Average Student Budget

As we all know, in today’s world nothing is free or cheap. To do anything in college, or for that matter in life, you are going to have to dish out some moolah. Even reading costs money! And it isn’t even reading you want to do, it is reading that comes out of a 300 dollar textbook that you could care less about. Though you spent those 300 dollars on a useless textbook, when you sell it back, no matter the condition, the bookstore will only give you 70 dollars. Don’t get me wrong, there are good textbooks out there, but those required classes don’t seem to use them.

In case you couldn’t tell by now, I am a college student, more specifically, I am a student at the University of Texas at Austin. Today’s infographic, for me at least, hits pretty close to home. I am a full time student with a job at which I work 20 plus hours a week, and between the two my free time is limited. With my job, loans, and help from home I am able to pay for college and few extra stress relieving activities. In my opinion, this infographic was a little too generous in the discretionary spending section. Although I will admit I spend more in that category than I should, it certainly is not 40% of my budget. The transportation allotment also seems a little low, but that may be because I drive across town to get to my job. That however, is only my opinion, and if you want to see what professionals have to say about student spending, look at the infographic for yourself.

Conversation Ecosystem

Many publishers like magazines, newspapers and even blogs have produced infographics to explain how certain aspects of how Twitter works. We’ve been scouring the web for them and decided to start a new category featuring Twitter infographics. To start things off, here’s one by David Armano.

Client Infographic: A Solar Innovation Story

Solar Savings: A Solar Innovation Story from ExtraSpace.com is a new infographic by InfoNewt and designer Jeremy Yingling. This one tells the story of how the company is adding solar panels to the roof space on some of it’s self storage facilities all across the country. The environmental, financial and community benefits are huge, and this was only the first year of a multi-year plan.
Extra Space Storage is on a mission to produce solar powered clean energy and reduce the carbon footprint of our 850+ self storage facilities. We aim to install 20,000 solar panels this year, and increase the pace of panel installation every year. Energy efficient clean power is good for our customers and our neighborhoods, our planet, and our investors. By the end of 2011 this program will save 2,000 tons of carbon dioxide and 100 acres of fir trees.

An infographic is a fantastic way for Extra Space to tell their story to customers, investors and anyone interested in alternative energy solutions. It puts their efforts into context and shows the potential of how large their cumulative environmental impact could become.