefer my budgeting process to be as low-touch as possible, so for my own finances I set my savings rate up front, have that automatically withdrawn from my paycheck, then spend the rest (or not) however I wish without much worry. One of my favorite finance bloggers calls this the "anti-budget" and it works well for me.
• Credit cards: The sooner you open one, the better, AS LONG AS you'll pay the balance in full every month. Length of credit history and overall on-time payment history are two of the larger factors in credit scoring, so getting started now will give you better scores in both of those down the line when using credit to buy a car or house (or open credit cards for travel hacking) is an option you're considering. Capital One offers a card called Journey that's aimed at students, I'm sure other banks offer student cards as well (most let you apply online). I personally use credit cards for every transaction I make except rent (maximizing rewards earned), and I pay in full on time or early to never pay interest.
• Frugality, general: one of the biggest things you'll want to watch out for as you start earning more is what's sometimes referred to as "lifestyle creep". Basic idea is that as you earn more you'll start spending more and what used to be luxuries are now things you can't do without, causing your overall lifestyle to be more expensive to maintain. This can include the overhyped starbucks purchases (seriously, do people really latte themselves into poverty as much as personal finance listicles imply?), but more importantly it includes things like upgrading the size of your apartment, upgrading your car, and outsourcing household tasks you used to do yourself (yard work, cleaning). Less relevant now while you're living at home and biking to school, but file it away in the back of your mind for when you start looking at apartments and other big ticket items down the line.

[Kevin Mack]

I'll just reiterate what everyone else has said. Budget, stay out of debt, build credit without paying interest, save, save, save, but put a little aside to have fun with now. Check out the link to my mostly defunct personal finance blog in my sig. It is aimed at a military audience, but most of the material applies to everyone.

[james452]

Sounds like you're doing a lot of things very well. Whilst you're still a student, take advantage of the free/discounted options available. I love that you can use your college gym for free.

 

Technically I'm still at university doing my PhD, so I'm still a student, except I get paid to do it. One thing I started doing this year was tracking my finances properly, and I played around with a few apps. Go ahead and try out YNAB (you need a budget). Best thing about being a student, is you get 12 months free. And they have many many Youtube videos to teach you what you need to know for budgeting/saving/financing/how to use credit cards/etc.

 

I found using that app to be way more effective than any other budget attempt. My savings goal used to just be "Save $10,000 in 12 months". Now it's, "Put aside $100 a month to pay for my car insurance in July". and "Save $500 to buy a new bike". and "Set aside $400 every month to pay for groceries". So now instead of having 1 vague savings goal, I have about 20 smaller goals for specific things.