Go to the financial aid office and they're the ones that can educate you, right.
So be in their face. Your loan money is for school.
When you get your loan check, they're gonna give you a check.
It might be $10,000.
Might be $15,000, right?
And it's tempting to think that that money is yours.
In college, you are broke.
You don't have extra money. It may feel like extra money, but it's not.
Because if you spend it on something other than your books or your tuition
or your food and you run out,
they're not gonna be like, "Oh, here's a little bit more."
We learned about the different ways to pay for college,
but what about having money to spend in general?
Do you like to shop like I like to shop?
Or order pizza on those late study nights?
Or maybe you just want to go out and celebrate
after a long week of classes.
The next thing you know, your account is in the red,
and the overdraft fees have piled up.
If you're like me and 43% of full-time undergrads,
you'll have to work while going to school.
And even if you don't need a part-time job,
budgeting is crucial for making it through the semester
without going broke.
Let's dive into that right now.
I'm CC Allen from Now This, and you're watching
"A Student's Guide To Your First Year of College."
( music playing )
Today's episode is all about how to make smart money moves during your freshman year.
Emmanuel Moses from the Opportunity Network
is back with tips to keep you and your bank account happy.
Direct costs and indirect costs, you know what that is?
It is important for you to understand what you have to pay to the school
and what you have to pay for yourself.
I think one of the biggest things and takeaways
is where you have to spend your money
and what money you have to spend.
There's certain things called expenses and necessities.
How many of us budget at all?
Ooh, okay. What do you owe to the school?
Room, board, tuition, fees.
All the things that are gonna be expected of you every semester.
What money do you have to pay for that?
Is it grants? Is it scholarships? Are you taking out loans?
Are you fortunate enough that your parents have some money to give to it?
You decided not to have brunch with your roommates.
But it is Sunday at 2PM.
Everybody got to do laundry.
Everybody. That's seven bucks. Gone.
If you go in the red, that's all right.
You reforecast later on.
Maybe save a little bit more money.
What about those indirect costs? Those other expenses
that you aren't paying to the school.
Whether you want to consistently have your caramel macchiato
or if you have to pay for your biology book.
Or even having enough money to get home for Thanksgiving or winter break.
You never know what can happen,
and so always being cognizant of your money is extremely important.
Always making sure that you have tabs on everything that you're spending,
how much you're saving, and also how much your school is giving you.
Indirect costs. Books, access codes, what else?
Transportation. So indirect costs are this idea of like, hey,
this is what you need to be a quote/unquote "successful student."
Many of my students who are into the arts
require a lot more funding for materials,
for going to expos and being able to sort of meet those passions,
which are not necessarily always funded,
but again, as freshmen you may not know that yet, but you've got time.
They are asking you to
make an estimate of what you're paying based off of what they feel.
Because what's the worst thing is that you come in and you're like,
"I got everything covered," but now you ain't even thinking about the other things
like getting back home, having to pay for those books,
having to go get coffee or technology.
As you get more and more comfortable with managing money
and understanding what you have to spend and don't,
then you understand what other avenues you can do.
20 bucks for dinner with friends.
- students: No. - I know, I know.
Now, $15 for student tickets to the concert of your favorite music artist.
$15, that's your choice. We got this idea of necessities and luxuries.
Socializing, it's up to you. See, now you're budgeting.
Now you're budgeting. Now you're understanding what the costs are.
You will need to know where you can get your money.
If you're going to a school outside of your city,
make sure that they have the bank that you use a lot.
So know the difference between bank accounts.
What's a checkings? What's a savings?
And be careful and wary of credit cards.
Credit cards are not bad,
but credit cards need as much research as anything else you've done.
Of course, pay your bill for school first.
That's the first thing in general.
The biggest thing that is important for anyone who is first generation
is knowing where to find the information
and know that they are worthy to ask and ask for that help.
So those are the things that most students don't necessarily think about,
but should be at top of mind when thinking about finances and budgeting.
A lot of people be so ready to just, you know,
live off campus or live on their own,
not understanding the finances behind it.
Don't be scared to go into the financial aid office.
Don't be scared to seek out help.
If you don't know what you're doing, don't do it.
I should have been focused more on budgeting
for what I needed to get by.
For rent, for utilities, for all of those things.
For food. And then taken part of that,
half of that, whatever's leftover, and just putting it away.
I also wish I had learned how to budget all of that properly
so that I can handle my finances because life happens
and things-- things come up.
There is a difference between tuition and cost of attendance.
Tuition is what you owe the university or the college.
Cost of attendance is all the other things that have to get factored in.
Your housing, your food, your transportation, everything like that.
That oftentimes these scholarships and grants, et cetera, do not cover.
And so making sure that you're preparing for the cost of attendance
became something that was a real lesson learned for me
and something I had to figure out.
And that's where things like work study
and additional jobs ended up factoring in.
Make sure you're making a budget.
You may discover that you need more money for books or for food or other things.
There are actually oftentimes additional scholarships
for mid-year or mid-- mid-- sort of semester crises
or just the needs that you have.
So go to your financial aid office and ask them, hey, I need more money.
I did my budget wrong. Or I thought I needed more money.
The school financial aid offices oftentimes can point you towards scholarships
They can help you with your budget and give you some financial aid classes
around how to do fiscal literacy,
which means learning how to balance a budget,
create a budget, and figure out what you need.
It's important that they know that you're having a problem.
And then they can readjust your financial aid package to give you what you need.
We don't you to be so afraid of taking out money
that you find yourself without enough money
to be successful when you're at school.
So that's why you gotta be focused.
You take out loan money, you got to now be on your game
because you don't finish a semester,
they still get paid. You don't get the credit.
So that's the kind of mindfulness you have to take on
as you are accumulating this financial responsibility.
Just talking about finances can be terrifying,
especially if you don't know what questions to ask.
It's okay if you feel uncertain or overwhelmed.
Money is scary. Start with asking for help
from your financial aid officers.
Here are some of the things you can discuss with them.
One, finding out where you can access your money.
Making sure the bank you use at home has a branch in the city your school is in.
Two, learning the difference between bank accounts.
Checking versus savings versus credit cards.
Three, understanding what your indirect costs will be.
Money you'll spend on things like books, school supplies,
food and transportation, and social life.
And four, looking for additional mid-year scholarships.
If you have a financial emergency and need more money,
there are options available. Thanks so much for watching
"A Student's Guide To Your First Year of College."