Your graduate and professional students and other adult learners probably understand the benefits of following a budget. Chances are, however, they haven’t developed their own budgets. To help your students with the most difficult part of making a budget—getting started—USA Funds® Life Skills® offers the following tips for becoming a “budgeteer.”

Provide a baseline for your budget.

• What are my expenses?
• How am I spending my money now?

Set specific goals.

• How much do I want to save each day, week and month?
• How much do I need for emergencies?
• How soon will I need to buy a car or make other major purchases, and how much will that cost?

Determine your financial priorities.

• What are my required expenditures?
• What needs do I have?
• What wants can I afford?

Identify your spending and savings categories.

• What are the general categories of my recurring expenses, such as insurance policies and rent or mortgage?
• What are the specific categories within those general categories, such as auto and health insurance policies?
• What categories will I target for savings, such as gifts, retirement, large purchases or a college fund?

Allocate your resources.

• What is my income?
• What is my outlay?

Implement and evaluate your budget.

• How did I spend money over the last three months?
• What were my spending and saving habits?
• Where can I save more?
• Where can I spend less?
• How much will I need for this month and this year?
• How much will I need to borrow to pay my expenses?

After following these strategies for building the framework for a budget, keep the following budget-building tips in mind:

• Establish a record-keeping system. Use personal-finance software. Record your checks,automated teller machine withdrawals and credit card purchases.
• Make an honest assessment of your spending style.
• Have an honest discussion about your finances with your partner or spouse.
• Spend less than you earn.
• Save every week. Use automatic transfer, if possible.
• Plan for emergencies.
• Take lump-sum loan money and put it into a savings account. Use specific amounts per month based on your educational needs.
• Use student-loan money only for school-related expenses.
• Avoid late fees and poor credit ratings by paying bills prior to their due dates.