Handling tuition and unexpected expenses can be draining for business school students. Here are some tips for managing your money.Being shaky with personal finances is the dirty little secret of many business school students. While most would-be MBAs know corporate finance like the back of their hands, personal finance is a whole other matter for many of them.

Here are some tips from personal finance experts and fellow students on how to budget your money even when you're without a salary and unexpected expenses come up:

Start Early

The moment you start contemplating going back to school, you should take stock of the money available to you. How much do you have and how much do you need to get through testing, applications, visits to schools, tuition, books, living expenses, the job search, etc.? And how will you make up the difference—loans, help from mom and dad, living off investments?

Those who get an early start—at least a year before joining a B-school—can stash some cash for their starving-student days. Most experts agree that you should save either six months worth of living expenses or $10,000 before returning to graduate school. Lack suggests that people start "living like students" as soon as they decide to apply to B-school. That means packing lunches, forgoing designer clothes and unnecessarily pricey outings with friends, and basically living below your means.

Expect the Unexpected

If you've done your homework, you've calculated the big ticket items such as tuition. But you should also sweat the small stuff, which can add up.

Extracurricular activities such as studying abroad and networking events are often initially unplanned and expensive. For study abroad, some students take out more loans. Getting student loans with lower interest rates is better than using credit cards that tend to have high interest rates. Dinners and networking trips will come out of the student's own pocket. Attend events, suggests Harvey, that give you the most bang for your buck, where you'll meet lots of people in your sector or be able to make an impression with your first choice of employers. Stay home for all the others.

Finding A Job Costs Money

There are many chances for students to go on trips to meet with potential employers. Be choosy, and prepare to have to leave at a minute's notice—and be able to afford the airfare, hotel, and accommodations—for an interview for your dream job. Some students estimate that the job search can cost between $5,000 and $10,000.

Track Your Spending

Because those little things—such as the morning cup of coffee—add up, Jerrold Mundis, author of How to Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of Debt, and Live Prosperously (Bantam; January, 2003) suggests keeping tabs on every penny you spend for at least 30 days, ideally for three months. Include everything from laundry to Starbucks to renting videos. That will help you realize how many costly things you could do without. "Just doing this reduces expenses by 10% per month," says Mundis.

Don't forget to include a column for miscellaneous things such as dental work, auto repairs, or travel expenses for a job interview. "It might be a cliché, but expect the unexpected," says Michael Scrafford, a second-year student at Kenan-Flagler. He suggests thinking of your tuition as only 50% of the B-school tab. The other 50% is for living expenses and all of these other costs that you might not have even thought about before returning to school.

Keep It Simple

Think about ways you can cut back on the unnecessary stuff.

Lack even suggests that graduate students consider getting a roommate to divvy up expenses. This might not be the right choice for married couples, but usually one spouse works while the other attends B-school. In those instances, the spouses should stretch any income that's coming in as much as they can.

Keep the Long View

Most people who go back to school for an MBA are looking for a lifetime of benefit from the degree. "You will come out of it alive," says Krzok. "It's about short-term sacrifices for long-term gain." Tuition may be upward of $80,000, rent could be well over $1,000 per month (even more at urban campuses), and dinners out could cost hundreds. But an enriched mind, after all, is priceless.

Source: Businessweek.com