Are you dripping in cold hard cash? Is your bank account constantly hovering at three or four digits at a time? Do you have unlimited access to a parent’s credit card with a limit higher than the worth of most houses in Springfield? Then this article is not for you.

If you are like many college students, money is difficult. Many of us are working at low paying jobs, or not working at all. It can be especially hard to balance expenses, like bills, with things you actually want to spend money on, and something as innocent as a deep-seated love for sushi can become deadly to your bank account if you start indulging five days a week.

I have collected advice from several faculty members at Drury in the finance and career development departments, to see what tips they would give a struggling college student. All of them suggested that the first step is to create a budget.

Create a budget

According to finance professor Rodriguez-Niento, “My first piece advice is to create a monthly budget (Excel has several templates that you can use); it is important to know how much money you bring in and how much you spend every month, to live within your means. Try to first identify recurrent expenses such as: rent, utilities, groceries, telephone, internet service, Netflix, gasoline, clothing, etc.”

Rodriguez-Niento continued, “Track other expenses such as eating-out, entertainment (going out to the club), weekend travel, etc. and don’t forget to track in a different category your education costs (tuition, books, etc.) as well as unpredictable expenditures such as car repairs. You will get a better picture of your overall financial health and will identify areas where you might be overspending.”

Stick to the budget

Whether you set up your budget on paper, your computer or an app on your phone, the most important part is figuring out how much money you have and where it goes every month. Emily Buckmaster, who works in Career Planning and Development, prefers a free app called EveryDollar. There are many budgeting apps out there, like Mint, Clarity Money and Albert. The most important thing is to find something you will look at and actually use. One major spending category for most students is food.

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Emily Buckmaster stated, “Costs associated with eating out tend to add up quickly for college students. Consider one or more of these dining tips: Make eating out a weekly treat, order tap water instead of soda, go to restaurants with deals for college students or use coupons, and/or split a large meal with a friend.”

These are all good tips for reducing how much you spend at restaurants, which is one of the easiest categories to cut back on spending.

Another tip is to be realistic. If you eat out for every single meal, make sure you keep track of that in your expenses. Don’t lie to yourself.

Gary DeBauche, who is a CFA and instructor in Drury’s Economics and Finance Department, stated that you should, “Prepare a simple monthly budget where one looks at revenue sources, wages and expenses. Be conservative as you look at revenues and realistic as you itemize expenses.”

Being honest about your finances is the first step to improving them.

Only spend what you have

Professor Rodriguez-Niento added another piece of advice regarding credit cards.

“Beware of credit cards,” he said. “Although it is good to have one to start building your credit and having a credit card with a very low balance with a history of on-time payments can boost your score, but try to pay the balances in full every month.”

He went on to say that, “Credit cards should be to help with an emergency, but that spring break trip is not an emergency.”

It can be easy to overspend in college when your income is low and your temptation to go out is high. However, creating a budget doesn’t mean that you are not able to do the things that you love to do anymore. It is just about understanding how your income relates to your expenses, doing your best to make good choices, and no longer being terrified to check your bank account.

Written by Lauren Barclay.