How are you planning to budget/how do YOU budget at Uni?
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For the past two years I have;
- Winged it
- Kept my fingers toes and everything else crossed that I have not gone into my overdraft
- Managed to avoid even opening my bank statements
- Finally mustered the courage to check my account every couple of months
- Found myself in debt
- Spent the remainder of the term eating beans to pay of said debt with my meager wages
I do not, I repeat DO NOT recommend this.
- Winged it
- Kept my fingers toes and everything else crossed that I have not gone into my overdraft
- Managed to avoid even opening my bank statements
- Finally mustered the courage to check my account every couple of months
- Found myself in debt
- Spent the remainder of the term eating beans to pay of said debt with my meager wages
I do not, I repeat DO NOT recommend this.
Right, what I did in first year was paid my rent (lump sum) out of savings, put about 1/2 my loan into my savings account (with my remaining savings) and left half my loan in my current account. When this was getting low, my bursary usually came in. I would leave that in my current acount, and transfer over money as and when I needed a top up.
The problem with having only a really small amount of money in your current account is you have to keep track of every outgoing- e.g. phone contract, any subscriptions, any additional bills and remember to transfer it over at the exact right time. You can also face problems if you ever pay for anything by cheque. I like to have a minimum of £200 in my current account, unless it's the end of the year and things are really tight. If I ended up with a lot more (say £500, due to wages, bursaries etc) I would transfer some back into my savings account.
I didn't have an overdraft or any credit, but because I'd worked for about 14 months prior to uni (and whilst I was in school on and off) I had healthy savings I could use instead. If I didn't have them, I'd probably keep an overdraft for emergancy back up. I can't remember exactly what my spends were living in halls, but I'll share some of my budget from last year, when I was living out.
What I spent on things last year:
Rent: £225 per month (this is very low, I was sharing a one bed flat with my ex £300-400 is more likely for a room in a shared house).
Electricity:£50
Water: £30
Internet: £22 inc line rental
Food: Very roughly £100 a month, but sharing between 2 people is cheaper.
Entertainment:£40-50
Clothes: up to £60 about every 3 months.
One off costs- stationery, textbooks etc- £300 (this is probably relatively low- textbooks are expensive, and I already owned a printer, laptop etc)
The problem with having only a really small amount of money in your current account is you have to keep track of every outgoing- e.g. phone contract, any subscriptions, any additional bills and remember to transfer it over at the exact right time. You can also face problems if you ever pay for anything by cheque. I like to have a minimum of £200 in my current account, unless it's the end of the year and things are really tight. If I ended up with a lot more (say £500, due to wages, bursaries etc) I would transfer some back into my savings account.
I didn't have an overdraft or any credit, but because I'd worked for about 14 months prior to uni (and whilst I was in school on and off) I had healthy savings I could use instead. If I didn't have them, I'd probably keep an overdraft for emergancy back up. I can't remember exactly what my spends were living in halls, but I'll share some of my budget from last year, when I was living out.
What I spent on things last year:
Rent: £225 per month (this is very low, I was sharing a one bed flat with my ex £300-400 is more likely for a room in a shared house).
Electricity:£50
Water: £30
Internet: £22 inc line rental
Food: Very roughly £100 a month, but sharing between 2 people is cheaper.
Entertainment:£40-50
Clothes: up to £60 about every 3 months.
One off costs- stationery, textbooks etc- £300 (this is probably relatively low- textbooks are expensive, and I already owned a printer, laptop etc)
My rent payments are ridiculous this year and I've actually moved somewhere cheaper than last year, but this landlord wants it all in big hits so it's a nightmare! I don't know how on earth I'm gonna budget, but learning from last year:
- No massive 'omg look how rich I am!' shopping trips.... you're not really rich.
- Hugely limit my meals out - I used to justify this with 'well I don't go out clubbing as much as others' but it really adds up.
- Online shopping so that fingers crossed, I can't add loads into my trolley without thinking. AND stick to this diet so that I don't need that much food anyways.
- No massive 'omg look how rich I am!' shopping trips.... you're not really rich.
- Hugely limit my meals out - I used to justify this with 'well I don't go out clubbing as much as others' but it really adds up.
- Online shopping so that fingers crossed, I can't add loads into my trolley without thinking. AND stick to this diet so that I don't need that much food anyways.
I did what you did. But would take 70 quid cash out on a Sunday or Monday and then put my card in a box in my room until the next week.
However it's easy to become lazy, I don't want to become lazy this year, determined to stick to it the whole year!
I never needed to eat beans on toast at the end of term or anything, I always made my money last but my budget was liveable I wasn't trying to scrape by with 20 quid a week for everything, I was lucky!
I don't have an overdraft, might get one but only to pay for travelling as it's a once in a lifetime thing and I have savings but they might not quite cover next summer. Not very sensible.
However it's easy to become lazy, I don't want to become lazy this year, determined to stick to it the whole year!
I never needed to eat beans on toast at the end of term or anything, I always made my money last but my budget was liveable I wasn't trying to scrape by with 20 quid a week for everything, I was lucky!
I don't have an overdraft, might get one but only to pay for travelling as it's a once in a lifetime thing and I have savings but they might not quite cover next summer. Not very sensible.
(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by 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.
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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
I did the opposite, used cash, never my card, couldn't break the budget when my card was in my room in a box. I'd be careful taking the card on nights out, it could get messy
, I speak from experience haha.
I've tried to budget before, but I never could. I'm absolutely terrible with money. I used to just spend and be too worried to check my balance, and by the time I did it was not a pretty sight. Going into my 3rd year in September and I just can't do that again, so gonna hopefully use some of the tips in this thread.
I've used a spreadsheet
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I don't need to budget, I get a maintenance grant of £3000 and have previous savings from my job that I never spent so....
I basically winged it and it didn't really work out too well. In the last term I was more wise and put about half of my loan in savings, and that meant I had money left over at the end of the year and could afford to book a holiday, go to a festival, etc. which I didn't think I would be able to do, so definitely try and put some money away if you can afford it! One of my tips (this might just apply to me as it seems pretty basic) is that unless you have a secure job during the holidays/your parents will support you, remember to budget for those too. Like I said I had money left at the end of uni but I assumed I'd just get a summer job, but ended up being unsuccessful- I'm now £500 into my overdraft! So be careful not just to budget for the time you're at uni unless you know you don't need to worry about that. Also try not to budget down to the very last penny- everyone I knew that tried this ended up going over budget, because there will always be costs that you don't expect to come up. Even if you're a crazily rigorous budgeter give yourself £100 leeway or something just in case!
Original post by Sherbet
I did the opposite, used cash, never my card, couldn't break the budget when my card was in my room in a box. I'd be careful taking the card on nights out, it could get messy , I speak from experience haha.
, I speak from experience haha.That's true. Also using cash in a club is better. Don't know how i'll keep it all separate then since I would like to use cash for food too. I'll just have to separate it in my purse somehow.. !
My loan and some of my grant is reserved for accommodation, so with however much of my grant that I have left, I'll divide by 40 to see how much I'll have per week. Then I'll just have to make sure I stick to that (I hope my maths is right!).
I'm also transferring my part time job at home to a branch near my uni, should be earning anywhere from £50-100 a week, that'll be a massive help. I get paid weekly too which is even better
In terms of being frugal, I'm going to have to do my food shopping online so I can see the running total, I'm terrible at spending too much in the supermarket I'm going to have to limit my shopping trips and meals out massively too!
I'm also transferring my part time job at home to a branch near my uni, should be earning anywhere from £50-100 a week, that'll be a massive help. I get paid weekly too which is even better
In terms of being frugal, I'm going to have to do my food shopping online so I can see the running total, I'm terrible at spending too much in the supermarket
I'm going to have to limit my shopping trips and meals out massively too!I've had a really good think about it and I'm going to do something similar to what the OP and others have suggested in this thread.
When I get my first student loan and grant I will pay my rent straight away then transfer what's left to a savings account (hopefully I will be able to open a basic one that I can have a card for). From the total that is left in my savings account, I will deduct £90 for my phone contract and £50 a month for food (4 months worth so £200) until the next student loan. Then whatever's left over I will divide by 17 weeks (the time until January student loan) and transfer that amount into my account each week and ONLY spend that. I think it will be around £25.
Hopefully I may not need to spend £50 a month on food but will just put whatever is left over back into my savings account in the hopes of actually saving a bit of money/having a bit extra in emergencies. Same goes for my phone bill which is supposed to be £25 or something but I always seem to go over by a few pounds.
During this time I will look for a part-time job as well, I really need to get one as I want to save money because I graduate next year and want to stay in the place I go to uni and put a deposit down on a flat with my boyfriend.
When I get my first student loan and grant I will pay my rent straight away then transfer what's left to a savings account (hopefully I will be able to open a basic one that I can have a card for). From the total that is left in my savings account, I will deduct £90 for my phone contract and £50 a month for food (4 months worth so £200) until the next student loan. Then whatever's left over I will divide by 17 weeks (the time until January student loan) and transfer that amount into my account each week and ONLY spend that. I think it will be around £25.
Hopefully I may not need to spend £50 a month on food but will just put whatever is left over back into my savings account in the hopes of actually saving a bit of money/having a bit extra in emergencies. Same goes for my phone bill which is supposed to be £25 or something but I always seem to go over by a few pounds.
During this time I will look for a part-time job as well, I really need to get one as I want to save money because I graduate next year and want to stay in the place I go to uni and put a deposit down on a flat with my boyfriend.
If you're in halls then you don't have to worry about bills etc so make the most of having ridiculously long showers and the heating right up because second year will be the complete opposite 
Last year I had a fair amount of money so I didn't bother with a budget, and then was skint by the end of every term because I spent all my money on gig tickets
so this year I'm putting the majority of my money in a second account and direct debiting £50 a week into my normal account for general spends.
Last year I had a fair amount of money so I didn't bother with a budget, and then was skint by the end of every term because I spent all my money on gig tickets
so this year I'm putting the majority of my money in a second account and direct debiting £50 a week into my normal account for general spends.Original post by CEKTOP
You can probably live on £10 a week. This will involve lots of cooking and freezing to death in the winter though, as well as rationing every drop of water, not to mention electricity.
But it is doable and you can live a healthy life.
But it is doable and you can live a healthy life.
How is this possible? In terms of food, how can anyone eat healthily for that amount?
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Original post by WhamBamJam.
How is this possible? In terms of food, how can anyone eat healthily for that amount?
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You can eat healthily for £3/day. If you want to spend even less than that you can get hold of some food vouchers and they'll hook you up with some canned foods at a local food bank.
Yeah, correction, that was £10/day.
Original post by CEKTOP
You can eat healthily for £3/day. If you want to spend even less than that you can get hold of some food vouchers and they'll hook you up with some canned foods at a local food bank.
Yeah, correction, that was £10/day.
Yeah, correction, that was £10/day.
Oh okay haha. I was gonna say - TELL ME YOUR SECRET.
Original post by WhamBamJam.
Oh okay haha. I was gonna say - TELL ME YOUR SECRET.
Well I know that it might sound dishonourable or downright criminal but if you really fall on some hard times you can probably steal a potato or two from your local supermarket.
Original post by CEKTOP
Well I know that it might sound dishonourable or downright criminal but if you really fall on some hard times you can probably steal a potato or two from your local supermarket.
If times are that hard you'd be better off contacting your university and asking if there's a hardship fund
. My food budget (for two people) is under £15/week. It's doable (and healthy) but sometimes monotonous. Lots of soups and stews, lots of digging through the 'reduced' section. In general, carbs are cheapest; dairy, root veg and processed meats are cheap-ish; fruit and leafy veg are average (individually cheap but don't stretch far); and meat is the most expensive.
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