Keep Track

First and foremost, everyone should be aware of their money.  You don't have to be Scrooge McDuck swimming through money piles to be aware; you just need to know how much you have, where it is, and how you're managing it.  Let's talk about the key aspects of managing and being aware of your money.

Budget.
The simplest reason you want to be aware of your bank account, your credit card, and any other investments?  Making sure you don't overspend.  If you know you only have $X, you can't spend more than $X.  It seems easy, but when you have a number of costs--bills, rent, insurance, expenses--it can be hard to keep track of how much you have left to go to restaurants or shop.  It takes some discipline, but sitting down and running some numbers and creating a budget is a great idea.  You know how much income you have, and you should know what your expenses will be (to an extent).  So find out what you have left.  Then decide how you want to use it.  How much do you want to save?  How much do you have available to go out to dinner with your friends?  What if you really want to buy something?  Your budget will help you figure out if you can afford to do it.  That's right, you might not be able to do it.  If you budget, you'll know if you can afford it, or at least how long you'll have to save to accomplish a goal.

Pay bills on time.
Know when your bills are due!  Nothing is worse than making a mindless error and having to literally pay for it!  Keep it on your phone calendar, a wall calendar, or stick your bills on your fridge; do whatever it takes to make sure you never forget to pay a bill on time.  The more aware you are of due dates and the consequences for not paying on time, the more likely you are to spend wisely.  You'll be acutely aware of the fact that it's not worth it to run a balance on your credit card, so you won't stretch your limits and put off paying something until later.

Keep track of finance charges.
If there's no way around it and you can't pay everything on time (emergencies happen!), that's okay, but make sure you know what the interest is and how much you'll be charged for a late payment, carrying a balance, etc.  When you see a $15 charge on your account for no benefit, you'll be even more motivated to stay up to date.

Set money aside.
This gets back to our main point.  SAVE!  Save save save!  Even if you're paying off student loans, you should try to save at least some money for emergency purposes, if for no other reason.  Have a savings account and try not to take anything out of it unless it's absolutely necessary.  You'll feel better if you have savings, anyway.

All of this sounds like a lot of work, but there's actually a website out there that makes it much less complicated, and actually maybe even fun.  (You read right.)  What is this gem?

Mint.

Mint, powered by Intuit, is a FREE application/website that provides you with the tools to manage your finances.  It's legitimate, protected, and comes highly reccommended by The Wall Street Journal, Money Magazine, and The New York Times.  You plug in your data--loans, credit cards, investments, savings, etc.--and then you let Mint do the work.  It categorizes your expenses, notifies you of charges and when bills are due, and allows you to make budgets and goals.  It provides visual data, so you can see how you're spending your money and where.

If you're looking to improve your financial awareness and feel more confident about where your money is and where it's going, you can't find a better tool than Mint.  Give it a try and feel empowered!