College is that time of life when you soak in new-found freedom. No longer for you curfew hours or mandatory greens before dessert. Also you are set to study your favourite subjects and fix your own study schedule. the most spectacular freedom is of course that of spending – gone are the days when you had to tag with your Mom to shop for clothes or accompany Dad to the supermarket to pick up your favourite tub of ice cream. However if you are not careful, a free hand to spend can spell disaster for your finances. Before you run through all your college fund and have to call your folks again, here are 5 concepts that will help you get financially literate and sail through college richer with more than a degree.

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Make a good start

If the college admission paperwork has got you worried about finances already, it is only an indication of things to come. High school students who are rushing to meet the college application deadlines in February and March have to shell out hefty application fees which multiply the more number of colleges you apply to. And then there are fees to submit your SAT or ACT scores as well. In fact if you are filling out a supplemental financial aid application, you might have to pay up for that too. In such situations college admission essay writing services like EssayWriter4U and OnlineAssignmentWriting might seem an additional expense but actually they can be seen as an investment. Once you get help with your college admission essay written by professionals, it saves you time and money by getting through the first time and avoiding multiple applications. What’s more you can even use reputed services like Top Assignment Experts to come up with highest quality essays which can help you win scholarships at the college of your choice. These in turn can be of various types – full or partial. Depending on your SAT scores, admission essay evaluation and your financial background, a college will calculate different scholarship plans you may be eligible for.

Explore student loans

Even if you have not been able to get a college scholarship, there are still many ways you can get financial help with your college tuition and other costs. Firstly understand that different types of colleges have different tuition slabs. while public-sector two-year colleges – also known as community, technical or city colleges where you can get an associate degree – are least expensive to study at, the bar keeps getting higher with public four year colleges in-state areas, then public four-year colleges out-of-state areas and finally the most expensive are the private non-profit four-year colleges. Fortunately the higher end colleges also have the most diverse financial aid plans for students. Apart from scholarships, you can get grants, assistantships and work-study schemes. Then there are different types of student loans that you can apply to banks as well. For further details on how you can meet your college tuition, look for funding information on your college or university site. Also remember to apply for financial aid at the same time as you submit your application.

Budgeting basics

Once your college funding is taken care of, you will have to learn to live within your resources. For this, start learning about making a budget and spending within it. At its simplest, a budget is a comparison of your expenses and earnings – you draw up a list of how much money is available to you in a certain period of time, usually a month and against this you plan your expenses. A good thumb rule is the 50:30:20 plan wherein 50% of your resources should go to meet essentials like hostel costs, food, gas, medical insurance, study materials and so on. You should try and put aside around 20% into a nest-egg to meet major financial outlays caused by emergencies like a conked-off laptop or an indulgence like a weekend in Hawaii. The other 30% can be spent on discretionary costs like parties, smart clothes or that special date.

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Know how to use Credit cards

So many young people find themselves neck deep in card debt since they fail to realize the difference between a debit and a credit card.  In the former you can withdraw only what you have in your bank account. A credit card on the other hand does exactly what it says – it gives you funds on credit. This means while you can draw a higher amount than what you have in your bank account, you will have to repay the balance to your bank at a high rate of interest. In other words if you want to spend more than you can afford to now, you will be paying more in longer run. So it is better to avoid using credit cards unless you are financially disciplined. Or to get benefits like cashback and points that you can redeem to buy gas or flight tickets home. Learn more about financial terms and instruments from online resources like paperdoers and 60to45 so that you can take fully informed financial decisions.

Buy study aids wisely

A chunk of a student’s finances is sure to be spent in buying study aids – like books, library or journal subscriptions and stationary. You might also consider investing in reputed online assignment writing services like BestOnlineAssignmenthelp to complete your assignments at most affordable rates. What you spend in these professional services, you which will eventually save more in terms of time and effort that you can put in your part-time jobs which you may have picked up to help out with your college costs. At the end of the day, after working so hard in classes and coursework, you do deserve a break and in such cases, a good assignment writing service can come in pretty handy.