Budgeting for Broke Grad Students

Surviving on a grad student’s limited income is no easy feat, but if you create (and stick to!) a plan, you can emerge from your degree debt-free (and maybe even with some savings in the bank)!

Tips

• You don’t have to be caught off guard by unexpected expenses. In their post How to Manage Irregular Expenses with Limited Cash Flow, Inside Higher Ed’s Gradhacker blog recommends setting up “”a system of targeted saving accounts or sinking funds.” That way, you can spread out the impact of an irregular expense on your cash flow over a longer amount of time.
• Beware the impact of small expenses accumulating over time, writes the University of Toronto on their Finance and Budgeting for Graduate Students webpage. “The simple daily purchase of a bag chips from a vending machine on campus is convenient but costs $1.25 per bag of chips. This purchase once a day for the year, this will cost you $ 325.00,” they point out. “Purchasing a 250g bag of the same chips from your grocery store for $2.00, allows you to enjoy the same snack every day for 2 weeks. The annual cost is $52.00 ($2.00 x 26 weeks). If you make the switch you will have found $273.00 in your budget. This principle applies to all sorts of similar small purchase that are made daily or weekly.”
  
• "Shop smart," recommends the APA in their Tips for broke graduate students: “Plan your meals ahead of time, build a grocery list around the weekly sales at your local grocery store, and don’t go shopping on an empty stomach. Then, stick to your list; if an item is not on your list, don’t put it in your cart. Buy staples in bulk and stock up if they are on sale (think: toilet paper, soap, toothbrush, toiletries, oats, pasta, canned goods).”

Online resources

• Concordia offers a step-by-step guide to making a budget here.
• Grad Student Finances offers resources on minimizing your loans, breaking out of living paycheck-to-paycheck, building your savings, and more. They’re on Twitter as well @GradFinances.
• Decide whether to live on or off campus with this tool from Lifehacker.
• You Can Deal With It also offers an online budget calculator.
• Mint is a free website and app that allows you to connect your different accounts so you can get “the entire picture” of your financial situation.
• Check out Lifehacker’s A Bill-by-Bill Guide to Saving Money on Your Monthly Expenses.

​* Image via gotcredit.com