The January Budgeting Blues

Even though budgeting is ideal to start thinking about at the start of the academic year, it’s also helpful to re-evaluate your finances and saving methods at the beginning of a new year. After the most financially stressful time that we know as Christmas, we can stop worrying about what hasn’t been placed under the tree, and start focusing on our own saving goals. It’s tricky to get back into healthy spending habits after such a season. We’ve all be in the shop with the “Oh well, it’s Christmas! I’m allowed to treat myself” excuse one too many times, which is a habit that tends to leak into the new year also. If you’re struggling to draw the line between rewards and splurging after the holidays, don’t worry, you aren’t the only one. Below are some tips that helped me save, or at the very least, helped me stop overspending on things I really didn’t need.

Open a new bank account:

Sometimes, the best way to stop yourself spending money is by placing it somewhere you can’t access it. Nowadays, with online banking, it’s super easy (and generally free) to open a new bank account from the comfort of your own home. If you have quite a bit to save that you don’t want to spend, this is a great way to find a bank with a great insurance rate, where they’ll literally pay you to store your money with them.

One big bonus to opening a sepa- rate bank account is probably the deterrence from spending the money you have placed away. If you then take money out to spend, you are willingly removing money from your savings, and then you must justify why said item or experience is so important to sacrifice your savings for it. Do you really need to do that new clothes order, or would you rather save it for your lads holiday in the summer? It’s a physical way to make you stop and think about where you are spending your own money.

Save every penny:

We’ve all been guilty of shrugging off a £2.99 purchase as £3 and thinking no more about it. However, has it ever crossed your mind that these pennies could add up? For example, there’s the viral 1p a day challenge. Every day you save 1p extra than the day before, starting on 1p, and you’ll never put away more than £3.66 per day. That’s just a coffee! By the end of the year, you’ll have well over £600. As the year goes on, it does get more expensive, but you are eased into it if you are consistent. If that’s not doable, there are certain apps that can track your every penny and save the left overs whenever you do spend. Apps such as Plum, Monzo and Revolut are great ways to label your spending, and to see where the majority of your money is going to.

Prioritise what you really want:

When we want to save properly, we must sacrifice certain things. Some of the biggest money-eaters for students is nights out, takeaways, and course books. Believe it or not, there are ways to cut down your spendings on all of the above.

Nights out can be very expensive, especially in a big city, however, we must also consider the frequency of them. Peer pressure and “fear of missing out” can cost us lots of money that we just don’t have. There’s nothing wrong with an impulsive night out, but they stop becoming impulsive when they’re six nights a week. You’re allowed to say no, so just remember to ask yourself if you are going out for you or to just please your friends

Takeaways follow in the same suit – is it necessary to order in or can you cook something similar? Do you actually want the takeaway food, or are you just too lazy to cook? We all get days that we don’t want to cook, but there are cheaper options available. I reckon you could walk to the nearest shop, buy a ready meal, and cook it before a delivery arrived.

Course books can also be the absolute bane of your life. I can relate to the frustration of spending ridiculous amounts of money on compulsory reading lists as an English Literature student. But, throughout my years, I have also found a few hacks to getting your material for much cheaper. Firstly, is this a book with free online access or loanable from the library? Especially if the book is large and expensive, it saves you the money and back pain of lugging it onto campus. If you want a copy, there a great sites, such as wob and ebay, that sell loads of second hand editions of books you’ll be searching for. Especially if your book is a popular classic, you’ve got a good chance of finding it in one of the charity shops on Albany Road. Shopping smart:

If you are doing your weekly shop in the luxury section of M&S, drop your basket and walk out of there. I repeat, leave the store immediately. When you are a student: every penny counts! There are so many cheaper places to shop, or even in the M&S essentials collection isn’t too bad when compared to the likes of Lidl and Aldi. Making smart swaps can really make all the difference. This includes swapping branded items for the store collection items; items like meat are particularly expensive. Could you swap these for an alternative occasional? There are some great lentil or chickpea curry recipes out there, rather than always cooking with chicken and beef.

Tips that generally help us spend less in the supermarkets is to set a certain time in the week to go shopping. This way, it will become routine when you are allowed into the shop. This will help you to stop popping into Lidl after lectures because you are bored. Very quickly, it can turn into a fairly expensive browse and you leave with lots you don’t really need. Additionally, never shop on an empty stomach! Psychologically, you are thinking of picking up items that would satisfy the feeling of hunger there and then, whilst also picking up some of the things you need. More often than not, you’ll leave with lots of items you didn’t needed, and will be missing loads of items off the essential list.

Savings are very helpful as you never know what might happen! Car troubles, unexpected rent increase, medical emergencies, and the list goes on. If you can afford it, savings are never a bad idea.

When planning our resolutions for the New Year, it may be more beneficial to create smaller, more attainable ones and slowly move to bigger ones throughout the year when you feel ready. In doing this, it helps to prevent the typical burn out that people experience within a month, usually causing them to abandon the goals they set. Creating resolutions that involve making drastic lifestyle changes are unlikely to be attainable and can be mentally draining when we are unable to make said change. So, focusing on smaller things like improving your self-care routine in comparison to trying to save £100 a week will be far easier to commit to, and cause less challenges, whilst improving the way you feel. Though, as already mentioned, these changes do not have to be fulfilled during the month of January, or only during this period.

It is important that we all take time to focus on ourselves and look after our physical and mental wellbeing, in whatever form is best suited to us. The lifestyle that you may idealise when making resolutions, may not actually be the lifestyle that is best suited towards your specific needs, often being an amplification of a way of life.

Essentially, New Year’s resolutions are like a double-edged sword. It may work for some of us and improve our wellbeing, whilst for others they prove to be challenging and do more harm than good. It is difficult to narrow it down to being either good or bad as experiences vary individually and are subjective. However, if we are too hard on ourselves the outcome is likely to be more harmful than good.

Creating

"