College has almost started for the fall semester. This is the best time to learn to budget.

A budget is simply a written plan for spending your money. You still get to spend your money, you just plan where it goes.

College is a wonderful time, but there is hardly anyone I know who got through it without having some financial difficulties. Many overdrew their checking accounts on occasion. Some charged up huge credit card bills that they will pay off for decades. Many were just plain broke.

No one told us that it could be different. A budget would have saved me a lot of trouble, and a lot of money.

Start by preparing yourself a budget. This will include your income in one column and your expenses in another column. The idea is to have more income than expenses. Include everything you will spend in your expenses -- food, gas, clothes, sodas, bar tabs. It's alright to give yourself some "free" spending money too. This money can be spent on anything.

Your budget will help you see if you have enough money or not. I like to create my budgets based on the entire month. I divide the month by pay period. I list the expenses for both pay periods and then add everything up for a monthly total. This lets me see how much I have for the pay period and for the month.

You will see how quickly money goes through creating a budget. But it won't work if you don't stick to it. You have to track all of your spending for a while. If you don't want to track spending, use the envelope method. This is where you deal in cash, putting each allowed amount in an envelope. When you run out of money in the envelope, there isn't any more for that category of spending.

When you track your spending, you can see where the small things add up. You will also start to see where you can cut back on your spending. The goal may be to just make it through the semester with enough money to live. Or you may find that you want to save for a new car, start up money when you graduate or for a spring break vacation. These goals will encourage you to save. Sometimes it isn't so bad living in the dorms if you find that you will drive a new car and live on your own when you graduate.

Part of being a college student is learning to live frugally. Today's students often forget that. You need to really sit down and look at what you want and what you need. Drinking and smoking costs you lots of money. Many times, if you are the DD for the night out, you can get free sodas at the bar.

Start trying to save money. Try to make things last. Don't be tempted by your friends' spending habits. Try to eat within your college meal plan.

I understand that everyone can't work while they attend college. Many have very demanding majors. If you can't, make sure that you don't try to live a free life off of your student loans. Live on campus, eat on campus and try to work on campus for spending money.

It is easy to live very frugally in college. All you have to do is know where your money is going. This is one of the most important things you will learn in college. The decisions you make now will effect your ability to buy a car, purchase a home and afford the life you deserve.