Budgeting College Expenses

Tips and Guides for the Upcoming 2007-08 College Year

College students are getting ready for the upcoming 2007 Fall semester. It is just a few weeks away before millions of student across the country make their trek to their university of choice.

Several tasks are required to prepare for that journey. Your first important task is calculating the exact costs for attending school. Colleges are required to provide estimated costs upon acceptance at the University. Those costs are estimated costs incur by students from previous years, adjusted for inflation. However, you should budget the amount of financial aid you will need for the academic year. You need to have a spending plan by month to avoid running out of money before the school year ends.

The costs that you should estimate include the following:

1. School Tuition and Fees:

   Costs to attend class instruction and the use of facilities, labs, libraries and all other related services for each enrolled student. And don't forget to add access fees to campus facilities. Check your class registration for what you will need.
   

2. Books and Supplies:
   

   The estimated cost for books and supplies the student will be required for classroom instruction. Many students fail to estimate the total cost for books and supplies; some classroom instructions may require several books and copied outlines. Make sure you estimate everything that you will need for each classroom.
   

3. Computer and Other Electronics:
   

   Not necessarily required for some colleges since they offer computer labs and other shared facilities. However, it will be the student's advantage to have their own personal laptop. Personal laptops can cost you $1,000 or more for a decent model. And then there is the software, printing, scanning, etc. Understand what you will need for each classroom.
   

4. Room and Board:
   

   The estimated cost for housing and food if you live in a residence hall; if you live off campus, the cost for monthly rent, utilities, and food. You need to estimate costs for eating in the cafeteria and other related snacks and beverages.
   

5. Transportation:
   

   The estimated cost for 2-3 round trips from your home to school (you don't want to spend the winter holidays at school). Additionally, what is going to be your transportation options at school? If you have your personal auto or other motor vehicle, estimate costs for fuel, insurance, parking fees, maintenance, and other related fees. If you are on foot or bicycle, estimate the costs for public transportation.
   

6. Personal Living Expenses:
   

   The estimated cost for clothing, grooming supplies, laundry and entertainment. Toothpaste, make-up, shampoo, deodorant, etc., can all add up.
   

7. Other Personal Costs:
   

   Personal expenses that are specific to the student such as insurance, disability expenses, dependent care, loan fees, etc.
   

8. Miscellaneous:

   Any other expenses that you can identify with your school's Financial Aid Office

You can estimate and budget these expenses by month using our FREE college budgeting worksheet. Link to our budgeting module for our guide and worksheet.

Private student loans are a great resource when you need extra money. Sometimes your college and personal aid will not cover the full cost of education after your run your budgeting analysis. That is when you turn to private student loans to make up the difference from the cost of education and the amount of student financial aid that you have. See more information about private student loans

copyright 2007 all rights reserved www.SayStudent.com

Krayton M Davis is the Executive Principal of nBuy Associates, which owns and operates the SayStudent College Financing Guide. For more information about our services, link to: http://www.SayStudent.com

Small Business Budgeting Tips - Perfecting the Plan That Keeps You On-Track

At the end of every fiscal year companies tallying up their scores to see how they’ve finished. Unlike the game of golf having the highest score is cause for celebration, being in the black you’ve done well and deserve some congratulations. If there isn’t a soirée going on in your business maybe it’s because you didn’t plan for a year-end party, and that could be the direct result of your failure to budget.

To be successful in business, budget cannot be a taboo word in your company. One of the skill sets you as an owner or manager need to possess is the ability to plan ahead, this includes that ability to budget. If you’re a visionary and lack budgeting skills, then stop reading and go find someone who is. So before we discuss budgeting tips, let’s first discuss what a budget is and isn’t.

What a Budget Is:

A budget is a proposed plan to monitor financial activity over a period of time. A budget is a planning tool an owner and/or manager should be using to measure trends over a fixed interval; this includes inflow, outflow, and asset/ liability growth. Finally a budget is a resource to forecast an assumed outcome.

What a Budget is NOT:

A budget is not the law; it is not to be used as a means of accountability and to ensure financial integrity. A budget is not to be used a ceiling to spending, and a method of absolute control. And finally a budget is not a guarantee so financial and business success.

So now that we have defined what a budget is, let us get to how to properly use and understand how a budget actually benefits a company.

The budget should be put together and approved at least 1-2 months prior to the start of the new fiscal year. This will allow for key employees to look at what the company is trying to accomplish and what is being aimed for. So for this to happen planning will need to take place approximately 3-6 months before the start of the new fiscal year, this of course depends on the complexity and size of the company.

The budget should reflect the direction that the company is headed in; this of course is handed down by the CEO and/or Board of Directors. Everything about the budget should point towards the strategic plan the company has adopted. The budget should also be multifaceted, not only should you include a Profit & Loss operating budget, but also a Balance Sheet budget to help track cash inflows and outflows.

Finally the budget should be realistic. An exponential increase in revenues without any foundational proof or purpose can lead to fiscal year failure. Again remember the budget is for mapping out trends in an attempt to forecast growth or decline. All the pieces must fit, in business there is usually a cause for increased revenues (hint: check for the reason in your expenses section!).

To summarize let’s recap the key points:

1. Budget is not taboo
2. Budget is a proposed plan
3. Budget is not the law
4. Approval should allow for time to disseminate throughout the company
5. Reflects the strategic plan and heading of the company
6. The budget should be realistic, for all growth there should be a reason

Jayson Cardwell is the Founder and CEO of Cardwell Financial Group, Inc. a small and mid-size business services and consultancy. Cardwell Financial Group, Inc. specializes in helping owners, managers, and entrepreneurs realize their dreams of owning prosperous and successful firms. They accomplish this by providing Financial Management, Analysis, Strategic Planning, Business Analysis, Executive Development, and Accounting Services and Consulting. For more information about Cardwell Financial Group, Inc and how they can help you visit them on the web at http://www.CardwellFinancial.com, or e-mail them at Info@CardwellFinancial.com

Tire Discounts

The booming Tire Discount industry has led to the mushrooming of Discount Tire Stores throughout the United States. While most of these stores sell tires directly to the customer, some are selling them via the Internet. Discount Tire Companies have come to represent an option that is affordable and can cater to various automobile requirements at economical rates.

Tire Discount Stores offer a range of tires to suit the varying needs of customers. In addition, they also offer tips and suggestions about making a good purchase, or tire maintenance. Some of these stores have also launched marketing drives to target potential customers. Some of the promotion initiatives include freebies like free mounting, coupons, or free servicing after a specified number of miles. Most of these Discount Tire Stores are located at advantageous positions, adjacent to highways and major roads, in order to give customers easy access.

Most Tire Discount Companies undertake various forms of research and development activities. This is to ensure safety, traction, reliability , durability, and any number of other factors that make for the perfect discount tire. These companies are aware of the vehicular requirements for tires, such as the speed index of the tires and the rating for load. These should not be lower than your original set of tires that came with your vehicle. The speed index indicates the safe top speed of the tire, and needs to be taken seriously. Generally, a decreased speed rating means that the tire’s ability to contribute the overall performance of the automobile is reduced.

Tire Discounts provides detailed information on discount tires, discount ATV tires, discount motorcycle tires, discount tire company and more. Discount Tires is affiliated with Used Race Car Parts.

Personal Budgeting Tough Love

Developing and living by a personal budget is by far the best way to get your expenses under control which, in turn, can mean a much less stressful life.

However, many families find it very difficult to stick to a personal budget. It does take hard work and a lot of self-discipline, at least in the beginning. The good news is that most families find the longer they can stick to a budget, the easier it becomes. This is because sticking to a household budget eventually becomes an unconscious habit, just like driving a car. And once it becomes a habit, the budgeting process just sort of goes on cruise control and requires much less thought or effort.

But what do you do during those first three, four or six months, when sticking to a personal budget feels so difficult?

There are several answers to this. The first is to make sure your budget categories are realistic. You may think you can get by with $100 a week for groceries, but is this real? Do you have checks or receipts that verify how much you have been spending at the grocery store? You really need to know. Otherwise, you may household budget too little. In turn, this becomes frustrating because you will always be over budget.

Second, make sure you have all categories covered. There are some categories that are easy -- rent, mortgage payment, utilities, car payments, etc. But think hard about all other categories such as clothing, eating out, prescriptions, pet care, tuition, books, allowances, movies, CDs and DVDs, and computer software and games, to name a few. If you don’t budget for all these kind of expenses, I promise they will bust your personal budgets.

Finally, if you find you just can’t seem to stick to your household budget, here’s a sort of tough love answer.

Go to your nearest office supply store and buy a box of #10 envelopes. Take them out and label one for each of your budgeting categories. Then write on each envelope the amount you have budgeted for that category.

For the purpose of this exercise, it is not necessary to break down general categories into subcategories. For example, you can label one envelope “entertainment” and not worry about envelopes for “movies,” “eating out,” “DVDs,” etc. Just be sure the number you write on the envelope for any general category represents the sum of all its subcategories.

When you next get paid, cash your paycheck and bring it all home in $50, $20 and $10 bills. Then put and amount of cash in each of the envelopes equal to the amount you budgeted for that particular 6category.

Now, as you need to pay bills or buy groceries, etc., use the cash in the corresponding envelopes to pay them. You will know when you have reached the budgeted amount for any category because its envelope will be empty. What do you do when you find an envelope is empty? You do nothing. That category is all finished for this pay period. If the envelope is empty and you still have expenses, either you simply haven’t budgeted correctly or you have overspent. You might be able to fudge and take funds from another category envelope. For example, if you have a week to go and are $40 short for groceries, you might be able to take the $40 out of the entertainment envelope. Just keep in mind this means $40 less for entertainment.

Do this for a few months and I promise you will not only learn to budget accurately, you will learn to stick to your budget personaly.

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