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When heading off to university, many students will be met with their largest slice of financial independence yet. Despite this, financial education has yet to make its way onto the school curriculum, so plenty of students find keeping on top of their money to be a real challenge. Having a budget allows you to keep track of how much money you can spend each week or month, removing plenty of financial worries in the process.
Continue reading to find out more about the best ways to budget at university.
Although budgeting might seem a little boring and is something that your parents probably encouraged you to do, there are still loads of benefits to being aware of your spending, especially if money is a little tight, as is the case for plenty of students.
A great analogy here is to think of your bank account as a bucket. Three times a year, a huge amount of water is poured into your bucket – this being your student loan. However, because your bucket is full of small holes, this water is inevitably going to leak throughout your university year. If the water level gets too low, then the only way to stop the leaking is by plugging the holes – and altering your spending habits.
This is why budgeting can be so helpful. Once you become aware of how much money you have and how much you’ll need to comfortably get by on a weekly and monthly basis, everything becomes a whole lot simpler. If you’re considering an end of year trip, then budgeting can help ensure that you don’t jet off abroad seriously short of cash.
Because student loans are paid into your bank account across three instalments at the start of each term, it can be easy to lose sight of how long that money has to last. Here’s how we’d go about devising a budget:
Unfortunately, your list of incoming money will probably be a lot shorter than your outgoing list. Unless you have a part-time job, your main source of income will be your student loan. We’ve listed the most common forms of student income below:
What you shouldn’t be including in this list are potential debt sources such as an overdraft or credit cards. Though these can be useful, they should be thought of as for emergency use only.
Whereas most peoples incomings tend to be fairly simple, outgoings vary from student to student and can be affected by things like the type of accommodation you’re staying in and whether or not you have a car. Spend can also massively vary from month to month. November/December involves buying Christmas presents, while people tend to make car-related purchases such as services, MOTs and insurance around the same time. Here’s a list of all the relevant outgoings you should include in your budget.
There are a few different ways of budgeting for university – it’s all about figuring out what works for you. Put simply, a budget is a way of working out your incomings and outgoings, and how much money you’ll be left with as a result. Some of the most popular budgeting options include downloadable student budgeting planners, mobile phone apps, spreadsheets and hand-written budgets.
There are loads of great budgeting apps out there. Budgeting this way makes sense if you already use your phone as a diary and keep track of other areas of your life through it.
Some of our favourite student budgeting mobile apps include:
There are plenty of people out there who would jump at having a reason to create another spreadsheet. Making a budget yourself through Excel or Google Sheets offers plenty of creative freedom, including colour-coding and simple to complex layouts.
If you want to go old-school, then using pen and paper is still better than nothing. While you’re going to be a little limited with how complex your budget can get, if all you’re after is a rough budget then quickly jotting a few numbers down will still be helpful.
Having multiple direct debits leave your bank account each month – including rent, utilities, water, broadband, TV and more – can make budgeting much more complicated than it needs to be. Through Resooma Bills, we can roll these numerous bills into one simple monthly payment. We even set up the bills for you! All that’s required on your end is to get a quote and add any housemates who also want to take advantage of the service.
While sticking to a budget is important, there are inevitably going to be times where you simply can’t resist splashing out on something that’s grabbed your fancy. On these occasions, our advice would be to leave these splurges until just before your next student loan is due to come in. This way, there’s no chance of you being left short-changed.
Similarly, if you’ve devised a weekly or monthly budget, then it equally makes sense to leave your spending spree until the end of these budgeting periods. Having a little bit of restraint to begin with will lead to much more financial relaxation and enjoyment later on!
When it comes to banks, loyalty doesn’t pay. To acquire new customers, banks will offer all sorts of incentives for switching. Right now, HSBC is offering new student customers a free £80, along with a £20 Uber Eats voucher or a one-year ASOS Premier membership. You should also look at which banks are offering the most desirable overdraft schemes.
Already sorted your house but need to set up bills? We can help with this too – we set up and split utilities for you. Get a free quote for your utilities here.
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All your utility bills in one monthly payment, split between housemates
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