Completing the year without an overwhelming amount of debt means starting your budget early. Before orientation week begins, take the time to assess your financial situation.

This budget planner will guide you through the process of creating a budget and sticking to it.

Decide on a budget

Before you make your budget, get an accurate picture of your income and expenses. Our printable budget for postsecondary students provides a template in which to add up your savings, income, and yearly expenses so you have an idea of how much you’ll need to budget for each term.

When you have an idea of the total amount available for each, determine the average amount you can allocate to each of your expense categories:

• Savings
• Housing (rent, tenants insurance)
• Utilities (water and hydro)
• Clothing
• Transportation
• Leisure
• Health (medication, glasses, etc.)
• Personal
• Debt repayment
• Emergency fund (put a small amount aside as soon as possible toward your emergency fund and then continue contributing 5 – 10% of your net monthly income to it until you’ve accumulated 3 months’ worth of expenses)

This calculator will help you cover all your bases. You can budget for the week, every two weeks, or every month for each category. Find out works for you. The key to sticking to your budget is making it simple.

Manage your accounts and budget

Sticking to your budget can be easy when you equip yourself with the solutions to manage your everyday transactions right. Open an account that caters to your specific needs.

Our offering of Youth and Student Accounts are specifically designed to help students save money at a better interest rate, cover your account in the event of insufficient funds, and many other benefits. Find out which account and plan best suits your needs using our account and plan selector tool. 

Start building your credit

While credit cards may seem like something to be wary of for students looking to steer clear of debt, they offer a great opportunity to build your credit for the future.

Choose a card designed for students so managing your debt and making payments in a timely manner is possible. Our For Students Only card offers a low interest rate, no annual fees, 3-day travel insurance at no charge and many more benefits for students on a budget.

Hold yourself accountable

To stick to your budget, make sure you hold yourself accountable. Like most personal goals, commiting to a thrifty lifestyle with a friend or room mate can make it easier.

Downloading an app can also be a great way to hold yourself accountable. Our new instant savings tool for your mobile device, Hop ‘n S@ave, allows you to transfer money, check the balance of your source account and savings goal, and see your savings progress and percentage from anywhere, anytime.

Making your budget easy to follow and easy to access increases the likehood it will be successful.

Troubleshoot

As a full-time college or university student, you have particular needs. To help you stay focused on your studies without letting you budget slip, get advice from the Desjardins Student Service Centre.