7 Smart Financial Goals for College Students (2024)

What are the best SMART financial goals for college students?

Looking for a list of long term and short term financial goals examples for students?

Having a plan is key to your success or failure when it comes to setting financial goals as a college student.

But how do you set financial goals, when you barely know what you are doing?

In a recent survey, it was found that 47% of college students struggle with financial stress due to not being financially capable. 3 of their highest concerns are whether they have enough money to last the whole semester, the cost of tuition rising and landing a job after graduation.

Setting smart financial goals as a college student is so critically important to your financial well-being.

Even with an unpredictable income and study load, it isn’t as hard as it may first sound.

You can really achieve a lot on a tiny college student income, let me show you how!

How to Set Financial Goals as A College Students

SMART Financial Goal for College Students
#1. Learn How to Set Financial Goals

Setting up smart financial goals at the beginning of your college student journey is probably the very last thing on your mind when you first start your studies.

I can tell you it wasn’t on my mind much when I was in college a few years ago, and I was a finance major, lol!

The financial goals I set as a college student all those years ago (half intentional / half purely accidental) have set me up with a super-strong financial base, that I enjoy after graduation. I actually saved a tonne!

Now with the benefit of hindsight, I’d love to share with you exactly what I did, that really pulled me ahead of the pack.

I want to help you set smart financial goals that will not only have a big impact on your life now you are a college student but long after graduation as well.

For now, you will need to work with your current situation. Be sure to review your numbers more frequently until your circ*mstances settle down and things become more predictable.

I reviewed my financial goals at the end of every college semester, which you may like to do too.

The key to success is to keep things flexible.

The following are examples of my financial goals when I was a college student and the steps I took to set them up. I hope they help you set some strong financial goals too!

Step by Step Financial Goal Planning for College Students

Step #1: Write It All Down

At the beginning of the year, I would review my current financial situation and write it down on paper.

I wrote down my current financial assets (cash in the bank, stocks I owned) and the income they generated, I recorded all my income sources and any I hoped to develop in the next 3 months.

I also recorded any debts I had, how much they were and my repayments.

This was my starting point.

Step #2: Calculate Your Budget

I calculated my barebones budget. The absolute minimum I had to make in order to meet all my obligations and keep the lights on. I looked at the income I already had and calculated my shortfall.

Step #3: Figure Out How Much You Can Work

Then I looked at my study load to see how much time I had available for working. I would be realistic about how much work I could possibly fit in.

Yes, I obviously wanted to earn as much as I could, but not at the expense of my health.But, I am a single mother as well, so I had to account for the time my daughter required from me too.

Step #4 – Find Ways to Earn the Most Money

Next, I looked at all the skills I had and assessed which ones would bring in the most money for the small amount of time I had available.

I also looked long term here, and considered skills that were aligned with my major and would look impressive to future employers. I settled on casual teaching at the local community college.

This was fantastic money, but a nightmare at the same time. It was a massive mental drain and involved a lot of unpaid work I was unaware of.

👉🏽 RELATED POST: Best Side Hustles for College Students

However now I’ve graduated, I run my own training courses in small business and finance. So it was worth the nervous breakdown, lol.

Take a pen and paper and write a list of all the things you could possibly do to earn extra money and consider the easy-ness of earning this money as well.

Make a plan over the next semester to source this work or clients if you need them.

Now you have an approximate idea of what work you will be doing, and they pay you will be getting.

Step #5 – Create a 12-Month Financial Plan

The next step in financial goal setting as a college student is to put this in a plan for the next 12 months. To begin this process, you need to decide on your financial priorities.

If you need more help with this I wrote a post on How to Create a Financial Plan you are welcome to check out and I can also help you craft your own financial plan if you wish too.

Examples of Financial Goals for College Students

You may find it helpful to use some of these examples of financial goals to help guide you in the beginning.

Your objective to start with is to select 3 financial goals that are your main priority for the next 12 months.

Some of these may be to actually spend money as well, but make this intentional.

One of your objectives at college is obviously to make new friends and have some fun. You can allocate part of your income to do this, but work it into your plan.

Starting to pay down your college loans is another super smart financial goal for a college student. Putting as much as you can afford against your student loans will give you a fantastic start to your life, and remove a lot of pressure and worry for you as well.

Allocate an amount that is comfortable for you and work it into your 12-month financial plan.

Here is a suggested list of financial goals you may like to set as a college student:

Short term goals:

• Pay off any credit card debts < $1,000
• Save $1,000 for emergencies
• Buy a small car (debt-free of course)
• Commit to paying $20 a week towards student loans
• Purchase a laptop in 3 month’s time
• Reduce your living expenses and set a barebones budget

Longer-term goals:

• Get rid of any car loans or credit card debt $1,000+
• Start investing/saving for a home deposit
• Save for a decent holiday to celebrate graduating
• Pay off all student loans in 5 years

Next, we need to make sure these financial goals are set up smartly, to give you the maximum chance of achieving them.

S.M.A.R.T Financial Goals for College Students

I highly recommend you set these goals as SMART goals. A SMART goal is one that is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and has a time limit.

An example of a SMART financial goal for college students is: “Pay $2,000 off my student loans by the end of this semester which ends on xx/xx/xxxx.””

See how you can now go ok, the semester is 12 weeks long so that means I need to save $167 a week or approximately $667 a month. You can set a plan up and get started on achieving this.

A non-smart financial goal for college students is: “Save some money and put it on my student loan.”

This goal is unclear, there is no set date and without a specific amount to save the chances of this actually being done is zero to none.

So decide on your financial priorities as a college student over the next 12 months and write them down.

👉🏽 RELATED POST: SMART Goals for College Students

SMART Financial Goal for College Students
#2. Create a Budget

A smart financial goal for college students is to understand where their money is going. Everyone’s favorite ‘B’ word, budgeting!

A budget is a document that measures how you are tracking, with regards to achieving your financial goals.

The process I suggest for college students who want to do their budget for the first time is the following:

• Get your bank statements for the last 3 months and categorize all your expenses into groups that are meaningful to you.
• Then divide each category’s total, by the period you want to track for. I suggest weekly.
  • Eg Groceries – April = $500, May $600, June $450 = Average of $1550/3 = $516 per month.
• Convert this to weekly if you wish by going $516 x 12 = 6200 / 52 = About $120 a week. This is how much you set aside in your budget for groceries, $120 a week.

When you go through your bank statements you will start to see patterns and it will be clear where your trouble areas are.

These are the usual financial hot spots for college students:

• Groceries
• Takeaway Food / Eating out
• Alcohol
• Entertainment
• Travel/parking
• Apps / subscriptions
• Housing

👉🏽 RELATED POST: Ways to Save Money Fast on a Tight Budget

Be sure to review yours and see where you can cut back. Make a goal to reduce or cut out areas where your budget is bleeding money.

So make sure your financial goal as a college student, is to consistently create and use a budget.

If you want help with doing a budget for the first time, I highly recommend my Budgeting for Beginners post to help get you started.

Next work into your weekly budget your financial goals you set above. So if you want to put $50 a week towards your student loans then work this into your budget

SMART Financial Goal for College Students
#3: Stay Out of Debt

College students never intend on getting deep into debt but it is surprisingly common how often it just kinda happens.

Credit cards are opened every day with the intention of being only for “emergency” and then well, everything is an emergency!

In a recent survey of 30,000 college students, it was found on average 36% of college students already have a credit card debt of at least $1,000. 46% of college students surveyed already had a credit card. Of those that had a credit card, 3,174 people had more than 2 cards!

Yes, I get that you want to establish a credit score for after graduation, but personally I’m not sure it’s worth putting yourself at risk of financial ruin.

You Do Not Need A Credit Card in College

IF you have a rock hard willpower then you can achieve this by having one card with a very low limit ($200) and paying it back religiously in full. Every. Single. Month.

If you know that you can’t trust yourself with them, don’t even go there. It’s just not worth the agony.

Here is a great calculator that shows you how much money you can save by making extra repayments on your credit card.

Debt isn’t just credit cards, as you know. It’s payday loans, buy now and pay later, after pay etc.

It is so hard to live on fresh air and I get that you want to treat yourself to nice things. However, you just end up putting yourself in such a horrible stressful place down the track. I really don’t want that for you.

It’s the interest that is the killer. It is best to practice delaying gratification and saving up for what you want. You will avoid wasting so much money this way.

While you are waiting to save for your shiny new purchases you can access cheap household items and clothing from thrift shops or family, and upgrade as your budget allows.

SMART Financial Goal for College Students
#4: Build an Emergency Fund

My next smart financial goal for college students is having a fully stocked emergency fund.

Let’s talk about financial catastrophe’s shall we? Such a cheery subject haha.

What could possibly go wrong? = Famous last words.

Examples of situations you will need an emergency fund are:

• Getting sick and not being able to pay your bills for a month
• Smashing your / someone else’s car
• Breaking up with your live-in partner and needing to find your own bond etc
• Your laptop dies
• Household appliances break
• Flights home for a family emergency
• An opportunity comes up at college that you need extra money for
• Anything you would consider putting on your ‘emergency only’ credit card

This should be one of your most important financial goals as a college student and your highest priority.

Start by getting $1,000 tucked away, with a longer-term goal of getting at least 3 months’ basic living expenses saved up. (Psst…this will help you enormously if finding a job after college takes longer than it should!)

👉🏽 RELATED POST: How to Budget Your Money with Sinking Funds

Having an emergency fund is so important because it saves you from needing to use debt which costs you a heap in interest and admin charges.

With debt, your agony compounds because you have to repay all this extra money and the longer it takes, the more it will cost you. Nevermind all the paperwork involved applying for loans. Arrgh!

If you have a fully-stocked emergency fund however, you can just pay and move on with your life.

Talk about being financially capable!

No awkward conversations with the parents either. Sweet!

SMART Financial Goal for College Students
#5: Design a Money System

One of the financial goals for college students that will save your life is having a money system that takes care of everything for you on autopilot.

As you are ridiculously busy with all things study-related, it is very easy to miss a bill and incur a late fee.

What saved me financially when I was a struggling college student, was having auto payments set up for my main bills.

Taking the time at the beginning of each semester and allocating a payment for my internet, phone, utilities, and housing saved me a tonne in late fees and possible disconnections.

👉🏽 RELATED POST: How To Quit Keeping Up With The Joneses

I also set up an auto-pay for my financial goals I set at the beginning of the year and paid them like a bill. Then I could spend what was leftover, guilt-free!

You do need to keep a lazy eye on this at the end of each month, to make sure it’s all working as it should. But, it’s really easy and saves so much time over the month.

This is why I highly recommend designing your own automatic money system. It’s a real game changer!

SMART Financial Goal for College Students
#6: Pay off Student Loans Early

Every college student knows the burden of student loan debt.

So many college students have the intention of getting a head start on their financial goals and start smashing their student loan debt quickly but end up waiting until they have graduated and can’t put it off any longer

Don’t let this be you. Be a financial superstar and get a head start now.

Even a little bit of money put towards this debt will give you a head start come graduation day.

Here are a few simple ways repaying your loans can save you:

• If you think of starting immediately and putting just $20 a week aside in year one, that would be $1,040 reduction in your loan (therefore less interest as well).
• If in year 2 you decide to put $50 a week aside then you could pay off $2,600 for the year.
• In year 3 & 4 you decide to go harder and put $100 a week aside you could reduce your balance by $10, 400 over 2 years.

This would add up to be a total of $14,040 paid off before you even graduate, saving you a massive amount of interest along the way as well!

SMART Financial Goal for College Students
#7: Learn Your Money Triggers

This financial goal is for my emotional spenders out there!

One of the things I see all the time from people who get themselves in financial trouble is that they are totally oblivious to their money triggers.

What is a money trigger you ask?

Any event of an emotional nature that causes you to lose your mind and spend large amounts of money out of the blue. Usually on things you don’t really need. If this happens to you, you have been money triggered.

Spending $100 before an exam on things like a new drink bottle/pencil case/stationery etc is an example of a money trigger. The stress of the exam has triggered the event and the spending (while loosely justified) isn’t essential or necessary.

👉🏽 RELATED POST: How to Improve Your Money Mindset

Being aware of your money triggers will help you sidestep financial disaster and also help you make progress towards your own financial goals.

If you can master your money triggers before you graduate college, you will set up your whole life to be more financially stable and abundant for many years to come.

Steps to identifying and managing money triggers

Here are the three steps to discovering your money triggers:

1. Observe when you have a strong feeling to shop and identify your money trigger.
2. Identify the underlying feeling (stress, shame about being poor, needing comfort etc)
3. Replace the need to shop with an activity that will help quieten the feeling of panic/inadequacy.

While I wasn’t an avid exerciser during college, I found a walk/run or taking a break from the books really helped.

Ps Don’t replace the need to shop with comfort eating lol, that will give you other problems 🙂

I hope this helped you make a plan to set some fantastic financial goals as a college student. It’s a tough time financially, that’s for sure.

If you use what you have in the most efficient way possible, you can achieve great things on very little!

Get Your Simple Budget Spreadsheet

Ready to set and achieve your SMART Finacial goals in college? It all starts with figuring out how you’re doing financial, aka creating a budget! Get the Simple Budget Spreadsheet, compatible with Google Docs and Microsoft Excel.

To summarise here are the best financial goals for college students again:

1. Make a financial plan
2. Set a budget
3. Stay away from debt
4. Save an emergency fund
5. Design a money system
6. Pay off student loans
7. Learn your money triggers

What are your financial goals as a college student? Do you have any financial recommendations for other college students you’d like to share?

Write me a comment below and let me know. I’d love to cheer you on.

Are you a college student who seriously needs to take a look at your finances? Click here for 7 smart financial goals for college students + how to create a financial plan before graduation. #StudentLife Click to Tweet

What SMART Financial Goals for College Students will you set?

Last Updated on July 11, 2021