We all know about the joys of university, but until you actually experience it, the financial side can be a bit daunting. I've been a student for a year now and I feel that I've got a handle on the financial side of things. In this post, I will be sharing five tips to make managing student finance a worry of the past.
1) Stick to a Budget
This is a fairly obvious tip, but it's surprising how many people forget it. When I started university last year, I picked an amount to spend every week. My weekly budget was £60 and that was to cover my food shopping and any other expenditures I'd have during the week. Typically I'd spend around £20 a week on food. With the remaining money, it meant I could go for the occasional meal with friends, go into the city centre and still by the books I wanted to read. If you set yourself a budget, that doesn't mean that you would have to spend that much money every week. Often, I would spend less than half of my budget a week. Having a budget means you are very aware of how much money you are spending and can keep a track if you are close to going over your budget.
2) Plan Ahead
Planning is another key tip to keeping on top of your finances. For example, if you know someone's birthday is coming up, maybe keep a bit of money back to get them something. Another example is that I know I'm going to be in London in December to go to the theatre. So my plan is to keep part of my budget back to treat myself in London. As I know I'm going to be in London, I need to book train tickets, so one week I will spend some of my weekly budget on train tickets. If you have something planned, then make sure you can work around it and then you won't feel guilty about spending money.
3) Be Savvy Where You Can
Something that is worth learning is how to be money savvy. Where I live the nearest supermarkets are Sainsbury's and Asda. Asda is slightly cheaper, but a further walk for me. However, as I know I'll be saving a significant portion of money. It's all about knowing where you can save a little bit of money. Another good way to save money is to do some bulk cooking. I often cook something that I know will last two meals. Also, keep an eye on what's on offer at your local supermarket. If you can buy two bags of pasta for £1, do it because, in the long run, it will save you some money. Try looking at where you can find what you're looking for at a slightly cheaper price.
4) Going Over Your Budget Isn't The End of The World
While sticking to a budget is a top tip, having the ability to be flexible is also another useful skill. Obviously, if you go a significant amount over budget, then maybe assess your spending patterns. But if you only go £5-£10 over your budget, then it isn't the end of the world. There would be some weeks where I would end up going over budget and what I would do was make sure I would spend less the next week. I would feel really bad if I ended up going over budget but I soon broke that idea down. I would tell myself it wasn't as bad as it looked, and that I would have to spend a bit less money next week.
5) You Can Still Have Fun
It is possible to have fun and be financially smart. For example, I still want to buy the books I want to read. What I did was I made a list of all the books I wanted to read and as the year went on, I reassessed it and took some of the books I was less excited about off it. I also made sure that my weekly budget could accommodate if I was getting a book that week. I'm not saying that you should treat yourself every week, but if you build in a little bit of treat money then you will feel way less guilty about buying something nice for yourself.
I hope these tips are useful and help you manage your student finances. I found that by implementing these tips into my life I was spending way less money and felt less guilty when I treated myself.
Carenza x :)
