Help Your Adult Learners Become ‘Budgeteers’

Your graduate and professional students and other adult learners probably understand the benefits of following a budget. Chances are, however, they haven’t developed their own budgets. To help your students with the most-difficult part of making a budget — getting started — USA Funds^® Life Skills^® offers the following tips for becoming a “budgeteer.”

• Provide a baseline for your budget.
  • What are my expenses?
  • How am I spending my money now?
• Set specific goals.
  • How much do I want to save each day, week and month?
  • How much do I need for emergencies?
  • How soon will I need to buy a car or make other major purchases, and how much will that cost?
• Determine your financial priorities.
  • What are my required expenditures?
  • What needs do I have?
  • What wants can I afford?
• Identify your spending and savings categories.
  • What are the general categories of my recurring expenses — such as insurance policies and rent or mortgage?
  • What are the specific categories within those general categories — such as auto- and health-insurance policies?
  • What categories will I target for savings — such as gifts, retirement, large purchases or a college fund?
• Allocate your resources.
  • What is my income?
  • What is my outlay?
• Implement and evaluate your budget.
  • How did I spend money over the last three months?
  • What were my spending and saving habits?
  • Where can I save more?
  • Where can I spend less?
  • How much will I need for this month and this year?
  • How much will I need to borrow to pay my expenses?

After following these strategies for building the framework for a budget, keep the following budget-building tips in mind:

• Establish a record-keeping system. Use personal-finance software. Record your checks, automated-teller-machine withdrawals and credit-card purchases.
  
  
• Make an honest assessment of your spending style.
  
  
• Have an honest discussion about your finances with your partner or spouse.
  
  
• Spend less than you earn.
  
  
• Save every week. Use automatic transfer, if possible.
  
  
• Plan for emergencies.
  
  
• Take lump-sum loan money and put it into a savings account. Use specific amounts per month based on your educational needs.
  
  
• Use student-loan money only for school-related expenses.
  
  
• Avoid late fees and poor credit ratings by paying bills prior to their due dates.

Module 8 of the USA Funds Life Skills financial-literacy program provides more information to help graduate and professional students and adult learners live within their means, set limits on the amount they borrow, manage their student loans and develop personal budgets. “Take Stock — Devising a Realistic Financial Plan” is the newest of the program’s components to focus on money-management issues unique to graduate and professional students and other adult learners.

For more information about USA Funds Life Skills, contact your debt-management consultant.