Student Budget

Tips On Personal Financial Management

Expenses

• Why set a budget?
  
  • To achieve your personal objectives (e.g., travelling, buying a car, paying tuition fees, etc.).
  • To become aware of your consumption patterns and thereby identify how much you are overspending.
  • To serve as a guide for structuring your consumption patterns.
• Your budget should be flexible; it is therefore important that you review and adjust your budget figures monthly.
• Be careful with the “loans” box in the income section! Remember that loans have to be repaid at the end of your studies.
• Some revenues and expenses in the budget are monthly amounts; so, multiplying them by 4 will give you the totals for a four-month period (one session).

Tips for saving money

• Make a grocery-shopping list to avoid making unnecessary purchases.
• Look through newspapers for coupons and specials for restaurants, movies, shows, groceries, etc.
• Avoid using department-store credit cards that have very high interest rates.

Did you know that…

• If you borrow $5,000 and pay it back over a period of 5 years at 8% interest, you will have paid back $6,082.94, that is, $1,082.94 in interest.
• When you use a “white label” (private) automatic teller machine — in a restaurant, for example — you will pay the ATM fee (e.g., $1.50) plus your bank’s service charge (e.g., $2.00).
• When you do not pay off your total credit card balance, interest is still calculated on the initial balance.

Some useful Web sites

• Interactive study planning tools: www.canlearn.ca
• The Canadian site for businesses and consumers: www.strategis.gc.ca
• Canadian Bankers Association: www.cba.ca
• Financial Consumer Agency of Canada: “What are your rights and responsibilities as a consumer of financial services?”
  Visit our site: www.fcac-acfc.gc.ca
  
  

Tips On Personal Financial Management

Expenses

• Why set a budget?
  
  • To achieve your personal objectives (e.g., travelling, buying a car, paying tuition fees, etc.).
  • To become aware of your consumption patterns and thereby identify how much you are overspending.
  • To serve as a guide for structuring your consumption patterns.
• Your budget should be flexible; it is therefore important that you review and adjust your budget figures monthly.
• Be careful with the “loans” box in the income section! Remember that loans have to be repaid at the end of your studies.
• Some revenues and expenses in the budget are monthly amounts; so, multiplying them by 4 will give you the totals for a four-month period (one session).

Tips for saving money

• Make a grocery-shopping list to avoid making unnecessary purchases.
• Look through newspapers for coupons and specials for restaurants, movies, shows, groceries, etc.
• Avoid using department-store credit cards that have very high interest rates.

Did you know that…

• If you borrow $5,000 and pay it back over a period of 5 years at 8% interest, you will have paid back $6,082.94, that is, $1,082.94 in interest.
• When you use a “white label” (private) automatic teller machine — in a restaurant, for example — you will pay the ATM fee (e.g., $1.50) plus your bank’s service charge (e.g., $2.00).
• When you do not pay off your total credit card balance, interest is still calculated on the initial balance.

Some useful Web sites

• Interactive study planning tools: www.canlearn.ca
• The Canadian site for businesses and consumers: www.strategis.gc.ca
• Canadian Bankers Association: www.cba.ca
• Financial Consumer Agency of Canada: “What are your rights and responsibilities as a consumer of financial services?”
  Visit our site: www.fcac-acfc.gc.ca