SUBMITTED BY CAITLIN MCMULLEN

Money is one of the last things that many people want to think about, especially when they feel as though they need more. But this is exactly the time you need to think about. When your wallet is feeling thin, and your bank account’s stomach is grumbling, it’s time to budget carefully, and understand which spending is truly necessary and which is just habitual.

There isn’t much financial education for high school students, and so many college students are unprepared for this abrupt onslaught of responsibility, suddenly trying to navigate the world of money. If you’re just starting to figure out how to live on your own, and what handling major life decisions entails, then you’re ready to start making some conscious choices about your finances.

To help you with this, you now have access to CashCourse.org, created by the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE). A non-profit dedicated to helping people understand and learn to control their finances, NEFE provides free access to CashCourse as a resource for colleges across the country (including New College) to help students become savvier about their finances.

CashCourse has videos to introduce you to the different topics covered on the site; worksheets to help you keep track of your finances and your plans (both current and future); and articles on banking, insurance, budgeting, making life decisions, and dealing with financial emergencies.

Check out these subject titles:

•40 Money Management Tips

•Paying for College When You’re Short on Financial Aid

•The Bottom Line: The True Cost of Borrowing Money

•Going Global: Paying for Studying Abroad

•The Smart Student’s Guide to Easy, Healthy, & Affordable Meals

•10 Consequences of Delinquency and Default on Your Student Loans

•How to Get and Keep a Good Credit Score

•Options for Student Loan Repayment Relief

•What to Do if You Can’t Pay Rent

•Living Paycheck to Paycheck? How to Cut Spending

•Start Saving – Pay Yourself First

•Your Paper Trail: What to Keep and What to Toss

•Insurance: Understanding the Affordable Care Act

•Budgeting for Life After Graduation

This is only a small sample of what’s available. CashCourse also provides an extensive financial glossary, and calculators to help you understand your budget and debt. It’s a full-service, one-stop shop for learning about money.

But what if you hate talking about money, not just thinking about it? CashCourse lets you start getting answers to your important questions without having to sit and explain everything to a loan officer or financial planner. Plus, you can also contact the NEFE Financial Experts if and when you’re ready to start asking questions.

Go to CashCourse.org and create a student account with your NCF email address, and select NCF from the list of schools. From there, you can explore the awesome resources on the site to your heart’s (and your wallet’s) content!