Saving and Budgeting for Current/Future Endeavors

by: Jack Hansen

Budgeting is a great tool to use when planning for future trips. Planning to travel Europe, the United States, attending sporting events, etc. Budgeting a future salary for a job that you may have accepted and then seeing what you can and cannot afford is also very helpful. This tool is one that can take off a large amount of stress and can lead to great adventures. Having a budget has been a big part of my life relating to paying for college expenses, studying abroad, summer adventures, and many more events. There are two main things that go into a budget which include:

• Income

• Expenses

These two things are very important when developing a budget since they can help you manage your money responsibly and make you realize how much money that they are actually spending on various things.

Once the budget is made, it is very important to…

• Walk through each category of your expenses. This will help you see what expense you could possibly spend less on. One major expense for students are their grocery bills. UWL has a food pantry free for all students that is a great resource to help bring down the amount of money spent on groceries.

• Overestimate your expenses and underestimate your income. It is very important to follow this concept/statement since this will help you stay out of debt and have more money in your pocket.

• Pay with cash rather than a card. Many say that paying with cash gives an individual more of a physical feeling of hurt than paying with a card does. Physically handing away money makes an individual realize how much they are really spending. When using a credit card, the individual doesn’t experience that feeling since they just swipe, tap, or insert their card and don’t think much of it.

Figuring out your current financial situation feels like a weight is being taken off of your shoulders. Making a budget is key to getting that weight taken off. Remember, budgeting includes your income and expenses and once completed, it is very helpful so that you can experience all of your endeavors stress free!