The cost of college continues to increase, and the current economy makes it difficult to budget for a college education. Whether you're studying for a nursing degree or an

engineering degree, a college education is expensive, so you must begin preparing early. This process requires you to identify the cost of going to college and ensure your savings will be greater than the expenses.

Expenses

An effective budget must include basic living expenses such as rent and food. On-campus housing is generally less expensive than living off-campus. You can also reduce your spending by getting a larger apartment and splitting the rent with roommates. The campus cafeteria is typically less expensive than eating out. You can also cut your food costs by buying groceries while taking advantage of coupons and sales. Your budget should include a fund for miscellaneous expenses such as incidentals, entertainment and snacks.

Expenses that are specific to education consist primarily of the tuition, which typically includes laboratory, building and student fees. Additional school expenses include books and other supplies. You will typically sell the textbooks back to the college at the end of each semester. Used books usually cost about half the price of a new book. These education expenses can vary considerably between semesters.

Savings

The average cost of attending college was $26,273 as of 2010, according to The Employment Times. This represented a 4.4 percent increase over the previous year, and this trend is expected to continue. So what's to be done?

A 529 fund is a common savings program that can be administered by a college or the state. The primary advantage of these programs is that the withdrawals are generally tax-free. However, a 529 fund is intended for long-term savings and places restrictions on when you can withdraw money.
The key to saving for a college fund consists of performing small actions over a long period. Savings accounts typically earn compound interest, meaning that the interest itself also earns interest. Assume that you begin depositing $100 per month into a savings account when your baby is born. If the account earns compound interest at the rate of 3 percent, the account will have over $28,000 by the time your child is 18 years of age.

It is important to choose a specific amount that you can contribute to a college fund. Long-term savings for an education fund is easier when you don’t have an opportunity to spend the money. Many employers have payroll plans that automatically deduct a portion from your paycheck and deposit it into a savings account.

If you find that you have difficulty saving money, there are many free online budgeting services such as Mint, which collates all of your financial accounts together online or on your mobile device, categorizes all of your spending, allows you to set a budget, and helps you reach your savings goals. Alternately, Quicken is a desktop program that works the same way.
Many find the cost of college prohibitive, and consequently balk at the thought of going. However, with the changes in the job market, employers are becoming increasingly choosy about whom they hire, making a college degree more important than ever before. With a little planning and foresight, you can achieve your dream of being a college graduate, and improve your odds of finding the job of your dreams.

When money is tight, as it has been for many Americans over the last few years, it's easy to get into a cycle of work, work, work, with precious little time for fun. However, the adage "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" definitely applies here. If you are yearning to see new sights but fear you will never be able to afford it, fear not! Here are 10 tips for traveling on a budget:

1. Think local. You don't have to travel across the country to see new places! I live in Indianapolis, and I find that even a quick trip to Chicago is enough to rejuvenate my senses. I just book a room in one of my favorite

Chicago hotels and spend a day or two wandering around the city, seeing new people, places, and things.

2. Save money whenever you can. This way, you will have more money to spend on luxury items such as travel. You can save money by using coupons, scouring the Internet for sales and deals, hitting up the clearance racks and dollar bins at your favorite stores, and living modestly.

3. Don't be afraid to penny pinch. When you are traveling, be as frugal as you can be, so you won't deplete your bank account. Pack your own food whenever possible, look for deals on your hotel and any attractions you decide to visit, and look for free things to do at your destination.

4. Plan your trip for the off-season. If you are traveling to the beach, for example, don't book your trip during Spring Break, as prices will likely be raised to take advantage of the crowds. Research your destination and determine when a less busy time will be to visit, and your trip will be less expensive and stressful.

5. Visit a grocery store once you get to where you're going. It's easy to eat out every day when you're on vacation, but if you take a little extra time to buy some basic grocery items, you will save a ton of money. This works best if you are staying somewhere with a kitchenette, but if not, you can still buy non-perishable goods such as snacks and drinks.

6. Pack light. If you're flying, this will do away with expensive fees for checking luggage. If you're driving, it may help with gas mileage, even if just a little (every little bit helps, right?). Unless you're a clothes horse, you should easily be able to fit a week's worth of clothes in a duffle bag or two.

7. Take it easy on yourself. Don't plan a huge, extravagant trip. This will not only blow your budget out of the water, but it will place undue stress on you, making it more difficult to enjoy yourself. What's the point of a vacation if you spend the entire time being stressed?

8. Leave your plastic at home. To some, this may seem like an impossible feat, but if you plan well, you can pay for everything with cash (or a prepaid credit card), ensuring that you will not overspend. That way, you're not greeted with credit card statements when you return home.

9. While you're at it, leave your car at home. Yes, you heard that right. If you can get to where you're going by plane, train or bus, and use public transportation (i.e., city buses) to get to around, you will be surprised at how much money you save. You can think of your trips around your chosen destination as little adventures, and you will get to know the area much better.

10. Plan as thoroughly as you can, and have back-up plans for your back-up plans. Something unexpected will always come up when you are on vacation. Rather than being caught unaware and potentially having to spend money that you hadn't planned on spending, be sure to have contingency plans for everything. This will make your trip relatively hassle-free, and keep unwanted spending at bay.

As you can see, it is possible to travel, even when you don't think you can afford to. By taking a little extra time to plan your trip, and keeping your finances in mind throughout the planning and execution stages, you will be able to have an enjoyable time while still remaining within your budget. Bon voyage!

"An entrepreneur tends to bite off a little more than he can chew, hoping he'll quickly learn how to chew it." – Roy Ash

When starting your own business, there are all sorts of things to worry about: finding a space that is affordable and big enough to suit your needs, finding new clients and organizing all of their information, hiring staff, and so forth. However, before you can do any of that, you should figure out a budget for your business, in order to be sure that your finances stay in order and your company moves forward.

Victor Butcher of Butcher Financial Service in Memphis describes running a business without an existing budget as "like being in a car without a map or GOS system. You hope you're going in the right direction, but you don't know."

"It's like a roadmap for your company," said Butcher, former president of the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants' Memphis Charter. "You need the roadmap to understand where you're going with your business."

Why is a budget so important?

In addition to tracking how much cash you have on hand, business expenses and revenue, a budget allows you to anticipate future needs, spending, profits and cash flow. A well-organized and accurate budget will also help you to spot problems before they become problems, so you can stay on top of your business at all times. Once you have a strong understanding of your finances, you will be better able to plan for the future.

In addition, if you ever need to go to a bank or speak to a financier, you will have all of your company's vital financial information well-organized and ready for use. This will not only make such trips easier overall, but will give a good first impression of you as a business owner, which may well work in your favor.

Okay, so how do I get started?

The first step for creating any budget, whether personal or professional, is to start tracking all of your income and all of your expenses. The easiest way to do this is to create a spreadsheet—Excel is an excellent program for this—and scrupulously track every penny that comes in and goes out. There will be fixed expenses (rent, loan payments, pre-paid costs) and variable expenses (utilities, supplies, etc.). If you are new to your business and don't know what these numbers will be, do a little research and find an average.

Try to be as comprehensive in this process as you can be. Ideally, you should work out a complete budget prior to beginning operations, and your budget should cover 12 to 24 months of business operation. If you are starting your budget with estimated numbers, be sure to adjust your budget as needed every month until it is as accurate as possible.

What if my budget falls short?

There's nothing worse than running a business that is in the red every month. This tends to make your employees distrustful of whether they will get a regular paycheck, and makes you look bad to consumers. If you have created your budget and it looks like this will happen, then start to look for ways to cut costs.

This can be done in a number of ways. Many traditional business needs, such as HR and

payroll services, can now be managed online, saving you the cost of hiring staff and purchasing office supplies. In addition, depending upon the nature of your business, many positions can be altered to diminish time spent in the office, thus lowering your overhead costs; some examples are telecommuting, compressed work schedules and job sharing.

Okay, I've done all of this. What's next?
Once you have your budget created and are reasonably sure it will be sufficient to sustain your business, then it's time to get the ball rolling. Find your space, hire whomever you need to hire, and start building your business. Keep a close eye on your budget and adjust it as needed, until you have a finely tuned, highly accurate budget that reflects your income and expenditures.

If at any time you find that your budget needs an overhaul, whether for unanticipated financial circumstances or simply to revamp your business, make it a priority. This will ensure that your business continues to run smoothly and grows as needed. It's difficult enough to start your own business. If you have your finances well in hand, then you won't have money worries on top of everything else.

Many families of disabled or seriously injured individuals find themselves deeply in debt by the cost of caring for their loved ones. Therapy and doctor visits,

wheelchair accessible vehicles, and home improvements to facilitate equipment and maneuverability of said equipment can quickly add up, making families stress about their changing budgets. Here are ten tips for managing your budget when faced with unexpected expenses.
1. The first thing to do is to take honest inventory of your spending habits. Do you eat out a lot? Do you have a penchant for name brands? While all of these may well have been within your spending range before, when you are faced with new expenses, it's important to prioritize your spending.
2. If you find that there are trends in your spending, such as eating out a lot or buying expensive items, then be brutal with yourself. This may provide temporary discomfort, but when you start feeling as if you can breathe financially, then the pain will subside.
3. Once you have pared down your spending, look at what you have left. Organize this information in some way, whether it's in a simple list or a more complicated spreadsheet. Be sure that you include everything, including rent/mortgage, utilities, car payment, insurance, average amount spent on groceries, etc.
4. You may look at this list and see that your spending is still too lavish for your income. If you are living paycheck to paycheck, then that is a sign that you either need to get another job or you need to stop spending as much. After all, if you never have any money left over, then what will you do if another emergency strikes?
5. If changes have to made, especially if they are drastic, be sure to gather everyone in your home together who will be affected by these changes, and speak about them openly and honestly. Be sure that your disabled family member does not feel as if your current economic troubles are their fault. If you have children, use this as an opportunity to teach them about budgeting responsibly.
6. If changes are being made, be sure to lead by example. Once again, this is an opportunity to teach your loved ones about responsible finances; in young children, this may well set a trend for the rest of their lives, which would make it a win-win situation for everyone involved.
7. If you have any opportunity to save money in your day-to-day life, take it! Whether it's clipping coupons and learning how to use them effectively, perusing the discount racks and dollar bins at your favorite store, or simply waiting for items to go on sale, every little bit will help.
8. If you still find that you are having financial difficulties (or are unable to save money), get a second job. This doesn't have to be a permanent thing; often, you can work for a few months in order to get some money tucked away, then go back to your regular 9 to 5.
9. If you have been especially good about sticking to your budget and you can see progress in your finances, then allow yourself a small indulgence. This can be anything, so long as you know that it is a one-time treat, and that you will return to your frugal ways.
10. No matter how dismal your situation may seem, don't lose hope. There are many organizations that can help you with equipment and medical expenses. Additionally, many companies offer discounted or free equipment, if you qualify.

For many, winter is a time of joy. The air is cold and snow is on its way; the holidays line up one after the other, with promises of fun family memories; and children are hoping for a snow day or two.

But for those who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder

SAD, the wintertime has an entirely different meaning. This disorder, which is caused by a Vitamin D deficiency, can cause prolonged, severe, and often debilitating depression throughout the dim days of winter, and there is precious little that can be done to alleviate this.
While there are medications such as Bupropion that have been shown to alleviate some or all of these symptoms, many are reluctant to be on medication, as they feel that they should be able to "shake this off" and return to their normal happy selves. Others worry about becoming dependent on a medication, and prefer more natural methods.

If you fall into this category, you are definitely not alone. Here are three practical things that you can do to help relieve your depression. While the results may not be immediate, you will start to notice a change, especially if you consciously implement these activities into your daily routine.

Tanning

Due to fears of skin cancer, tanning salons have earned a bad reputation, but this is the first thing that you can do to help with your SAD. Not only will tanning beds provide the Vitamin D that you are lacking from the shorter days and less intense sunlight, but on a more practical level, they provide you with the opportunity to relax and de-stress for a little while, which is always good for those who suffer from SAD. When tanning, be sure to follow the suggestions of the tanning salon, and tan in moderation. If you are unable to find a tanning salon close to you, then you can also buy a light box.

Exercising

In addition to improving your overall health and increasing your self-confidence—both of which go a long way toward warding off depression—exercise releases endorphins and increases dopamine, which essentially mimics the effects of most antidepressants and helps to alleviate stress and depression. Whether you work out with a certified trainer, or venture into the gym on your own, the key is to get (and stay) active, even after your SAD abates for the year. On a side note, excessive exercise can actually have a detrimental impact on your mental wellbeing, as you will be exhausted and risk the chance of burning out.

Eating Healthy

For many, this is a natural way of life. However, one of the side effects of SAD is a craving for starchy foods in order to increase your energy, which leads to excessive weight gain. This means that, for those who endure SAD, a healthy diet is especially important. Be sure to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, as these are a healthy source of carbs, and lay off of candy, chips, cookies, and other "junk foods." Drink plenty of water and juice and eschew coffee whenever possible. Finally, be sure to take a multivitamin everyday, as this will ensure that your body is getting all of the necessary vitamins and minerals.

The most important thing to remember when you realize that what you thought was simply a case of the winter blues is, in fact, a recognized disorder is that you are not alone. According to FamilyDoctor.org, "between 4% and 6% of people in the US suffer from SAD. Another 10% to 20% may experience a mild form of winter-onset SAD." What this means is that there are plenty of other people who are experiencing what you are experiencing, and you needn't be embarrassed to talk about it with your family and friends, and your doctor. With proper attention, you will find that your symptoms will abate significantly, and things will start to be right in the world again.