Hi folks, another guest post today (I’ll write a post by myself again soon – thanks to all these guys who are willing to cover my back for a few weeks) about saving/making/not-spending money when you’re a student. I know a few people who cold have used this advice!
It’s not easy to pay all your bills when you’re a student – you’ve only got a limited amount of money coming in, and it can seem like ages between student loan payments. Academic essay writing site UK-Essay.net has put together this list of ideas that, if followed, can help students to keep to their budget, and not end up in too much debt to handle.
A Budget, not a budgie
1. Make a budget.
Before you start your uni year, it’s a good idea to make a list of the things you know you’re going to have to pay out for, and work out how much money you’re going to have coming in, so you know that you’re not planning on spending more than you’re getting before you even start drinking.
A paying job would be great, but there’s nothing wrong with helping out
2. Take a part time job.
A student loan is a significant amount of money, no doubt – but it’s only paid into your account a few times each year, and there’s several months to live on not that much cash in between – so supplement your income with a part time job. Just one night a week could pay for a couple of nights out, or an energy bill.
Eyes Open!
3. Keep an eye on what’s going out.
Check your bank statements regularly – it’s easy to spend more than you intended to when you’re on a night out, and not remember what you’ve bought the next day. If you’re living dangerously, an unexpected expense can easily push you over the edge.
Careful like carrying eggs
4. Choose your bank account carefully.
The banks all offer different incentives for students to encourage them to take out accounts at that particular chain. Some of the incentives are better than others, so think carefully about how much help is on offer from the bank – do you really need 10 free CDs? Probably not. Would a free rail card help you to save some cash? Maybe. That one is probably a better option.
Libraries – USE THEM!
5. Decide which textbooks you need to buy.
Many professors at uni will try and make their students buy their books to make it look like they’re a more popular author than they actually are; in many cases you won’t actually need their book, and you won’t read it even if you buy it, so choose carefully whether or not you want to fork out forty quid on a useless book. It’s probably in the library anyway.
Toilets are for things that are not money
6. Don’t throw your money down the toilet.
Many students enjoy a tipple. It’s not unheard of for a student to enjoy ten tipples in a night, but the 11th might just be the final straw. If you drink more than you really need to, you may as well be throwing your money down the toilet along with the extra drinks that will undoubtedly end up there as well.
Good point on the textbooks. The amount of money I wasted at uni on ‘recommended’ text books was unreal! Hardly ever used them in the end!
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I know!! I think I only bought 1 text book – thank goodness for that!