All right. Hello, everyone. My name is Jonnisha McLeod. I am the student  financial wellness counselor here at UNMC.

And today we're going to talk about the importance of budgeting.

So let's go ahead and get started. So first, I just want to do a little bit of an overview. First, we're  going to talk about budgeting. And then I'm going to give you guys some resources that you will be able to use and that are free and that have really great resources.

So let's start talking about some budgeting.

So first, when it comes to budgeting, again, it's something that everybody does. differently.

There's no one right way to do it. It just really depends on what works out best for you.  So on this first slide here, I did want to talk about the importance of budgeting.

So first, it helps you have financial control.

You get to manage limited funds, even if you had unlimited funds.

Like, let's say you were a really, really wealthy person. Even super wealthy people still have a budget. And they stick to it because it is really important to make sure that you continue to be able to have enough money to do the things that you need to do, especially if you have financial goals. And one of the best ways to set them is if you budget and then you stick to that budget.

Also, budgeting can help you handle unexpected expenses.

So if you have a certain amount of money saved like an emergency fund, you know, that budgeting can help you reach that goal of making sure that you have enough saved to handle  those unexpected expenses.

Obviously, things happen and you know you can't really plan for everything but if you budget well and you have a good amounts set aside you're good.

Also budgeting can help you develop healthy financial habits because, quite frankly, it's very easy to not  stick to a budget.Therefore, it is really  important to when you are figuring out how to budget it's really important to kind of find a way to stick to a budget.

And then lastly, like I mentioned earlier, to achieve those financial goals, it is really important to make sure that you're budgeting.

 This right here is a step-by-step  guide that you can use to learn how to create a budget.

So first, you want to determine your income. This is really important because you want to make sure that you know how much money you have to budget with.

So let's say your salary is $75,000 gross, but that's not going to be the amount of money that you're actually going to have. You'll have a lesser amount that you can actually budget with. So you want to know how much you actually have to budget with. And let's say if you're a student, you know, you'll have enough when it comes to getting a refund and things like that. So you'll know how much you have to budget with. Next, again, if you're a student, you want to review your cost of attendance to make sure that you have enough to cover all of the things that you need to cover. Every single cost of attendance is going to be different.

But all of them will include things like tuition and other items as well.

So it's really important to know how much you actually have to pay for in order to have that budget. And the next, you want to create a list of expenses. This is something that I think is probably one of the most important things when it comes to budgeting, because a lot of people, they don't really think about all the different things that they spend money on. And anything that you spend money on is considered an expense. So you want to make sure that that is included when you are creating a budget. Because a lot of people, especially I've worked with most people in the past and they'll come to me, they'll be like, I made a list of expenses and I still don't know where my money is going. And then I'll start to ask a couple of probing questions. Then they realize they're like, oh, I didn't include the fact that I go over to the convenience store every other day and I order a couple of drinks and all this other stuff. And so it's like, oh, if you're not putting that on there, then you're not really knowing and you're not really tracking to see where you're spending.

Next is important to find a budgeting method that works for you.

Like I mentioned earlier, when it comes to budgeting, there's no wrong way to do it.

I mean, I mean, technically, I mean, I guess you could say that there are some wrong ways. But the biggest thing is just to find a system that works for you. I actually use a couple different systems that work for me, but everybody's different.

Like I know some folks, they use a spreadsheet and they track their expenses using that spreadsheet.

They put everything on a spreadsheet.

And they're perfectly fine with that. Me, I need to do a couple of things to hold myself accountable.

So it really just depends on the person. And the next, you want to track your spending.

I always recommend that you track your spending. I do it. I have an app on my phone where I track all of my expenses and I put them in manually. I know some folks are like, ooh, I don't have time for that. I had to make time so I could learn how to budget properly. So  that was something that I had to do. But again, everybody's different.

Next, you want to stick to your budget. That's really important. And then last, but certainly not least, when it comes to budgeting, it is really important to reassess and adjust your budget as needed. So even though, let's say, you know, you're using Excel for your budgets, and you've done that for three years, and then you realize after three years it's just not really working for you, okay, maybe it's time for you to reassess and try something else. There's nothing wrong with that. It's all trial and error. But once you kind of get it down, you'll be good for a while. So one of the things I did mention on my last slide was cost of attendance. So as a student, every single cost of attendance has a couple different components to it. So it will have things like tuition, student fees, personal expenses, books and supplies allowance. Again, UNMC, they only charge for tuition and fees.

 That is it. So things like the personal living allowance and travel expenses, all of those allowances that are on your cost of attendance. that UNMC does not charge for those things, but you are allowed to borrow more so you can cover those things. So do keep that in mind. And just a little food for thought, determine your actual budget and what you truly need to borrow to be successful in your program. You definitely don't want to borrow too much because, again, you will have to pay that back. So if you do want to check out cost of attendance, I do have the QR code on the screen. That'll take you directly to our website, so you can look at your cost of attendance. So this right here is just a sample budget for a single person. So as you can see, I do have a list of different types of expenses, and these are going to be the more common expenses that most people will have. Obviously, everybody's budget is going to be different. But these are some common ones. So things like transportation costs, rent, food, auto. Again, like this is just for one person. And of course, it's going to vary from person to person. But this is kind of what you're looking at for, a semester budget for one person.

Again, like I mentioned earlier, it's definitely going to be different from person to person, especially if you're going to be living on campus because you don't actually have to pay for utilities and things like that. So it would be different. All of that would be included in your rent price. So that's something to kind of keep in mind as well.

So here are some common budgeting methods. Like I mentioned earlier, it's really important to find a budgeting method that works for you. There's the line item budget.

There's the 50, 30, 20. There's apps. written budgets, cash envelopes.

The QR code on the screen will take you directly to a SOFI article where it talks about different budgeting methods. So you can learn about the different ones that are out there because I'm only mentioning a few, but there are a lot of different budgeting methods. Some I haven't even seen before, you know, and everybody does things a little bit differently.

So I do recommend, you know, checking that out, figuring out what works best for you. And this is especially true when it comes to budgeting with a partner. it's really important to find a system that works for the both of you guys so that won't be an issue going forward.

 So this is something that a lot of people are starting to do more. They're  starting to utilize AI to build budgets.

And that's becoming more and more common because some folks don't want to sit down and do it themselves, which I totally understand.

So actually, on the QR code on the screen, we'll take you directly to an article from Bankrate where they talk about how you can  utilize chat GPT to help you build a budget.

I think that it is a great way. for people to kind of get started and learn the best practices and things like that, especially if you don't want to take too, too much time doing it. I mean, of course, like if you've never budgeted before and you're really trying to sit down, it's going to take you a minute. But once you kind of get a good flow going, you'll be fine. But again, it may take a little bit of time. So let's talk about the different budgeting methods that are out there, especially some of the ones that I mentioned. So this is line item budgeting. This is one of the things that I do. I actually write down my budget. and of course I have my expenses, an estimated amount, and then when some of those expenses are due. So things like car insurance and stuff, I have that written down as well. So this is just kind of a step-by-step guide to kind of help you when it comes to developing a line item budget. And typically when people say, like, oh, I'm going to do a budget, this is typically what they're talking about. Like this is, a line item budget is going to be, that's what you use on like Excel and Google Sheets, writing it down. these are line item budgets.

This is just a little tip, a word from the wise, determine how you  are going to create your budget so are you going to write it down? Are you going to use a website?  Are you going to use an app? Are you going to  use a you know a template like the one we have here on the screen?

Again, there's no wrong way. There's a lot of different ways you can do it, but you just have  to figure out which one that's going to word best for you.

This is the 50 30 20 budget now this budget, it is a method that a lot of people use where you essentially put your essentials into three different categories. You put your expenses into three different categories. So it would be needs, wants, and savings.

So, for needs, you would only spend 50% of your income on needs, 30% on wants, and 20% on savings and debt payments.

Now, a lot of people tend to, well, not a lot of people, but a good amount of people have some issues with this one just because sometimes their needs are higher than 50%.

But that is why you can kind of manipulate how much you want. So instead of doing a 50, 30, 20, maybe you want to do 60% on needs and then 10% on wants and then 30% on  savings and debt payments.

Nothing wrong with that. But this is just something that a lot of people tend to look into.

I've tried it. It didn't really work for me, but I do understand the appeal. So you can kind of categorize each thing.

But again, it is something that some people have issues with. Some people really like them. Some people like line item budgeting. Some people don't. So everyone is different.

There's no wrong way. Now, this is the cash envelope method. Now, this one is kind of, it's one that's been around a long time, but less and less people are using this method just because a lot of places are starting to go cashless.

I still use this method. It's helped me a lot when it comes to my spending habits.

However, again, more and more places are going cash lists. So most people instead of doing, so some people, instead of doing the cash envelope budget, they're doing debit cards.

So then that way they won't have to necessarily worry about it but it can be a little bit of a harder one to balance but this is just a step-by-step guide when it comes to the cash envelope budget method if you'd like to try that one.

So, here are some budgeting apps.

These are all they all have a free version except for You Need A Budget  or YNAB, but students are maybe eligible for  one free year using You Need A Budget, so  a lot of people tend to like that one, but there's also really good  ones.

One I want to highlight is Honeydue. So it is a budgeting app for couples, which I think is really cool. It's a great way for couples to kind of get together and start budgeting together, which I think is really important, especially if you're going to be commingling finances at all. It is really important to make sure that everybody's on the same page.

So, here are some financial wellness resources.

First, we have the Office of Financial Aid.

You can always meet with me. I am the student financial wellness counselor. I can meet with any students. Even the ones who are not receiving financial aid, I can still meet with you and we can talk through things, especially if you have questions about budgeting, anything like that. I'm always here to help out. You can always reach out to me.

Also, we have information on different types of aid, financial literacy resources, federal work study resources, and even loan repayment resources. So I do recommend checking out our website.

And the QR code on the screen will take you directly to our website.

Next, we have the Association of American Medical Colleges.

I really like their website or the AAMC. I really like their website  because they have a lot of financial wellness resources, a lot of financial aid resources. They have budgeting resources.

And they have live and recorded webinars.

So any webinar that they've ever done has, well, not ever done, but a lot of the webinars that they have done are recorded and they're posted on their website so you can watch them for free.

And I really like their website again because, again, all their resources are free for all students. So as long as you're a student, you can utilize their resources for free.

I do recommend checking it out.

And you can use the QR code on the screen to take you directly to their website.

Thank you so much for attending. This is my contact information. So if you do have any questions, you can always email me. And my office is located on the second floor of William Science Hall.

I'm in the office of Global Engagement. So I do recommend. reaching out if you have any questions. So thank you so much.