Lesson 9: Financial Management
Attention
Managing your money so that you can go to school and keep up with your expenses is one of the most important aspects of planning your career at KVCC. Many students at KVCC work and go to school at the same time...on top of that they have other responsibilities...money management and time management go hand in hand!
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:
- Identify and discuss the importance of effective financial management
- Identify strategies for managing a budget while in school
- Identify the issues related to credit
- Review the policies and procedures related to the use of financial aid
- Identify the consequences of defaulting on a student loan
- Identify the policies and regulations related to attendance and performance in school as it relates to financial aid
Teaching
Resources
Click FAME to access the Finance Authority of Maine's pages on financing education.
eCampus Tours also has an information page on "Paying for College"...Click HERE to access that page.
Budgeting
Writing a budget and living a budget are two different skills. When we write a budget, we tend to write it as we would like to see it. We see how our income will, hopefully, cover all of our expenses. Once we feel assured of this, we proceed with life. At that moment, spending leaks creep into our budget: coffees, drive throughs, conveniences stores, trips to Walmart or Target or Home Depot, that sale item at the grocery story, etc. etc.
Suddenly our checkbook will not cover our bills. How can we get control of our spending and meet our obligations? Do we have to watch every penny?
Creating your own Budget
In this lesson, you will start by writing your estimated or projected budget. What do you think your spending looks like? Then you will track your spending for a week or a month – your choice as you can multiply out a monthly amount. Once you compare these two budgets, you will have the information that you need to ensure that you can pay your bills. You will also know for certain what is available for spending leaks and what must be cut out.
Click HERE to download an Excel file to help you construct your budget!
You will need to have MS Excel on your computer to open this file and have it work correctly
Click HERE to download the Excel Viewer which may allow you to view this file as well
Assessment
Lesson 9 Discussion
Without getting into too much personal detail, discuss how you plan to approach the challenges of funding your education? What decisions did you have to make in order to start coming to school? Did you have to cut back on anything? Sell things? Stop doing certain activities? Reflect on how the importance of going to school and pursuing your academic dream influenced your decision to make these changes.
Lesson 9 Quiz
Discuss the budget process. Did you identify any spending leaks? Were they undermining your budget? Have you had to change your budget to go back to school? Do you manage your money well or is this an area that you feel needs improvement?
Are you using student loan proceeds to cover living expenses? How does the effect your view of day to day spending? Are you cutting back? How can you minimize the amount borrowed and cut down on your costs for school?
Do you hope to increase your income through the degree that you are pursuing here at KV? What level of income do you hope to attain?
You can research local income ranges by industry here at My Next Move
How will this affect your budget? Your quality of life? Your financial stability?