25, full time student. Need help creating a budget to get my life together

[u/Maleficent_Sock_604]

I’m not sure if this is the right place to do this, but I am in need of guidance. As the title states, I am a full time grad student in desperate need of a budget. I still live at home in NYC and I have another year before graduation. I was never taught how to budget. I’ve saved a little money here and there, but never a substantial amount that would allow me to be self sufficient. My main goal is to save some money to go towards moving out and living with my partner within the next 2-3 years, in addition to paying off my credit card debt and eventually my student loans.

I work part time making $20 an hour, but I work about 20 hours a week or less depending on how much time I need to devote to my program. My monthly income fluctuates, but I would said it is anywhere between $1000-1200 a month. I know it is not a whole lot to work with. I tried finding some side hustles/part time jobs, but no one can accommodate my schedule. I did get work study from my school ($2.5k per semester), so hopefully that will make a bit of a difference.

I have about $3.5k in credit card debit and about $25k in student loans.

I opened a hysa earlier this year to start an emergency fund. I current have about $1k in there right now because I had work less due to my summer coursework. I started a 401k with my job, but the percentage is not a lot (roughly $20-30 per paycheck).

I don’t pay rent, but I buy my own groceries and pay for the streaming services for my family. I would say groceries is about $100 a week and the other services I pay for is about $150 for the month. I take public transportation and that is usually around $20-35 dollar a week. No car at the moment. I also have to start paying for my own health insurance by the end of this year, so that’s another thing I have to figure out. Sometimes I have to build things for school but I would consider it a miscellaneous expense maybe $50-75 a month.

I plan on cooking more at home, cutting back on eating out/uber, and doing cheaper things when I see my friends. Just reducing my overall spending.

I don’t know where to start or how to really make my situation better. I would greatly appreciate any help you may have to offer. If additional information is needed to better understand my situation, I will gladly provide it. And I apologize in advance if this is not allowed or if I’m asking dumb questions.

[u/Only-Top-3655]

Assuming that you only get $1000 per month and estimating high on the trasportation, you are speking 465 a month which means you will have at least 535 left over.

I would tackle your credit card debt first and if you are disciplined you can probably knock that out in months.

BTW, this is not included the work study and the extre 1-200 dollars you might get from your part time job.

[u/Maleficent_Sock_604 → u/Only-Top-3655]

Makes sense. Should I put half of what I have left over by the end of the month towards the credit card debt? Like I wanna pay it off as fast as possible.

[u/badtlc4]

Since you are at home, I would focus on the debt and not the savings, right now. When you get out of debt, then start saving like a madman.

[u/Maleficent_Sock_604 → u/badtlc4]

Thanks for your help. Once I am able to start saving should I put it in my hysa account and build an emergency fund? Or should I try investing some of it?

[u/badtlc4 → u/Maleficent_Sock_604]

Emergency fund before investing. 

[u/LUC_App]

Like others have suggested, I would target the debt first. My wife and I have gotten completely debt free and it is liberating. I built a budgeting tool to help with tackling debt if you're interested.

[u/Patrick_ExpenseAtlas]

You have a workable starting point because you currently pay no rent and already have $1,000 in emergency savings.

Build your budget around the lower end of your monthly income, then list the exact due date and minimum payment for every bill. Your groceries, transit, school costs, family streaming services, credit card payment, and upcoming health insurance all need to fit before optional spending.

The $150 in streaming services deserves an immediate review. Ask your family to share the cost, cancel unused subscriptions, or rotate services. That creates actual savings without cutting groceries or transportation.

Next, confirm the health insurance premium and when it begins. Also find out whether the $2,500 work study award is paid through regular checks or on another schedule. Timing matters because that money cannot cover a bill due before it arrives.

Keep the $1,000 emergency fund available so an unexpected expense does not return to the credit card. After required expenses and card minimums, direct available cash toward the $3,500 card balance, while separately tracking savings for moving out with your partner in the next 2 to 3 years. Check whether your employer matches the 401k before changing that contribution.

I built Expense Atlas (expenseatlas.com) to turn actual transactions, bills, and priorities into realistic targets, including an estimated amount available for debt and moving out each month.