Using Technology to Manage the Financial Side of College Life

Being in college can be very expensive. Not only do you have to pay for tuition, but also for your housing, your food, your books for school, your way of transportation, your computer and all your other subscriptions. And all of this can cost a lot of money.

While technology cannot make college inexpensive, it can make the financial aspects of college much easier for a student to keep track of and organize. A phone can now serve as a budgeting tool, payment tracker, student banking solution, and even a means to search for and apply for scholarships to pay for college.

Technology may not be able to make college affordable but it can certainly make managing the finances of college a lot easier.

Start With a Clear View of Where the Money Goes

Studying your money becomes more difficult when you can’t see where it’s all gone.

Purchasing coffee, a ride, or even a few online purchases can seem insignificant; yet before you know it, you have spent half the month and have no idea where your money went.

Budgeting apps and digital banking tools also create categories for spending such as: groceries, transportation, dining, entertainment, and for bills, etc. that help students see where their money is going and help make a plan on how to save money.

That visibility matters.

Instead of feeling confused and wondering where all of the money went during the month, the student is able to see where all of the money was spent. The categories with the greatest amount of spending will then be addressed one by one. For example, a student may discover that he or she is spending $180.00 a month for food delivery. The student can then decide to cut that in half, or reduce it by one third. Whatever the student decides, he or she will have saved money.

An example would be that a student may realize that they are spending $180 per month on food delivery, so they can cut that in 1/3 and apply that money to a variety of expenses such as for a book, savings or for the next tuition payment.

Tracking every single dollar of your money is not required to have control over it, however tracking it regularly will allow you to identify the spending habits that need to be cut back early on.

Turn a Semester Budget Into Smaller Decisions

College expenses are set up by the semester, but life is a week-to-week affair.

That difference can create problems.

The money you have for the semester can look a lot different a few months later, after you have spent it on all the necessities of life.

A digital budgeting tool can also help to divide a semester’s budget for expenses over the months of the semester, even dividing it down into weekly budgets.

$4,000, available for living expenses (once tuition and housing have been paid for) for the duration of a semester (four months) can work out to $1,000 per month for a student, who has to make a budget for the entire of the term.

Better yet, breaking it down further to a week-by-week basis gives the student even better control of their finances.

Divide up that $1,000 for things such as: food, transportation, textbooks, fun things, and in case something unexpected happens to you. Set up alerts so you are reminded when your spending approaches your limits.

Small decisions become easier when students know what the bigger financial plan looks like.

Use Alerts and Automation to Avoid Expensive Mistakes

Some of the biggest financial problems come from simple mistakes that could have been avoided if the student remembered to take care of a payment.

Late fees, forgotten subscriptions, or overdrawn accounts can easily be avoided by setting a few reminders.

Technology can reduce these avoidable problems.

Students should always check their account balances to ensure there is enough money in the account to cover the payment before it is processed. Automation is useful as a safety net, not to replace checks on the account.

Automation works best as a safety net, not as a substitute for paying attention.

Compare the Real Cost of Education Before Borrowing

Technology can also help students make better financial decisions before they borrow any money.

Borrowing to go to college can feel like abstracting something away to be repaid in the distant future. The cost of borrowing can become more apparent by using online calculators to see how the balance of a loan, the interest rate, and the payment period can affect how much you have to pay each month in the future.

This is especially important when students are looking at the cost of expensive graduate or professional programs.

For example, medical students researching medical school loans might want to compare how much they would have to borrow, how much they would have to pay for living expenses while in school, how long it would take to pay back the loans, and the different options that they would have for repaying loans.

Looking at official information related to federal student loans as well as other issues is also helpful in looking at and comparing the financial aid that is available to students. Sites, such as Federal Student Aid, provide information on the different types of federal student loans that are available, as well as, on different repayment options and on applying for financial aid.

Borrowing money should not be viewed in terms of how much money is available and spent today.

In addition, students should also understand what that money is going to cost them tomorrow.

Search for Scholarships and Financial Aid More Efficiently

Scholarship searches used to involve bulletin boards, printed directories, and long hours of manual research.

Technology has changed that process significantly.

Students can search databases of scholarships for college and graduate studies (USA) for grants, and for scholarship opportunities, sorted by academic interest, location, background, career, extracurricular activities and more. Some websites for grants for college students even allow students to set up a profile, to apply for different scholarship programs, and receive e-mail notifications when new scholarship programs are added, that match a student’s interests and profile.

The key is organization.

Track Your Scholarships Too – What Applications Need to Be Completed? Use a Spreadsheet or Calendar to Organize All Info for Better Performance.

By making a search for scholarships more efficient, it can become an organized workflow instead of a scattered search for scholarships.

Even small amounts can help, for example, to cover the cost of books, software, of transportation to and from campus, or of a part of the meal plan.

Many students who consistently apply for scholarships find that the total of the awards they receive can add up to a significant amount of money.

Make Financial Management Part of College Life

Money management during college is part of the college experience and can affect many areas of a student’s life such as where they live, how they spend their money, how they travel and how they will pay back loans after graduation.

Technology gives students practical ways to stay informed.

Budgeting apps can track spending. Digital calendars can track dates and prevent late submission of work. Online calculators can estimate the cost of borrowing money. Scholarship search tools can help find suitable grants. Banking apps allow for monitoring of savings and accounts.

None of these tools replaces thoughtful financial decisions.

They make those decisions easier to make.

For students who are trying to balance school, work, social activities, and planning for their future career, these tools can make a real difference. Although the financial side of going to college can be very complicated, with the right technology and a little bit of discipline, it doesn’t have to feel that way.