It is extremely important that you carefully monitor your expenses and your spending while you are enrolled. Although it may seem relatively easy to borrow funds to cover all of your expenses, it is wise to try to limit the amount you borrow. Keep in mind that every dollar that is borrowed must be repaid after you graduate. Don’t burden yourself with unnecessary debt (student loan or credit card) that will negatively impact your lifestyle after graduation.
There are a lot of great budgeting tools available online. The U.S. Department of Education offers a simple worksheet to track expenses and financial aid. Kiplinger Magazine’s “Budget for Today and Tomorrow” helps you to track both your current expenses and set up a proposed budget. You also can make use of the university’s Financial Fitness program to help with budgeting and other financial issues.
Using all the tools available can make your path to graduation much smoother. The online resources list below can assist you in keeping track of your budget and your credit score and help estimate how much your loan payments will be after graduation:
- The SmartStudent Guide to Financial Aid has dedicated part of its web site to the education of borrowers. The site includes interactive calculators for in-school and out-of-school budgeting and loan repayment estimates, along with articles about maintaining good credit.
- National Student Loan Data System and Direct Loan Online are national web sites that allow students to log in for complete information about the federal loans they’ve borrowed. The Direct Loan site includes information about repayment of student loans and loan consolidation.
- myFico offers information about consumer credit scoring. An analysis of your credit score along with tips for improvement is available for a fee.
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