Finding your way through your financial life requires a good navigation system. Just like with any journey, you have to make the time to sit down and plot your route. Then you have to check it periodically to be sure you haven’t veered off track.
How are you going to get enough money to pay all your BU expenses? What are the best ways to ensure you make smart spending decisions along the way; decisions you won’t regret later? Making smart money decisions isn’t just about trying to spend less. It’s really about understanding and thinking carefully about the trade-offs. Spending more for certain things might be possible if you offset them by spending less on other things.
A successful plan looks to maximize your resources and minimize your expenses. Here are some tools and tips to get you started.
Minimize Your Expenses
Use BU Smart Money to help you develop good spending habits and a realistic budget. A budget is just a plan for how best to spend your money to achieve your goals—like graduating with as little debt as possible. If you don’t have a plan to reach your goals, you probably won’t.
Keep a running tab of how much you borrow each year and monitor if you’re on track with your student loan debt goals. If you don’t know how much you owe, use the resources on our student loan repayment page to find out. Use your budget to calculate how much you need to borrow to meet your expenses. Borrow no more than that amount. Loan amounts—plus interest—must be repaid later. If your projected debt upon graduation exceeds the goals you’ve set, consider minimizing your expenses and maximizing your resources.
Dining Services offers meal plans that vary in cost. Choose the meal plan that works best for you. Don’t leave money on the table by selecting a plan that costs more, particularly if you’re unlikely to utilize most covered meals. Don’t pick a lower-cost plan that covers too few meals if you’re only going to end up spending more for food off-campus.
Look into being a resident assistant beginning in your junior year. Compensation for resident assistants includes free housing! It is a competitive selection process, but if you’re selected it can be a great opportunity.
Meet with your academic advisor to plot your courses with cost included as a consideration. Avoid tuition overload charges and consider lower-cost summer classes.
Check out the many BU Study Abroad options! Your BU need-based scholarships can go with you on a BU program and often the billed costs are lower than staying on the Charles River Campus.
Maximize Your Resources
Continue to file the FAFSA each year to apply for federal and state financial aid! Take advantage of the Federal Direct Loan maximum borrowing limits which increase each academic year. Unlike some private credit-based educational loans, the Federal Direct Loan has many favorable terms, conditions, and protections for borrowers.
Consider student employment! The Student Employment Office can help you get a part-time job regardless of whether or not you’ve been awarded Federal Work-Study, and the extra income can really help with your personal expenses.
If you are a veteran of the armed services or the dependent of a veteran, be sure you have applied for any benefits you might be eligible for. The BU Veterans & Military Services website has more information. To get personalized information and counseling, contact the Veterans Services Coordinator at 617-353-3678 or veterans@bu.edu.
Budget your tuition and fee payments monthly using the payment plan which makes incorporating semester billed expenses into the family budget easier to organize.
