Xatal

If you’re going to college away from your hometown, managing your money becomes an important factor to deal with.

Storing a large wad of cash in your dorm room is a terrible idea, you’re just asking for someone to steal your money from your dorm. Cash is also rather inconvenient, since you might find yourself needing money when you least expect it.

So what do you do, if you’re going to avoid bringing mass amounts of cash?

Start a bank account.

If you don’t already have one, you should start up a bank account. Give your parents access to the account so that they can deposit money as needed.

Make sure the bank has a local branch or that your campus has an ATM. Most campuses will have an ATM, but you need a quick way to pull out cash when necessary. Having a bank account won’t do you any good if you can’t access your money. If the bank has a local branch, that’s a plus, but bear in mind it might not be near campus.

Plastic is your friend: Consider a debit/credit card.

Using a debit or credit card saves you the inconvenience of cash by being a small addition to your wallet that’s usable in (most) places.

If you’re able to manage your money well enough, I definitely recommend using a credit card instead of a debit card. Using a credit card will also help you build your credit score. However, if you’re too easily tempted to spend money, a debit card will help limit you better.

How to manage your money

If your bank provides it, online banking is dead useful. You can pay off credit card bills online, you can quickly check up on your accounts to see how much money you have left, and you can quickly transfer funds between savings/checking accounts as needed.

I also strongly recommend Mint.com. Mint is an online service which aggregates information from your bank accounts and can be used to create budgets, see what you’re spending the most on, and so forth. It’s been incredibly handy.

Keep some cash on hand.

Once I got in the habit of using my credit card, I rarely ever had cash anymore. While credit cards are useful, there are times you will need cash. Always keep some extra money on hand, just in case. Go to the ATM machine if you need to.

What about checks?

I definitely don’t recommend using checks in college. Checks are a little bit harder to keep track of and you will have to work harder to manage your money. Using a credit or debit card is a lot easier, and you’ll rarely run into trouble with plastic.

How do (or did) you manage your money in college?