I’ve decided to share my financial situation and track how I am able to stretch it through the end of the semester and summer (hopefully).

I will not receive my next loan check until mid-August. And while I plan on obtaining a paid summer job, I do not current have one.

So, let’s look at the current state of my accounts:

Checking:          137.24
Reserve:         1031.42
Savings:            758.18
Total $ =        1926.84

Debts:

CC    $3,293.69

Monthly Bills:

Rent                650.00
Phone             100.00
CC                   100.00
Internet            22.50
Electric             40.00
Water               20.00
Total Monthly =  932.50

 Income = $80/week

Based on these calculations, if I spent nothing outside my monthly bills, I will have enough money for two months (May/June). However, I have a weekly bill until May of $245 ($980/month), cost of medicine, down payment and first month’s rent on a new apartment, food, and gas to travel home (~$400).

I am not complaining. I got myself into this mess by making foolish decisions (i.e. dog, Starbucks, Amazon.com). I will document all my purchases and update my current financial snapshot each week.

I hope that this can be insightful to current or future college students, because having to worry about how you are going to afford rent on top of your busy course load is not fun.

How would you cut corners to live on a restricted budget?