Are you planning to pursue your college degree through an online college? If so, it is important to realize that budgeting to attend an online school is a bit different from budgeting to attend the traditional brick and mortar college or university. While it is certainly possible to take out a student loan in order to pay all of your online college expenses, creating a budget that helps make funds available for your school expenses is an even better way to go whenever possible.

When it comes to creating a budget, your most basic goal is quite simple: to determine how much money you have available so you can decide how much you can afford to dedicate to your college costs. Assuming you are currently living below your means, you shouldn’t have too much difficulty with finding funds that can be dedicated toward your college expenses. If you are just barely making it by, on the other hand, you might need to look for areas where you can trim back your expenses and free up some funds to go toward paying for college.

Getting Started

The first thing you need to do to create a budget for school is to review your current income as well as your expenses. If you are having difficulty with this step, you might want to purchase a software program, such as Quicken, that will help you keep track of your expenses. Or, you can look into using a free online application, such as MySpendingPlan.com to help you with this process. Regardless of how you track your expenses, be sure to include all of your expenses – ranging from your home mortgage bill all the way to the cup of coffee you grab each day on your way to work.

Determining your income can also be tricky, particularly if you don’t receive a salaried wage or if the hours you work are sporadic. When determining your income, it is also important for you to consider your net income, which is the amount of money you actually bring home after deductions are made for medical insurance, retirement, union dues and other purposes.

If you still have 25% left over after you have deducted your expenses from your income, you are doing pretty a pretty good job. If you are barely making it by, on the other hand, it is time for you to make some adjustments to your spending.

Making Some Changes

If you find that you are coming up short or you don’t have a whole lot of money left over after paying your expenses, you have two choices – either start working more hours or start trimming some expenses. If you are heading back to school, adding on more work hours generally is not going to be a viable option. After all, juggling the job you already have while also going to school can be a challenge. Of course, finding a higher paying job is also an option. But, if there were higher paying jobs available to you at this point, you would likely already be working at one of them. Therefore, for most people, the next step in the process will involve trimming some extra fat from your expenses.

To start this step of the process, you will first need to determine how much you are spending on essential expenses. These expenses include all of the following:

· Clothing
· Food
· Health care
· Housing
· Transportation
· Utilities

Some non-essential expenses include:
· Cable television
· Cell phones
· Designer clothes and shoes
· Restaurant expenses

If necessary, you might need to cancel your cable or cell phone plans while you attend school. Also, look for other nickel and dime expenses that add up over time, such as eating out for lunch every day. Depending on your financial situation, you may not have to cut these expenses completely. For example, simply making a downgrade to your satellite subscription may be enough to free up the extra money you need.
Even when it comes to your essential expenses, you should set a limit on how much you spend each month. By limiting your funds for food, for example, you will be sure to shop for the best deals and to stretch your dollars further. The same is true when it comes to purchasing clothes. While clothes are expensive, a $200 pair of shoes is not. Set a budget for your clothing and make sure to stay within that budget each month.
If you still need a little help with budgeting for school, you might want to visit some of these online resources:

· FSA – calculator developed by the Federal Student Aid Program
· CollegeAnswer.com – a monthly budget calculator developed for those who are thinking about getting a student loan
· Federal Student Loan Servicing Calculator – a basic calculator used to budget loan payments and household expenses