Finances : How to Budget
Fresher's week is officially over !! 168 hours of crazy fun and an insane amount of reckless spending. From late nights ( or should I say early mornings) , to induction events , freshers fairs and for most of us very little sleep we all had one thing in common : we spent way more than we planned.
And now it's time to settle down and figure out how we're going to manage our finances for the next couple of months. To make things a little easier here is the strategy I implemented in first year and a couple of changes I adopted for my second year.
1.) How much do you have :
Whether you get maintance allowance from student finance , some money from mum/dad , pay from your part time job or maybe you'll be using some of the savings from the summer. Calculate how much you have or will have per month to spend for the next few months. With student finance divide the amount you currently have of your maintenance loan and divide by the month's you'll be at Uni.
2.) What are your needs :
Write down all your monthly needs , this should include toiletries , subscriptions , transport , phone plan , groceries and any other recurring needs you may have.
- Try to research where you can get these items cheapest for example for groceries try Iceland , for cleaning supplies / toiletries try savers ect, transport - take the bus .
3.) What are your wants :
Write down all the things you can live without but would prefer to keep . For some of the ladies this may include nail appointments or for some a costly hobby such as gaming or collecting Pokémon cards.
- Now try to find a place to get these items or services at the cheapest rate possible and finalise your wants list.
4.) Budget allocation 💰:
Once you know how much your needs and wants cost allocate a portion of your budget to each , you may need to pick some of your most important wants and let go of others to better suit your budget.
5.) Track spending and adjust budget:
Spend the next 2 months tracking your spending to see how you can adjust your budget. If you manage to spend less on your needs you can consider starting a savings account or allocating more money to your wants.
A good tip : take out a little money aside each month for emergencies , anything can happened and it's better to be prepared financially. I hope this helps you in the year ahead. Goodluck and don't be too worried if the first few months of budgeting don't go well you will get the hang of it eventually.
Side note : if you are anything like me and love a little online shopping leave a tiny portion of your budget to miscellaneous spending and whatever you buy use your student discount with Unidays and wait for a sale.
Cece ✨
Energy Engineering
De Montfort University
And now it's time to settle down and figure out how we're going to manage our finances for the next couple of months. To make things a little easier here is the strategy I implemented in first year and a couple of changes I adopted for my second year.
1.) How much do you have :
Whether you get maintance allowance from student finance , some money from mum/dad , pay from your part time job or maybe you'll be using some of the savings from the summer. Calculate how much you have or will have per month to spend for the next few months. With student finance divide the amount you currently have of your maintenance loan and divide by the month's you'll be at Uni.
2.) What are your needs :
Write down all your monthly needs , this should include toiletries , subscriptions , transport , phone plan , groceries and any other recurring needs you may have.
- Try to research where you can get these items cheapest for example for groceries try Iceland , for cleaning supplies / toiletries try savers ect, transport - take the bus .
3.) What are your wants :
Write down all the things you can live without but would prefer to keep . For some of the ladies this may include nail appointments or for some a costly hobby such as gaming or collecting Pokémon cards.
- Now try to find a place to get these items or services at the cheapest rate possible and finalise your wants list.
4.) Budget allocation 💰:
Once you know how much your needs and wants cost allocate a portion of your budget to each , you may need to pick some of your most important wants and let go of others to better suit your budget.
5.) Track spending and adjust budget:
Spend the next 2 months tracking your spending to see how you can adjust your budget. If you manage to spend less on your needs you can consider starting a savings account or allocating more money to your wants.
A good tip : take out a little money aside each month for emergencies , anything can happened and it's better to be prepared financially. I hope this helps you in the year ahead. Goodluck and don't be too worried if the first few months of budgeting don't go well you will get the hang of it eventually.
Side note : if you are anything like me and love a little online shopping leave a tiny portion of your budget to miscellaneous spending and whatever you buy use your student discount with Unidays and wait for a sale.
Cece ✨
Energy Engineering
De Montfort University
(edited 6 months ago)
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