How To Survive On A Student Budget

With a holiday fast approaching, and the start of university drawing close not long after that, the topic of money and budgeting has popped up many times in conversation recently. From noticing this and due to the fact that my brother is beginning his first year of university this year, I thought I'd note down a few helpful tips and tricks on how to survive on a student budget.

Its about this time of year that students all over the country will be awaiting the dreaded A-level results and discovering whether or not they will be advancing on to university or rethinking their plans for next year. After finding

By now you should have gone through the rigorous process that is student finance, and will be expecting large sums of money to be appearing in your bank account come September. For any student this will be your first university challenge, not to spend all of this money during the first few weeks. It will be very tempting to go on a small shopping spree or get a few luxury items for your new student accommodation, but remember that this money has to last, once its gone its gone.
Tip number one: Enjoy freshers, its a great time to meet people and get to know your new course mates, but keep in mind freshers only lasts for a week or two, make sure you don't spend all your money in this short space of time, you may regret it in a few months.

Once you have received your results and secured your university place, it won't be long til a package arrives with details on accommodation and a long list of books that you'll need for your course. At this point you need to start remembering that you are now a university student, so do not expect luxury; this included lots of spare money, a big house, flat screen t.vs, dishwashers, en-suite bathrooms....The lucky ones may receive some of these luxuries but they will be paying for them.
Tip number two: Go for the slightly cheaper accommodation, it may be more basic, but washing the dishes by hand will cost you the price of a cloth and some soap rather then £15+ more every week.

After having gone through the accommodation, you should next take a look at your reading list. When it comes to university books there are a few things you should know: it is very rare that you will need ever book on the list, and also the books do not have to be brand new.
Tip number three: If possible wait until you get to university to see which books you do and do not need. Once there you can get a better view of which are actually necessary and which just have a few useful pages.
Tip number four: Make sure to check independent book shops near your university, or search online for websites that sell second hand books, such as Amazon. By looking in these places you will be able to find books of good quality, for far cheaper prices.

The weekly shop, for those of you already used to doing your shopping in Tesco's or Aldi then this shouldn't affect you too much, however for the people used to Waitrose or used to buying the more expensive branded products, this may take some time to get used to.
Buying and cooking your own meals is one of the biggest changes that university students go through, and the fact that it costs you money means it can also be expensive if you don't change quickly. Don't feel the need to do all your shopping in one place for the sake of convenience, by finding out which shops have deals on and which have the cheapest items will save you a lot of money in the long run.


Tip number five: Cheap doesn't always mean bad, in fact you may wonder why you've been paying those high prices up until now. As a student you may have to sacrifice your Heinz tomato sauce for regular Tesco's own, it may taste a little different but remember those small savings add up.

Whilst shopping you may now find yourself looking for meals for one, buying small amounts of food can often be costly and is in fact better value to buy large servings that you can prepare all at once and can be used at a later date.
Tip number six: Buy a handful of food containers and try to buy large portions of food instead of one person servings, such as mince. Having these food containers will allow you to cook all of the food in one go and then store the left overs in the fridge or freezer to be used as another meal.

These are just a few tips that will help you to adapt to your new life in university and save you money whilst doing it. Part of the fun however is discovering new tips and tricks of your own as you encounter problems throughout your university life. For anymore assistance on budgeting, preparing and cooking food, accommodation, etc......their will be people within your university dedicated to helping with these issues. Other then that a quick search on Google will always bring up some useful site that can help. I hope everyone has a great year at university.