BY Danielle Grillo Staff Writer
“Every Sunday I go through my incomes and expenses and make sure I’m allocating enough money to buy necessities and setting aside money for savings,” said sophomore Ava Ciauro.
For many SHU students, this is a familiar experience, as learning how to balance a budget can prove to be just as important as balancing their coursework. From groceries, to textbooks, to social activities, managing expenses during college can be a challenge, but students are finding strategies that work for them.
Through features that categorize spending, set limits, and provide real-time updates, some students say budgeting apps make it easier to stay on top of their finances. Options like Rocket Money Wallet, and Spendee help students track every purchase, monitor trends and plan ahead.
“One financial habit I wish I started earlier was knowing about budgeting apps. Everyone should use them, they offer services that are free for college students,” said junior Maddy Jones. “I use Rocket Money to track my spending, and it categorizes my spending into sections per month.”
Many students find that managing finances requires consistent planning and careful consideration. By developing personal routines, tracking weekly or monthly expenses, and knowing how much they spend, students can gain a clearer understanding of their budget.
“I’ve gotten into the routine of adding up the total of all the groceries or necessities I’ve bought each month, so that I can gauge how much I really need to spend,” said junior Gabby Gottschall. “Some months I may spend more than others, but just knowing the baseline amount that I am comfortable spending helps me budget and stay on track.”
Financial literacy has become an essential life skill for many students. Some arrived at Sacred Heart with knowledge of how to budget their money, having learned from previous work experience, family guidance, or personal practice, which gave them a head start in managing expenses and planning for the future.
“My parents taught me to put some money to the side for my savings account each paycheck I receive, even if it’s not much. This has helped me learn how to save and manage my money,” said Gottschall.
“I’ve been working since I was 14, so I never really needed help with budgeting,” said Jones. “Once I started seeing how much money I was making, I was able to keep track of my budgeting.”
Other students develop financial literacy skills gradually, figuring out how to manage spending and make sense of financial concepts over the course of their college experience.
“Financials are tricky because there’s so much specific language in them and budgeting in itself is hard to understand,” said senior Doria Lukasik. “You have to figure out how to save what’s left after budgeting and manage it accordingly.”
