[mehlonghae]

I'm wondering what is the best way to manage your money at college. I'm thinking about getting a debit card, but is that a wise decision? I'm worried that someone might steal my card number and use it to their advantage (i.e. unlimited internet shopping because no signature or verification is required). If not a debit card, what other safe options are there?

[Hisaki]

Debit cards won't charge you for fraudulent purchases ^^ For debits, you spend money you actually have, unlike credit cards that lets you spend money you DON'T have. But you are able to use debit cards as credit cards but be careful not to get a negative balance @_@

[foxxx]

Keep a record of every transaction you make and set aside money for the week and leave the rest of the cash and debit card at home to avoid temptation to over-spend on frivolous things. Saving a portion of your money if you work every other weeks helps too. Works for me and hopefully it'll do the same for you =)

[guy213323]

best way to manage your money is deposit at least 70 percent of your weekly earnings into your bank account and try to live with the 30% until the next paycheck.. thats what i do, and i dont get payed much from working at a coffee shop. 30% is very little, when you have to drive at least 100-150 miles a week.. if you want to save money and not spend alot, you have to make many sacrifices. oh yea.. you gotta be a little stingy most of the times. lol

[jennnayx81]

^ i do pretty much the same thing.

every 2 weeks i get paid, so when i get my paycheck, i deposit all but $100 (unless i have money left over from the last depsoit, which is highly unlikely).

[BloodPrincessShiroto]

How I manage my money is put all of it in my bank account and on the 1st of every month I make a list of stuff I need to buy and bills that need to get paid.

An example with my first check I will put say $150 aside for groceries and buy enough to last me a whole month or buy in bulk like i'll get the big jars of peanut butter, mayo, chips, crackers, hamburger's, hotdogs so they'll last me alot longer then normal.

I also live in an apartment by myself during college so it's really important for me to save as much money as possible each month.

[slimjim]

for me, excel sheet and credit card. cc are property of cc companies, so they worry more about fraud than u do.

[siyomay]

yeah, excel's the way to go. i keep the receipts posted in my organizer then audit everything at the end of the day. i use graphs to see if i'm saving money or not and i just drink a glass of cold water if i see something that i really want to buy out of impulsiveness. after that glass water, i go home and sleep.