For those students now back at university for the summer term, the same problems have no doubt begun to persist. Money. It always comes back to money.
Each time you go home for the holidays your parents want to talk to you about savings. They think it’s important that you learn all about the financial world. Your dad thinks you care about what he does with his finances. He sits you down for an hour explaining all about the stocks and shares ISA allowance hoping that you start to understand the value of money. You don’t. As soon as you head back for term time you still end up making “the call” for some extra funds after only a few weeks.
So, how do you make your money work a little better during term time? Here are a few pointers on making a budget (and sticking to it) whilst at uni.Estimate your income and expenditureFor students this can prove extremely difficult as you’re not getting a set amount every month coming in like those lucky souls in employment. But you should have some income hitting your bank account on a fairly regular basis. This could be your loan, any scholarships or bursaries, money from family, or any savings you might have. Once you have this totalled up, try and write a list of your outgoings. This should include your accommodation, utilities, insurance, food, travel, shopping, socialising, and studying.Online budgeting toolsYou might think your own sums are pretty good and you can come up with a budget on your own, but it’s always good to gain a bit of a helping hand. There are a number of online budget calculators which are great to provide an added bit of assistance to help you plan out your finances. Simply enter all your information outgoings and income and the calculator will let you know whether your planned outgoings are within your means.
The real advantage of this is that it enables you to identify problem areas before you actually spend the money, thus helping you to trim areas you need to cut back on.Getting back on trackIf your outgoings exceed your income, you need to realign things a little better by either looking for more sources of income or trimming your spending. If you aren’t yet working part-time, now might be the time to start looking for work yes it might make your time a little constrained, but sometimes needs must.
Alternatively, you need to look at spending less. Identify problem areas and come up with a solution. It could be as simple as doing a weekly shop rather than buying food on your way home from lectures, drinking a few tinnies before you go to the pub, or buying second hand books.
Money at uni is always tight. It’s time for a helping hand.