BUDGETING AT UNI

Budgeting is an essential skill - not just while you’re at university but once you graduate and move into the world of work, too. Learning to budget well can help you avoid unnecessary financial stress so you can focus on getting your degree and enjoying the university experience. Here’s how…

Figure out how much money you have coming in each month

The first step towards budgeting well is figuring out your monthly income. This could be from your student loan, a part-time job or even help from family members. Once you know how much money you have to play with each month, you can figure out how much of that income goes towards your necessary expenses.

Write down all of your regular, necessary expenses

Necessary expenses are things like your rent, any utilities or even your phone bill. These are things you have to pay each month in order to live comfortably. For some of these, you may have to give a rough estimate - like for groceries. Then, subtract the total of these expenses from your monthly income to find out exactly how much money you have left. This is your disposable income: divide this by the number of weeks there are in the month to find out what your weekly budget looks like!

Track your spending each week

Now that you know how much money you have to play with each week, it’s important to track your spending so you know how much of that money you’re using. Keeping track consistently makes it easier to stick to your weekly budget and ensure you don’t overspend!

Avoid impulse purchases

We know university can sometimes be hard, and it’s nice to treat yourself now and then. However, university is a time to embrace budgeting and, if you master this skill early on, it’ll hold you in good stead once you leave university and beyond.

Build your savings

If you’re able to, university is a great time to start building your savings for the future. You don’t have to save hundreds of pounds each month but whatever you can put aside will not only teach you the value of saving money but also give you a little extra security should something unforeseen happen.