Budgets and Earnings

Planning tools

Learn about setting priorities, making that budget, banking, saving, investments, planning for college or planning for your retirement. Wherever you are in life, you always need to manage your money. You will find 23 interactive lessons on personal finance from CNNMoney.com.

Starting salaries

An excellent place to start planning your spending in college is to determine what your starting salary will be. The Occupational Outlook Handbook at the U.S. Department of Labor Web site is updated annually and lists all careers alphabetically. It includes potential earnings based on education level, job growth in the field as well as basics of what to expect when you start work.

Click on the OOH Search/ A-Z Index to start your search. Remember that whatever amount of debt you graduate from college with, you need to make double that amount in your salary. The average debt load for graduating undergraduates at the University of Minnesota is around $17,500, which means you have to make an annual salary of $35,000 or more to afford to pay back your debt and afford a house or other luxuries.

Opportunities in Minnesota

Go to iSeek for a Minnesota-based job search Web site that also offers good information on exploring career options and educational requirements.