Taking control of your finances sounds great in theory. If you've been at the mercy of the gods as you have waited for Leaving Cert results and college offers, taking control of anything probably sounds good.

However, the reality of managing your own money can be a bit scary and when you balance up the incoming and outgoing sides of the books, it's frankly depressing.

A year away from home will cost you more than £5,000 in Dublin and most of other urban centres and just slightly less in the smaller college towns. Even if you take the frugal step of living at home during your college years, it's going to cost more than £3,000 a year.

It's best not to cut the apron strings too quickly. While it's admirable to want do this all by yourself, like as not you won't actually have sufficient income or experience, so if help is available swallow your pride and grab it.

"Spend the last two weeks before going to college working out a budget," says Peader De Burca of the student services office in NUI Galway. "Sit down with your parents and discuss things and try to agree on a sensible budget."

If your parents are willing and able to pay your rent you're off to a good start, as it's the single biggest cost in going away to college. The next step is to agree a rental budget. If you've been lucky enough to get a place on campus this isn't a problem: the rent is laid down in black and white and isn't outrageous. However, if your parents refuse to believe that a flat in Dublin could possibly cost that much, then take them with you, give them a copy of the newspaper listings and go and see a few places with them." Once they see the garrets that are available within their original budget, they will probably revise upwards and come to a more reasonable accommodation, as it were.

If you or your parents are still unsure about rental rates, De Burca advises you contact the college for guidance. "Rent is one of the basics, and is the first thing to take into account when drawing up your budget. In Galway it's about £50 a week, but it might be a little less or a lot more depending on the type of place your want. It's going to vary from town to town, so ring the college to find the average."

Once you've sorted you the accommodation, and it really is the biggest hurdle, work out how much you'll need to live on outside of rent. Again, your parents are the best source for working out how much your household bills, i.e. gas, electric, heating oil, phone etc are going to cost. Some of your bills might already be factored into your rent by the landlord; if so, looking at your parent's bill will show whether he's giving you a good deal.

Think very seriously about the phone. Do you really need a landline? If you all have mobiles (as the statistics tell us you do) you probably don't. Yes, landline calls are cheaper, but it's easier to track how much you're spending if you have a pre-paid phone. If you do have a landline you need to get your calls itemised, but even then, in a house or flat-sharing set-up there will always be quite a number of calls that no one remembers making.

Living away from home usually involves sharing a house or flat with other students. This means having collective responsibility for the finances of the house. If you sort this out at the very start it will save a lot of tears and fights later on, De Burca says.

"The first week you arrive in college your budget is not the first thing you want to think about, but if there are a few of you living together you really must sit down and talk about it. Get a kitty organised and decide who'll deal with the landlord. Make sure people share putting their names on bills, such as TV and video rental, gas and electric, so that one person isn't stuck with everything in his or her name. It's part of the dynamic of living away from home that you have to work these things out."

After you've sorted the household bills there's food. If you've done the sensible thing and learned to cook a few basics, this will reduce your costs, but don't kid yourself, you're not going to so virtuous as to make your own dinner from scratch every night. Sometimes you'll go for the more expensive option of the ready meal or take-away.

Think about what you'll eat in college; again you may intend to bring your own sandwiches every day, but you won't. It's more likely that you'll eat the canteen food, or get a sandwich from the shop. Also, cans of soft drink or cups of tea all add up, so you need to factor in a miscellaneous sum to your food budget.

After food, rent and academic supplies (books), whatever else you spend you pennies on is really up to you. Some people spend little or no money on clothes but spend a lot on entertainment - you'll probably know from looking at your college's cost of living estimates if they've over- or under-budgeted for the type of person you are. However, be aware that you probably spend a lot more money than you think and do use the cost-of-living tables as a guide.

"Most students already have a social life before them arrive to college, so they'll have a broad idea of how much that's going to cost, but I'd estimate about £40 a week," De Burca says. The little extras that go along with having a social life shouldn't be forgotten. "You're going to end up getting one or two taxis a week if you're out late. This will probably add up to about £10 a week on top of your social life costs."

After you've made a broad estimate of how much money you need, you have to figure out where it's going to come from. Deduct any money you have coming in from your outgoing sum; this might be grant or scholarship money, or the money your parents have decided to put towards your rent or bills. Now look at what's left. It's probably still going to be in the thousands of pounds, so you need to work out the best way for you to manage this sum.

If you get a grant - in fact, if you get any money from anywhere - put it straight in the bank, into a student account. You'll definitely spend the money faster if you just keep it in your pocket. "When you get a big check in your hand you feel like you have so much money, but be very cool. Put it in the bank and divide it over nine months and try not to go over your monthly allowance," De Burca says.

All the major banks will offer you various deals to get you to start banking with them. It's up to you to decide which deal you like, but it's a good idea to look beyond the initial freebee to see what they can offer you in the future. You may choose your bank on the basis of proximity to the campus, but De Burca says the most important things is to develop a relationship with your bank. Put money in regularly and get to know the student officer. You may need a short-term loan to tide you over, which you can then pay off during the summer, or you might find you need a loan for a J1 visa, so it's good to get to know your bank early on.

One way to manage your costs is to get a part-time job (see over). "First-years generally have more free time, so by all means take a part-time job to help you get by. About 10 hours a week doesn't eat into study time - however, I wouldn't advice any more than that."

The trouble starts when you're doing a part-time job to cover your basic living needs like rent, rather than just to have a few extra pounds for your social life. By working excessive hours you could find the job you took to keep you in college leads to you failing your exams.

If you do get in trouble with your finances and don't feel you can go to your parents, most colleges will have hardship funds. De Burca explains that, in such a case, your situation will be assessed to make sure you are in need and that the fund will be used properly. If you feel you're slipping into financial difficulties, go and talk to your college counselling service or student union before the situation becomes a crisis. Good planning and budgeting advice can avert potential disaster.

"Be a bit smart and a bit shrewd. Try to keep within your budget - you won't, but the harder you try to stick to it the nearer you'll come. You need to prove you can handle things from the start, because it's the early months that will make or break you."