Skip to content
Student Academy of Audiology
  • Career Resources
    • Job Board
    • Externships
    • Certification
    • New Audiologist Resources
  • Education & Events
    • Grants and Scholarships
    • Events
    • SAA Conference
    • Doctoral Programs
    • Undergraduate Programs
  • Get Involved
    • Chapters
    • Advocacy
    • National Campaigns
    • Committees
    • Volunteer
  • Publications
    • SAA Blog
    • Audiology Today
    • JAAA
  • About
    • Membership
    • Benefits
    • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
    • Leadership
  • Contact Us
FacebookLinkedinYoutubeInstagram
  • American Academy of Audiology
  • Join
  • Member Login
  • Renew
Student Academy of Audiology
  • Career Resources
    • Job Board
    • Externships
    • Certification
    • New Audiologist Resources
  • Education & Events
    • Grants and Scholarships
    • Events
    • SAA Conference
    • Doctoral Programs
    • Undergraduate Programs
  • Get Involved
    • Chapters
    • Advocacy
    • National Campaigns
    • Committees
    • Volunteer
  • Publications
    • SAA Blog
    • Audiology Today
    • JAAA
  • About
    • Membership
    • Benefits
    • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
    • Leadership
  • Contact Us
March 19, 2025

Break from Audiology: Personal Finances as a Graduate Student

  • Graduate Student Resources

By Chelsea Tynes

No matter what stage of life you are in, finances are a very hot topic – between making money, saving money, managing debt and student loans, and investing, financial planning can feel overwhelming. For many students, finances dictate where you go to school and how you manage day-to-day activities and responsibilities.

Discussions surrounding finances can be nerve-wracking, but with financial literacy and healthy personal finance practices, it does not have to be! The hard truth – the financial decisions that you make today can greatly influence your tomorrow, so it’s never too early to start considering your finances. Here are some personal finance tips that can be helpful as a student:

  • Use a Budget Tracker: Organize and track your spending, expenses, and savings daily, weekly, or monthly by using a spreadsheet, budget book, or budgeting app. Using a tracker allows you to visualize how much you currently have, how much you need for basic responsibilities for the week or month ahead, and current spending habits.
  • Live Within Your Means: As a student, it is important to budget and limit spending to what you can afford based on that budget. Something that I live by is to not ‘count my chickens before they hatch’ or in other words, try not to consider money that I do not have yet in my non-essential budget until I have it in my account. A helpful way to manage finances is to evaluate your hierarchy of needs and responsibilities, prioritize those components first, then address the non-essentials or “wants”.
  • Manage Debt: For many students, it is extremely difficult to stay away from debt due to the need to use loans and credit cards to stay afloat as full-time students – that is fine and completely understandable! In terms of managing debt as a student, the most important thing is to stay away from adding unnecessary credit card debt by only using it for purchases that you have the money to pay off right away (plus, this is a great way to accumulate credit card rewards) and for emergencies. It is also helpful to refrain from taking out high car loans as a student unless you absolutely need to.

As with many things, managing personal finances is a process of trial and error and it takes time to evaluate what strategies best suit your needs. There are many ways to manage your finances, so it is important to do some research, keep things simple and organized, and most of all, use the methods that work best for you! Also consider the fact that what may work for you at this stage of life, may not work in another. Be open and flexible to new financial strategies as your life changes.

Additional Resources

  • New Professional Toolkit
Share this

Recent Posts

Balancing Vulnerability and Professionalism: Learning from Audiology Students with Hearing Loss

Boost Your Summer Experiences

May 2025 Advisors Corner

Related Posts

Career Resources, Graduate Student Resources

10 Steps to Succeed in Your Next Clinical Rotation

By: Chloe Gratzek, BS As a third-year audiology student preparing to transition into my externship year, I have had the opportunity to rotate through many different clinical sites. Through my experiences, I have learned a lot about what it takes to be successful in a clinical setting. These are some of the key steps that…

Read More
Education, Graduate Student Resources

Lessons from a LEND Trainee

By Kelly Schroeder This year, I was selected as a Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) trainee. There are 60 LEND programs existing across the nation, represented in every state, the District of Columbia, the United States Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and six Pacific Basin jurisdictions. These programs are typically housed within the…

Read More
Graduate Student Resources

Mindfulness Exercises for Graduate Students

As graduate students, each semester we juggle many responsibilities that lead to hectic schedules. Often, we must balance our time between classes, homework, lab meetings, work, clinical rotations, and extracurricular commitments. Sometimes, it is difficult to reserve personal time to de-stress and unwind. This busy schedule alone can add a significant amount of stress to…

Read More

Join the Student Academy of Audiology

SAA members receive many benefits from externship and career development and networking opportunities within the American Academy of Audiology and more. 

 

Become a Member
saa-logo@2x

Student Academy of Audiology
11480 Commerce Park Drive
Suite 220
Reston, VA 20191

Tel: 703-790-8466
Fax: 703-790-8631

  • Career Resources
    • Job Board
    • Externships
    • Certification
    • New Audiologist Resources
  • Education & Events
    • Grants and Scholarships
    • Events
    • SAA Conference
    • Doctoral Programs
    • Undergraduate Programs
  • Get Involved
    • Chapters
    • Advocacy
    • National Campaigns
    • Committees
    • Volunteer
  • Publications
    • SAA Blog
    • Audiology Today
    • JAAA
  • About
    • Membership
    • Benefits
    • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
    • Leadership
  • Contact Us
  • American Academy of Audiology
  • Join
  • Member Login
  • Renew
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Antitrust Policy
  • Sitemap

© Copyright 2025 American Academy of Audiology

Website by Yoko Co

Scroll To Top