It's better to be prepared.
Sure, we have to pay for dental school tuition, instruments, and university fees, but on top of that are living expenses. A girl's gotta eat (and sleep), and $15k+ a year toward surviving is no insignificant chunk of change. Although most schools provide information about cost of living in their areas, many of these numbers are estimates. I've made a budget to determine how much I currently spend on cost of living so that I can more accurately calculate how much I'll pay during dental school and so I can adjust my spending habits before school begins.
Overview
No matter what method you use to make a budget, it needs to let you determine your income, calculate expenses, track spending, and set goals. As long as the budget can do this, you will be good to go.
Tools
From listing transactions on paper to using an app, there are many methods to track spending and make a budget. So far, I've heard of the following ways to record spending:
- keeping a handwritten journal
- using an excel spreadsheet
- signing up for Mint
- subscribing to You Need A Budget
All four methods are similar in that they enable a person to see inflow and outflow of his/her money. I think it simply comes down to personal preference when choosing which route to take.
Keeping a Handwritten Journal
I have never kept a journal of my spending, but my good friend loves this method. Someone once stole her purse and she was most upset about losing her money journal. I imagine having to physically open up the booklet and write everything down would give a sense of accountability. If I were to use this method, I'd probably think twice about getting a coffee knowing I'd have to write down -$2.15.
Using an Excel Spreadsheet
If you're savvy with Excel, I think this is the best budgeting method to use. I for one am not an Excel guru, but with a little know-how, a person can do exactly what apps like Mint or You Need A Budget can do for free (or without ads). It also adds the accountability that keeping a handwritten record provides, since it requires manual input of expenses. I found a helpful guide here, or, if you Google excel budget template, there are tons that you can download and start filing out. The only thing I don't like about this option is that it's not available on the go--unless you use Google Sheets, which I've never tried.
Signing Up for Mint
I've been using Mint for almost two years now and find it to be a useful tool. Mint provides an excellent overview of my accounts (checking, credit card, Venmo, etc.) and gives me a running list of transactions across every account. Combing through this list helped me catch a purchase I didn't make, so Mint has actually saved my butt. It also lets me know when to pay bills, so I'm (usually) never caught off guard.
Mint is free, but has advertisements that they tailor to your financial interests (e.g., certain credit cards deals and perks). I like using Mint to check all transactions and keep track of bill due dates, however I don't use it much for actual budgeting. It can (and probably should) be used for this purpose, though.
Subscribing to You Need A Budget
YNAB has been in my life for a month now and using it has motivated me to save money. The premise of YNAB is to give every dollar a job. It makes me put every dollar I have toward something, be it that month's rent, next month's electric bill, or the new laptop I want to buy for school. It seems to me that YNAB has a bigger focus on budgeting than Mint, and so it's my budgeting tool of choice. Though I've only used it for a month so far, once I get a few months of data, I'll be able to gauge how much I spend simply on living.
A downside to YNAB is that there is an annual subscription fee of $83.99 to use it. They let you test it for a month though, so I recommend at least checking it out.
The Bottom Line
I want to make the most informed decision when choosing which dental school I attend, and cost is a huge factor in that decision. By knowing my spending habits and my current cost of living, I can better estimate how much each school would cost me. I'll go into next fall knowing if I have to pay an arm and a leg, or just an arm.