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Is part of your New Year’s resolutions to set yourself a budget for 2024?
One of the most important things you can do as a student is to learn how to balance your budget. Once you work out how much you need to cover your bills, such as food, travel and rent, you can find out how much you have to spend on things you love.
Write everything down
The first thing you should do, if you are not doing this already, is to understand your budget. First things first make a note of all the money you have coming in (student loans, bursaries, wages and parents). Then add a list of all the things you have to pay for like food, rent, books, transport and any other bills (utilities’, phone, insurance etc).
There are tons of ways that can help you estimate; different budgeting apps or an excel spreadsheet, but until you have everything down in one place you won’t be able to understand your own budget.
Bills first
When you see cash come into your account it’s so tempting to feel rich, that the money will last ages and start spending – however the most important thing is to pay all your bills first. If you over spend at the start of term it can be really hard to claw it back when you might need it later in the term – and that might mean you miss out because you’ve got no money.
Help remove the temptation by setting up a direct debit, the same day you get paid, so that you aren’t tempted to go shopping for what you can’t really afford.
Check your entitlements
Have you checked if you are entitled to any extra cash through bursaries, scholarships and Student Finance?
If you have a disability, are from a low-income household or are in a career you might be entitled to more money.
It’s also a good idea to check with your university to see if you qualify for any grants too, the university’s Student Services is usually a good place to start.
Also don’t forget to make the most of student discounts – this is a fab way to make your money stretch further.
Part time jobs
If you have time then why not try and get yourself a part time job. Not only will this get you some further income, but it can look great on your CV. There are always places looking for students, so whether its bar, shop or retail you should be able to find something to go towards
Set yourself a weekly allowance.
After you’ve done your budgeting you should be able to set yourself a weekly allowance. Within this weekly budget set an amount aside to spend on your groceries, any staples you require for the home, and then you can put aside any travel costs and some spare for socialising.
Once you can see how to live within your means you can save up some money to spend it on the nice things that you want.
Budgeting shouldn’t be seen as a boring chore – student budgeting is a key life skill that, if you can master it at university, you will be set for life!
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