How are you planning to budget/how do YOU budget at Uni?

I'm starting Uni in September.

I was just wondering how people plan to budget when they're at university or how they do budget now if you're at Uni.

I have an idea...I hope it is effective.

Basically, I add up my loan and grant payments I've gotten, I'll pay the rent with that loan and grant (im in halls this year, it's my first year, and the payments will be in three instalments & close to the time student finance goes in). Once the rent is paid i'll move all my money into a savings account (done online).

Then I'll divide what I have by 17 weeks (the length of time 'till the next payment). Whatever amount I have (so far it's worked out at 75 pounds a week) I'll transfer it into the debit account each week BUT, If I don't spend 75 pounds that week I will only transfer the amount needed to make £75 pounds.

Hopefully that makes sense.

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

InadequateJusticex

Watching this thread as I'm wondering the same thing :smile:

Reply 2

rugbyladosc

Yea budgeting is hard, I am not disciplined enough to do it. Only advice i can really give is try to get text alerts from your bank (i know HSBC and Satander do this) once your balance drops below a certain level. This way you know when to go onto full poverty-mode to get through the last few weeks of uni on pennies. I always go hard when I'm flush, and then struggle through the last days on rice and vitamins. Also I destroyed my overdraft last year so this time i opted not to have one, working an admin job just paying off debt was too grim, and i know i wouldnt have spent all that money if it wasn't available.

Maybe not the best advice but just try to keep track of your funds.

Reply 3

und3niable_

Pay my rent and then eat when I'm hungry. Not big on takeaways either and lazy when it comes to cooking so I think I'll either lose weight, have more money/both.

Reply 4

0range

I don't budget! tis why I'm so poor all the time! I really need to sort it out :l

Reply 5

tobyyyyy

I'm guessing the most common way, and probably quite effective to is to do what you have just said. Saying that i'll probably budget horrifically and end up becoming malnourished

Reply 6

Ripper-Roo

Set aside how much money you want per week for food or stationary (so the necessities),
Then some money for entertainment (it doesn't need to be expensive nights out - it could even be a pack of cards, DVDs, games, a few £s for a trip to the pub and enough for a taxi back e.t.c)
So just being cost-efficient and distinguishing between necessities and luxuries

Reply 7

hayleyhayley

I'm budgeting as of this week!
First I'll add up my monthly incomings.
Then take away my direct debits (phone, gym, insurance).
Then divide the remainder by 31/7 to give me what I can spend in a week.
Then I'll buy only necessities and keep all of my receipts for that week, to see what else will be going out. Whatever is left I get to spend or save.
Doing this because I am actually in minus figures until Tuesday and that can't happen again!

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 8

TattyBoJangles

I'm planning my budget already too. My plan..

I set up a student account. I have no money in there as of yet, but that's where my student loan will go in to and my accommodation will come out of. My loan covers my accommodation by about £700.
I have a current account, with some money in from my gap year. Adding up the money that's in there and the money I'll be getting from my parents (which will go into this account), I'll have about £2100.

Every month, I'll transfer about £150 from my current account into my student account to cover food etc. I also have a credit card, which I'll use to buy petrol and train tickets, so the money left in my current account will go to paying off the credit card (build a credit rating and all that jazz) and cover any extras I find myself coming across.

If worst comes to worst, I have a £750 overdraft on my student account. However, I don't intend on using it as, theoretically, my budget covers me up to £95-odd a week and I only plan on spending £30-40 a week.

If I manage to save money, I'll save it and put it towards rent for next year (which will go up by at least £1000/year if I don't get back into halls).

Edit; as for keeping up with how much I've spent, I have online banking which I generally check once a week anyway. As well as this, I've downloaded a budgeting app that has a week by week or month by month view.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 9

Hackett

What do people suggest is a decent amount to live of per week? My student loan doesn't cover accom costs, so trying to figure out how much I need per week roughly. Living up north, so hoepfully that cheapens it somewhat!

Reply 10

Beth_Armitage

Original post by Hackett

I do not know where you currently live but as someone who currently lives up north however is moving down south I can tell you that prices for various things are signigicantly cheaper.

I'm in simular situation, anyone got ideas of breakdown of average food costs? (for someone who doesn't live off of takeaways/), also other costs etc? :smile:

Reply 11

Hackett

Original post by Beth_Armitage

Ah ok, I live in London but prices outside of London are not TOO bad, where abouts are you moving to?

Reply 12

WhereDidIPutMyCar

Original post by ElectricFetus

Wow, lucky for some having a grant and loan that covers everything!! I am £500 off being able to afford my accommodation with my loan :frown:

I'm pretty much having to work 12 hour shifts all summer and saving all my money, and begging my parents to attempt to scrape together something so I can actually survive :P

I'm probably gonna have a separate 'going out' and 'essentials' fund, so I don't spend all my money on partying... But other than that I have no idea how I'm budgeting :L

Reply 13

Luke070

I've created my own uni budget spreadsheet. It works pretty well - adds up my maintenance loan, parents contributions, savings and will basically tell me how much I'll have each week after it's calculated the remaining money I have left after paying for my accommodation.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 14

Bubble_10

Original post by ElectricFetus

That sounds similar to what I done, which I found to be effective. What I did is once I paid for my 1st accommodation instalment with the left over money I split it so half went to my savings account (done online also) and the other half would still be in my account. Therefore I was able to use the money in my debit account but I'd be a bit stricter on myself when I see that my money is running low (obvs I would have the savings account money if needed) but I found this made me pay attention more to my spendings.

Reply 15

kuroudo93

Original post by WhereDidIPutMyCar

Wow, lucky for some having a grant and loan that covers everything!! I am £500 off being able to afford my accommodation with my loan :frown:

£729 off from being able to afford accommodation (Y) i know how you feel. managed to get up to having £70 a week for at uni though!

Reply 16

SillyEddy

Add up all the money you're getting in (loan, bursary and any funds from parents or from a job) and have your "total money"
Add up all the bills and payments you will be making on a regular basis (so subtract your accommodation, phone bills, memberships, whatever)

I do those two for each term, but it's sensible to be aware of holidays too, as I will shortly mention.

Subtract bills from the total money and then divide by the number of weeks you have until the next payment. Remember that you will have several weeks off for Christmas and may wish to keep some money for presents. I was also able to use my student loan to fund a lot of my summer holiday, so try to avoid spending money just because you have it.

You'll then get your weekly allowance. Keep a rough check of it and look every month or so to make sure you're on track.

Surprise payments may include:

Money for books, uni-specific-transport, societies, trips, travel to go home and, importantly, the deposit for your next year's house! If you plan to get your own house, they may want a deposit (usually to the value of the first month's bills) to sign it over to you. I got my house sorted before Christmas, which was very early, but it was one thing off our mind and we have a really nice house to live in next year.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 17

zergonipal

Set up two accounts, if you can, a 'daily' and a savings account. When you first get your loan, put the amount you'll need for rent and fixed bills into the savings and do not touch it. Don't even think of it as money: it's just bills you haven't paid yet.

Of the money you've got leftover to live on, try to put away maybe £150 for emergencies. A family crisis; your bike gets stolen; your phone company overcharges you two weeks before your loan is due and suddenly you're in the red paying bank charges. When the unexpected happens the last thing you need is the extra stress of worrying how to pay for it.

By the time you've done this, you won't have a huge amount left. One thing I would strongly advise (if you have the facilities) is to learn how to cook. It's much cheaper to feed yourself than to buy catered every day.

Reply 18

RTJP

Add up my maintenance loan, wages, money from parents and grandparents weekly and from this total minus accommodation costs and I have around £170-200 a week. I make all of my purchases using an M&S credit card so I get reward points and I pay the balance in full each month to avoid paying any interest. I only spend £40-50 a week and then there are some less regular costs such as travelling home, buying clothes, buying books, deposit on next years house. Overall I am able to save a good proportion of my money.
I appreciate that some people go to university in more expensive parts of the UK so don't benefit from cheap rent and low cost of living but I would strongly advise that you try to leave at least some of your weekly budget unaccounted for. I do know people who after 1 year at uni are largely overdrawn and carrying quite significant balances on credit cards. Your basic expenses will be small if you are careful with money. You can make decisions about non essential spending based upon how much money you have available.
Try to set some money aside for any unexpected costs such as an emergency trip home, a laptop repair or paying for the deposit on next years house

Reply 19

WhamBamJam.

Great plan OP. Personally I'm having my student loan paid into one account and then adding a £100 in from my wage slip each month as I'll be working 6 hours a week.. for the first quarter anyways since it has to last me 4 monthly bill payments as opposed to 3. After this I can keep my wage slip to myself yay! This will work out at £700 per month for bills and food (this might end up being too generous, but id rather work out how much money I'm gonna need for the most expensive situation as it all depends on whether I get an expensive flat and how much council tax is - living with bf so not completely exempt.

The remaining £100 a month of wages (eventually £200) I will pay into a separate account each month. Im receiving a bursary and have decided to divide this by 12 to give me some extra money over the summer and I will struggle to spend it all anyways! This works out ar just over £300 a month.. basically the bursary will sit in my savings account and ill draw out the maximum of 300 pounds each month if I need it into the spending account with my wages.. Otherwise its saved for rainy days/driving lessons.

This is probably a bit of a unnecessary way to do it, what with my numerous accounts. . But it will work for me! Im planning on just using my card, never cash, with my spending money account in order to keep food and spending money separate

If any one needs any advice I.e. how much they need to survive.. hit me up.. been budgeting in my own place 2 years already.

Posted from TSR Mobile

(edited 10 years ago)