Budgeting Without a Constant Income Stream

Budget, budget, budget is the key word for many personal finance websites. It's pretty obvious that you need to plan in order to manage your money successfully, but also pretty hard if you're a college student with few ways of obtaining an income. During my sophomore year, I irregularly rewrote class notes for people, did some laboratory research and hung up flyers for beer and pizza money. It was close to impossible to keep managing my bills for books, tuition payments, visits to the doctor, and entertainment costs when I wasn't sure when or where the money was coming from.

Fortunately, there are several tricks and tips that you can use from people who are compiling real budgets from steady income sources. One great way to do this is to work backwards. That is, figure out how much you need to live. Usually, you can do this by keeping track of ALL monthly expenses, using either pen and paper or a bill management system online. Make sure to save all your receipts and statements. Once you've done this, you will get a good idea of how much you will need a month to live.

Then, set up a direct deposit account from your various jobs and sources of income that covers your expenses and goes directly to paying them. The best way to do this is through direct deposit to your checking account. Once you do this for several months, it will become a habit, and you will also become more thrifty, knowing that your income stream is not constant.

Make sure that, while you are doing this, the leftover money is earning high percentages in a high-yield savings account, and that you simply spend less than you earn. Granted, this can be tricky when you're busy with schoolwork and need to run out to grab some fast food, or you need new books or lab materials, but even having a fundamental plan set up will send you on your way to budgeting responsibly later.

A way to think about this is that, with the money you earn, you are essentially paying yourself directly instead of your employer paying you. As you exercise this control over yourself, it will make you more confident about your finances.

Make sure you also, if you're able to, set up an emergency fund for expenses that arise out of the blue, such as a doctor's visit or a concert you didn't know about beforehand. It's not easy to continuously monitor yourself, but it is easier than simply putting all your bills on a credit card and having to deal with it after college, when you also have student loans due.

The most important thing to remember is to keep continuously planning, even though you may not be sure of your income or expenses from month to month. As you continue tracking your expenses and income, you will start to get a good idea of approximately how much money you spend each month and adjust your budget accordingly.