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Back to School: Banking Essentials for Students

Heading back to the classroom involves a lot of preparation for students, parents and teachers. From gathering school supplies to purchasing new clothes or technology, it can all add up quickly! While it’s easy to think only about the things you need, the financial foundations – how you spend, save, and manage your money – are just as important.

This is the perfect time to take your first steps towards thinking about finances, banking options, and developing solid money habits.  

Here’s a brief overview of what every student (and their parents and teachers!) needs for back-to-school banking.

Find the Right Bank

It’s important to shop around to find the right bank for your needs and your comfort level. A local bank that is friendly and community-focused can provide more personalized answers to your questions than a large bank, for instance. 

Check to see if the bank has student-specific offerings, such as special accounts with low fees for students, school debit cards, student loans, and so on. 

If you’re an older student, take a minute to assess what the financial parts of your life are likely to be while you’re in school. Will you have student loans? Will you need a car and a car loan? Make sure that your bank offers these products – not all banks do.

Create a Budget

One of the most important tasks all students need to learn is how to budget. Why? Because without a clear sense of your income and expenses for the month, you don’t know whether you’re living within your means or not. If you’re not, you can very easily go into debt. If your expenses outpace your income every month and you’re not paying attention, you can run up a lot of debt. Debt service (the monthly payment on debt) can sap your income even more.

Keeping track of your income and expenses lets you know how much disposable income you have. Disposable income is the amount left over when you pay for necessary items, like rent (if you pay rent), school supplies, and food. In other words, it’s the amount you can spend on pizza with friends, Spotify subscriptions, and going out on the town!

If you need to tighten your belt a bit to make sure that you don’t overspend in a month, budgeting will also let you know that if you keep track every week (which is the best way to do it!).

How To Create A Budget

So, here’s how to create a budget. First, calculate your net income for the month. Be sure to include all sources. Do you get money from your parents, from part-time work, or grants from your college?

Then, calculate your monthly expenses. It’s a good idea to list all your expenses first. Then, divide them by category. If you’re in college and paying rent, housing costs are a category. If you pay utilities like gas and electric, utilities are a category. 

Be sure to include all important bills that need to be paid. Then, divide your disposable income expenses into categories, too. Do you have streaming subscriptions like Netflix or Spotify? Travel expenses? Entertainment? 

Put your income and expenses into a spreadsheet. Add all of your expenses together and determine the average monthly cost for each expense. Then, add your expenses and income to your spreadsheet every week, and make adjustments as needed.

Advantages of Learning to Budget

Learning to budget as a student can prepare you for an extremely healthy financial future as an adult. It can help you understand where your money goes each month, create good spending and saving habits.

Parents, you can help your students with budgeting now by using an allowance system. Or, if your student works, helping them understand their monthly income and helping them track what they spend it on. Teachers can share budgeting resources and information during applicable lessons.

CBC bank offers Card Valet, which is a card management app. This is a great way for parents to monitor or control their child’s spending based on category, amount and even how much they spend per day. Card Valet can also be used to turn cards off and on at any point, just in case a card is lost or stolen. Learn more and download today.

Whether you’re in high school or college, developing budgeting skills early on is a great way to set yourself up for success in the future.

Open a Student Checking Account

A checking account is a basic financial tool that helps you manage money. It lets you receive money via deposits from your income sources, pay bills, and get money via ATMs and other withdrawals.

It’s a very good idea to open a student checking account. These differ from traditional checking and savings accounts in that they offer benefits and perks to students. 

A student checking account from CBC Bank can be accessed online from any location. (You can even get transfers from your parents.)

A student checking account from CBC Bank offers the following:

  • $50 minimum deposit to open, much less than many other checking accounts require 
  • No minimum balance requirements after the initial account opening 
  • Unlimited number of transactions 
  • Free online banking
  • Bill Pay with required monthly usage 
  • Free Visa® debit card 
  • No monthly fee with electronic statements; small monthly fee for mailed paper statements

A debit card is a particularly helpful tool for students because it allows the convenience of paying with a card but avoids the dangers of a credit card, as a debit card is secured by money in the checking account. At CBC Bank, we offer customized school debit cards that allow you to show off your school spirit. It’s as simple as opening a checking account and choosing your design. With each new account, we also donate $10 to your school! Participating schools include: Valdosta State University, Valdosta High School, Lowndes High School, Georgia Christian School, Open Bible Christian School, Valwood, Highland Christian Academy, Tiftarea Academy, Tift County High School-Tifton, GA, and Colquitt County High School.

Quick tip: A general rule of thumb is to keep at least $100 in your checking account after paying bills and everyday purchases. That way, you don’t run the risk of falling short or overdrawing the account.

To open a CBC Bank student checking account, you must be between the ages of 16 and 25 and have student ID. Download our checklist and visit one of our local branches to get started!

*Third party fees may apply to Online Banking

Make a Plan to Start Saving

It’s very important to start saving at a young age. Saving is a way to get what you want long term, such as a down payment for a car or a vacation. It’s also a way to make your money grow, by compounding interest.

Find a bank that encourages young people to save with student-specific savings accounts, such as CBC Bank Student Saving.

Parents, this is also a great way to get involved with teaching your students about healthy finances. When they’re too young to open their own savings account, you can open a joint savings account where you both can contribute as you teach your student about the importance of saving.

Check Your Bank Statements

For a checking account, you’ll receive monthly bank statements containing an itemized list of deposits and withdrawals.

Be sure to review it every month to make sure you’re not overspending. Flag anything that doesn’t look familiar and contact the bank if necessary. Reviewing your statements will also prevent fraud, such as someone hacking into your account and purchasing something or withdrawing money. 

If you have a savings account, you’ll receive a monthly statement as well, which will let you see the accrued interest and watch the growth of your savings over time.

Banking For Students at CBC Bank

Whether you're in high school or college, educating yourself on banking and finances now will allow you to better manage your money in the future. From finding the right bank and opening a checking account to learning how saving accounts work and how to read your bank statements, CBC Bank is here to help you prepare for a happy and healthy financial future. 

Manage your own money today by opening a student checking account. Download our checklist so you know what to bring with you to your local branch.

Open a Checking or Savings Account Today

Use our checklist to gather all the documents you'll need to bring with you to CBC Bank.

Download Checklist

If you’re a parent or a teacher, we understand that preparing your children and students for life is a big responsibility. (There are so many things to do and such little time! )That’s why we’re here to help when it comes to banking tips and financial education. Money management does not have to be stressful. For helpful articles on everything from saving money to how to open a checking account, visit our Learning Center. 

It’s never too early to start cultivating sound money-management habits. As you head back to school, be conscious of how you spend, save, and manage your money. Our team is glad to help students and their families work through any banking questions and help you stick to your goals.