You

Utilities

Family Contribution

Student Employment

Financial Aid

Lifestyle

Financial Planning

Student Org. Fees

Holiday Travel

Meals

Services

Netflix & Hulu Phone

Service

Wifi

Spotify

Zipcar & Uber

Look

out fo

r student discounts!

FLUCTUATING FEESEstimate your average utility cost. When your utility bills are less than the average, place the remaining funds in a seperate savings account that you can withdraw from when utility bills are higher.

BGE ACCOUNTUtilities may be included in your rent or you’ll need to set up an account for Baltimore Gas & Electric Company (BGE) to pay for utilities directly.

Rent

PRIMARY CONTACTDesignate who will be responsible for paying rent. In most cases, it’s simply you. In some cases, a parent might make payments directly on your behalf, or one roommate will collect payments from each roommate and submit a single payment to the landlord.

Be sure that all involved parties can receive notifications from management.

COORDINATE A PLAN Talk to your family about what their contributions will cover. Create a calendar of when bills will be due, holiday travel plans, and any anticipated purchases.

Establish a monthly budget, prioritizing your essential expenses over amenities.

DISBURSEMENTFinancial aid is dispersed as early as September, so you’ll need to be prepared with the first two months rent, along with the initial fees (Security deposits, furniture, storage, and application fees).

Toiletries

Pets

Social Life

Roommates CATEGORIZE INCOMEIt might be helpful to categorize your different sources of income for different purposes. If you have a job, consider using those earnings for more flexible, day-to-day, spending.

The following are things to consider when creating a budget for off-campus living.

Need a help to stay on track? Check out these apps for life-management!

Mint StreaksEpicurious Splitwise UNiDAYSBudget & billing

managementRecipe builder

based on what’s in your friedge

To-do list to form good

habits.

Track bills shared between

roommates

Student discount finder

Build Good HabitsSet up a bank account.LOCAL BANKS: M&T Bank, Bank of America, Johns Hopkins Federal Credit Union

Automate bills to align with payday.

Switch to cash for inessenitalsResearch shows people are less likely to spend money when its in the form of cash.

Go Green: Cut down on energy usage to protect your wallet and the earth.