Personal Finance

I know that earlier I was a bit bitter about my finance class as I am not the best with numbers and was not appreciating the fact that I chose to take an online late start class, however, this class has already started to benefit me.

During the first week of class, one of our assignments was to make a budget. From then on, our task was to keep track of our spending for the month, and then finally prepare a budget control sheet demonstrating our budget next to our actual spending.

This assignment proved to be extremely helpful in showing me where I spend the majority of my money and just exactly how much I spend without even realizing it! I realized that I underestimated my spending on a few categories, with the biggest expenditure going towards food. As with many college kids, this is a touchy subject in terms of a budget. Starbucks is a huge money sucker that usually attracts tons of college kids because yes we do need our caffeine! However, I realized that I go to Starbucks multiple times per week, and paying four dollars for an overpriced latte really does add up.

Through this assignment I was able to obtain a grasp on reality and understand how much I really could save by just watching how much I eat out (and how many overpriced lattes I buy ha ha).

I really do recommend this class for anyone who wants a realistic perspective on how money works when your out on the real world. We are currently learning about the two biggest purchases one will make in their entire lifetime: buying a car, and purchasing a house. These are things I never learned how to do in high school, which in my opinion is ridiculous since high school is suppose to prepare you for 'the real world' but that's another story. As I said before I wouldn't take this class as a late start class since their is so much info crammed into one week, but it is a VERY beneficial class, and you will definitely walk away with knowledge on real life money adventures!