How college students can set up their first budget

Starting good money habits while you’re in college is crucial to setting yourself up for financial success in life. That means setting up – and sticking to – a budget.

In college, you need money for everything from buying books to going out to eat. And when you graduate, life comes at you fast. You’ll need money for everything from renting your first apartment to buying your first car. Plus, if you took out student loans, you’ll have to start paying them back. You’ll want money to cover all of your essentials – plus extra for fun things like going out to eat, to a concert or a vacation.

Whether you’re “good” at money or “into” money, everyone needs it – and everyone needs to learn how to manage it so you have enough now – and for everything you want to do in life after this. So we’ve lined up an all-star panel to help you learn how to set up your first budget, plus tips for how to save money – and stick to your budget.

The discussion will be led by Cindy Perman, formerly of CNBC and WSJ, and feature advice from these terrific panelists:

• Darreonna Davis, a temporary explainers and trends reporter for Forbes and a 2023 graduate of Howard University’s Cathy Hughes School of Communications. While at Howard, she interned at CNN, CNBC and Inside Climate News and was the managing editor of the student-run 101 Magazine. While at CNBC, she participated in the “College Voices” series, writing about how to set up your first budget.

• Stacy Francis, a financial advisor and founder of Francis Financial and the nonprofit financial-education organization Savvy Ladies. She is also the host of the Financially Ever After podcast.

• Robert Farrington, a millennial money expert and founder of TheCollegeInvestor.com, a personal finance and investing site dedicated to helping college students and young adults get out of student loan debt, master their personal finances, and get started investing.

This webinar is the conclusion of a three-part series organized by SABEW’s education committee to help college students and early career journalists be smart about money, maximize their earnings potential and move up the ranks in their career. View the rest of the series:

July 11 – How to negotiate your first salary  [ Watch ]
August 16 – How to move up the ladder at work  [ Watch ]