<prompt> Human: Here is my situation: I am a young illustrator living in San Francisco going to school on the Post 911 GI Bill. Those of you who are familiar with veteran education benefits know that every month I get a stipend from the government. This money is directly deposited into my account as if it were a paycheck and the amount varies from state to state and your county. In SF I get about 3000 and that covers pretty much everything. I mean dont get me wrong, in this city Im riding the poverty line pretty closely but im not stupid, I have zero dept, no credit cards and moderately good credit. I also live within my means. My rent is about 1289 a month and since its just me without any bills besides utilities and my phone that leaves me with a chunk of cash at the end that, I am ashamed to say I have been using to party. Ive decided however that its time to grow up and start being responsible with my money. I have no idea how to invest or make my money work for me.bi dont want to be rich, I just want to be able to afford to live in the city after I graduate in four years. I have four years of free money coming to me every month I figure I should make the most out of it. What would you all do in my situation?Right now I have about 3500 in cash at the moment and my rent is paid for this month. Utilities are about 69 a month and my phone is about 80. I have no other bills or expenses. I also shop at farmers markets and am a vegetarian, so even food hardly costs me anything. My biggest expense every month is probably partying but Im tired of the club scene. I wanna be a grown up. And help is appreciated!TLDR: ex military with too much cash sitting around each month, how could I make that money work for me?  <response>: Fellow veteran chiming in here.Take into account that you dont receive any monthly stipends while youre on breaks winter, summerand not attending school. I ended up saving what was left over to not be completely broke over the breaks. I also took summer classes to reduce my not in school time and continue collecting the monthly stipend. 