Students learned the difficulties of balancing a budget after graduation during financial planning workshops Tuesday afternoon.

At 6 p.m., 12 students attended the workshop entitled “Choose Your Financial Future!”, a free session hosted by Outreach Coordinator and Counselor Holly Cipriani and Program Manager Patricia Donnelly.

Throughout the course of the workshop, each student was given budget planning worksheets, senior year checklists and Federal Student Aid information.

“Our hope is not that you become experts [on finance], but that you feel educated and more comfortable with your finances by the end of this,” Cipriani said.

Donnelly introduced the program and the Office of Financial Aid at the beginning of the session and provided answers to difficult questions, while Cipriani led the workshop.

One of the main highlights of the session included the students and facilitators creating a fictitious budget based on an income of $20,000, as to simulate a college graduate’s first salary.

“I like to call this more of a ‘spending plan’ than a budget,” Donnelly said. “This way there’s a lot of wiggle room; you can modify your plan each month.”

While the students originally spent more than their monthly budget, facilitators led the exercise again to show them how they can review spending plans and become more flexible.

Cipriani introduced an online budgeting tool, Mint.com, which allows users to link their bank accounts and other account information to a secure sight and to receive text messages that inform users of how much they have spent each month of their budget.

The workshop also covered financial topics varying from managing finances and different resources to loan consolidation and forbearance. Additionally, payment plans were discussed as well as a lot of audience participation and questions.

Students who attended the event seemed to be those concerned with the reality of beginning to pay off student loans in the upcoming months and those who wish to become more financially responsible.

Senior Courtney Hutton found the workshop helpful and informational.

“I found out about the session in Campus Update and it sounded like a good idea,” Hutton said. “My dad has always talked to me about finances, but I don’t think everyone has that. This would be really good for those people.”

Donnelly said she and other financial advisors are available to meet for up to 90 minutes at a time and for up to six months after graduation.

For more information or to set up an appointment with an advisor, contact the Office of Financial Aid in Moseley Hall.