American River College is partnering with SAFE Credit Union to host a “3 Smart Ways to Start Budgeting” event for all students on Sept. 23 from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m.

According to the ARC website’s Events page, the topics of the workshop will include information on budgeting benefits and strategies, budgeting steps and tools, determining income and expenses, creating a practical budget and setting savings goals. 

In this workshop, participants are asked to complete a budgeting worksheet, located here.  

Gina Richardson, a certified financial educator and change agent from SAFE Credit Union, will speak during the workshop.

According to Richardson, college is a fun time and students are getting a taste of freedom, but they need to be sure to budget their money so they don’t stress out down the road. 

“If you have a budget in place, you’ll be able to enjoy this time in your life while also making good decisions for your future,” Richardson said in an email to the Current. “College students usually don’t have a lot of money, so having a budget can help them from overspending or building up too much debt.” 

Creating a realistic budget can be started by taking three highlighters: green, yellow, and red and then highlighting income in green, necessities in yellow, and anything unnecessary in red, Richardson added.

“Students in the Los Rios Community College District can also access SAFE’s helpful Financial Wellness Hub here,” Richardson said. “There you’ll find a wide range of lessons on lots of financial topics, from building an emergency savings account, how credit scores work, to saving and purchasing a new vehicle.”

To learn more about smart ways to budget, register for this workshop here.