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From Empty to Thriving: Taking Charge of Your Financial Wellness

Today
Sam Masango
Woman at wooden table reviewing her financial documents. Laptop and calculator are visible

A second-year checks her account balance between meetings and feels that familiar drop in her stomach — the one that shows up a few days before a paycheck, every single time. She isn't overspending on anything unnecessary. Her rent went up, her lab requires an unreimbursed parking pass, and her stipend hasn't moved. For a while, she assumed this was just what grad school felt like, and that everyone else had somehow figured out a trick she'd missed.

She hadn't missed anything. Nationally, a 2024 survey by Ellucian found 59% of college students had considered dropping out over money, and nearly 80% said financial stress affects their mental health. Even with increased Graduate Assistant stipends, the tough economic times make running on empty common enough that it's closer to the norm than the exception — which doesn't make it easier, but it does mean it isn't a personal failure.

And it doesn't stop at your bank account; it affects other dimensions of wellness too. Financial stress has a way of spilling into everything else: the money worry that keeps you up at night means less sleep, and less sleep shortens your fuse the next day — a comment from a lab mate that would normally roll off you suddenly doesn't. Meals start slipping too, skipped or rushed because there's no bandwidth left to think about them. And when that short temper starts showing up in your relationships, the friction can quietly cost you the very support system that helps you get through financial stress in the first place. None of the dimensions of wellness sit in their own lane — pull on one thread, and the others move with it.

Food is often the first thing to slip, so last fall the Graduate Center put a simple question to the test: could a grad student cover a full week of meals on just $40? Watch how the challenge actually played out — and what it took to pull off — in the $40 Food Challenge follow-up video.

Back to the student; here's what actually helped her, in order:

She tracked every dollar for one week — not to judge herself, just to see where it went. The picture was more useful than any budgeting app lecture; a few small, painless cuts appeared immediately.

She set up an automatic transfer of ten dollars per paycheck into a separate account. It felt almost pointless at first. Six months later, it was much clearer. That amount had started to build up into a meaningful amount that she could depend on for a rainy day.

She read up on how stipend and fellowship income are taxed, since a surprise tax bill in April is one of the more avoidable shocks in grad school. The IRS's own guide, Publication 970, is more digestible than its name suggests.

She stopped assuming a paid app would do more than the free option already available to her. CashCourse, a free financial education platform made available to grad students by the Graduate College, covers budgeting, credit, and debt with no subscription attached. You can also use this to improve your situation and learn what might otherwise cost a lot. And, if you prefer to have a structured, cohort environment with mentorship and community, the Graduate College has also partnered with 3rd Decade, a 501(c)3 financial literacy nonprofit founded in Tucson, AZ, to ensure U of A students can participate in their cohort programs throughout the year.

She told one person about the stress. Money stress compounds when it's carried alone and quietly; saying it out loud tends to loosen its grip faster than any spreadsheet does. So even when you cannot reach a financial coach or advisor, a friend can help. Fortunately, as  graduate students at the University of Arizona, we have access to free peer financial coaches we can sit down with one on one and learn how to improve our financial situation or keep track of it better. You can schedule a consultation with the Financial Coaching Cats today and take control of your money. 

Note that none of this fixed everything overnight for this student, and none of it required her to earn more money first. A year later, she still checks her balance before a paycheck. It just doesn't have the same pull on her anymore.

Running on empty isn't where the story ends. It's where a lot of graduate students start.

Check out our financial wellness resource page for tools that can help you thrive and give you the ability to focus more on what really matters.

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