How to Manage Your Budget as a Student

If you’re a uni student living alone as a tenant and struggling to understand how to budget as a student, browse through this comprehensive article on tips to manage your student budget 

Student Budget UK: 10 Effective Tips to Manage Your Student Budget at University

While many people think that a student budget is all about adding and subtracting their savings and expenditures, it is a lot more. Budgeting refers to the skills of effectively planning your limited finances while ensuring you live a comfortable life within your means but do not spend extravagantly on your wants – more than you can earn and save.

If you want to understand how to budget as a student, this article will take you through ten effective tips on saving money in uni. Although you cannot learn to create a typical student budget overnight, it is never too late to master money-saving and budgeting concepts as a student.

1. Track all Expenses & Set a Budget

The first and the simplest way to manage your finances as a uni student is to effectively track all your expenses, prepare a personal monthly budget, and stick to it. Initially, we recommend making an average student weekly budget until you are not very well versed with making a typical student budget for an entire month. A simple way to do this is to use our free student budget calculator tool

You can track your expenses throughout the day and keep a note of everything either on paper or use any budget tracking app. Furthermore, you must understand the importance of sticking to your spending limits to stop running out of money at the end of each month. In the beginning, it might seem a little difficult but trust us, once you learn this, you can easily save a lot of money.

2. Use a Student Budget Template

A student budget template can help you categorise your finances in a much easier way. You can choose any budget planner you like but a typical student budget planner spreadsheet must include your monthly income and divide it properly. This also helps save a lot of money figuring out the easier and more convenient way of budgeting.

Using an average student weekly budget template spreadsheet also helps you plan on saving your money and put the rest aside for your essential, non-essential, and emergency spending. As a general rule, you must plan to reserve:

• 50% of your total income for purchasing essentials and paying for your bills, rent, medical bills, fees, loan repayment, travel fares, etc.,
• 15% of it for your discretionary spending,
• 15% for emergencies, and
• 20% of it as your savings.

3. Open a Savings Bank Account but Avoid Credit Card Debt

Never mistake saving your money in a savings pot or a piggy bank – no matter how fancy and digitized it is. Once you know you have easily accessible money at home, sometimes your urge to go on random vacations or purchase items you don’t really need can manipulate you to use all your savings in a go and regret later.

It is rather a better choice to open a Savings Bank Account because the “out of sight, out of mind” money saved bit by bit is a lot easier to stay away from. Furthermore, your saved money in the bank is safer, harder to spend, and allows you to earn interest on your money.

However, you must avoid credit card debt because it not just stresses your mind but also nullifies the entire concept of budgeting and messes with your monthly savings. Pay with cash whenever possible and try to use a debit card instead. And even if you use a credit card, do not use more than one and make it a priority to pay the balance in full.

4. Write Your Short & Long Term Goals

Budgeting can help to save and motivate you to stick to your spending limits if you set clear goals for yourself. We recommend categorizing your short and long-term goals to plan accordingly and achieve them easily. Your short-term goals can be as simple as saving up to £30 per month while the long-term goals might be about purchasing your dream car in the next four-five years.

5. Control Overspending

Although tracking your expenses and setting short-term financial goals will motivate you to control overspending, you must understand its consequences on your overall budget and long-term goals. It is human nature to have an urge to buy everything that seems convenient but overspending has never helped anyone achieve success in the long run.

6. Organise Your Needs & Wants

If you cannot control your prodigal spending, it is better to organise your needs and wants in your student budget spreadsheet. While doing this still allows you to spend some money on your wants, it can help control your overspending to a great extent and focus on your basic needs first. Is there a point in paying your last buck on a fancy pair of shoes when you don’t have anything to eat for dinner?

7. Get a Part-Time Job

Even an effective budget might fail a lot of times when your total income is less than your basic needs and expenses. It is hence a better idea to get a part-time job to open your gateway to advanced earning opportunities, develop time-management skills, be less anxious, and manage your finances in a better way. You can even explore freelancing opportunities to earn from the comfort of your home.

8. Cook Yourself

This is a no-brainer that cooking at home is more cost-effective and healthier rather than spending extravagant money on eating out all the time. A food budget is thus an essential part of your overall financial budgeting and pulling together a low-cost, nutritious meal at home ensures you don’t disturb your spending limits on unhealthy fast food. 

Pages like Mob Kitchen are great to help cook healthy meals for under a tenner.

9. Look for Student Discounts

However, if you plan to eat out once in a while or go shopping, it is a smart idea to look for student discounts and take advantage of your student ID wherever possible. After all, what could be better than getting some additional discount as a student?

10. Switch to Cheaper Bill Plans

Most importantly, it is important to switch to cheaper bills including green energy and bundled utilities & internet bills if your current service providers are charging you way too much. This way, you can save more each month by spending less on your bills.

Conclusion

If you use a student budget spreadsheet and collectively follow the effective tips shared above, you can easily manage your finances like a pro. Furthermore, you can also apply for scholarships, invest in a safe and well-researched option, rent used school books, avoid unnecessary subscriptions and stay away from addictive habits to save more money and be mentally and physically at peace all the time.