This is part of our series on how to be an adult

Time to budget
It is important to have a time, whether that be once a week, month, semester, or year to sit down and set your budget. Do not push this off.

List income and expenses
These two make up the majority of your money whereabouts; what’s coming in and what’s going out. For income, list paychecks, financial aid, gift money, allowances, etc. For expenses, list school fees, rent, groceries, transportation, personal care items, clothes, entertainment, phone bills, insurance bills, etc. This is so important because it will be a visual show of where your money comes from and goes to and it will help you figure out ways to cut spending.

Emergency money
It can make all the difference to have some money saved up in case of emergencies like a broken arm or a flat tire. Learn to take a small portion of your income and store it away for when life throw curve balls.

Fun money
It is also important to save a little money for a rainy day. This money is for the big ticket items like when you want to upgrade your old laptop or get tickets to the next football game.

Balanced budget
Most important of all, it’s key that you either break even or end up with some left over money at the end of the cycle, instead of coming up in the negative. According to the Pew Charitable Trust, 80 percent of Americans have some form of debt, so it’s essential for you to learn how to reduce expenses or bring in more income.