Making the most of your money is essential for making the most of your uni experience
If you’re starting uni later this year, you might be wondering how you’ll afford it. Living away from home for the first time or being new to London can make it hard to predict what you’ll spend.
When you plan a budget and you’re clear about what money you have to spend, you’ll have a better time at uni without so many money worries.
To help you out, we’ve broken down the basics of budgeting into some easy to follow steps.
This won’t take too long as it’s usually a much shorter list than all the money that’s going out.
Here’s what to think about:
This part is more complicated and depends on your personal circumstances. Go through these categories and make an estimate of your outgoings. Try looking through your past bank statements to see what you spend in a typical month.
This student budget calculator is a useful tool to try.
Take what’s going out from what’s coming in, and then divide it by the number of weeks during a term. What’s left is what you have to spend each week.
The UCAS budget calculator is a useful tool to help with the maths.
When you’ve planned your budget, you’ve got to plan how to record what you spend.
By going through this process, you’ll realise just how easy it is to keep track of where your money is going each month, and what you can afford to spend.
Many students end up with a negative bank balance at some point during uni. Don’t worry too much — instead, take action and look for positive changes that you can make.
Make plans for saving on areas of your budget where you’re spending too much and think about ways to get more money coming in such as part-time work.
We were live with students Azize, Maria and Mina to get their practical money saving tips.
Watch the video for their advice on budgeting, working while you study and how to make your money go further in London.
Contact us for more guidance on how much uni costs and how to get financial support.