The Boar guide to student budgeting

Before coming to university, many students have never had to stick to a real budget. Rent, groceries and course fees are new expenses to many freshers, and knowing how much to spend and save can be a tricky business at first. There are, however, a few steps you can take before coming to university to help your money go further.

The Weekly Shop

Groceries are a pretty big financial strain on a lot of students (especially if you’re counting the beer with that), and if your parents have always done the shopping, it can be hard to know exactly how much everything costs. Have a look at a supermarket (I would recommend Tesco, as it’s the closest to campus) in store or online to see how much your groceries are going to set you back each week so that you can budget accordingly. As a guide, most students will roughly spend £30-£60 a week on shopping, but it all depends on what you like to eat and drink!

Beware of Bargains

One of the best pieces of budgeting advice I ever received was ‘it’s only a bargain if you’re going to use it.’ Shops will often have fantastic offers on display, but if it’s going to go off before you get a chance to eat it, then there’s no point in buying it! I recall my very first shop at Tesco, the day I moved into halls. They had a three for the price of one deal on cheese which I absolutely had to have. I don’t actually like cheese though, and I certainly wasn’t going to eat three blocks of it in the week before it expired. You’re likely to be a little bit confused the day you move to university, so try to be rational when buying your first shop.

The Night Out

There are some people who judge the quality of a town’s nightlife by the price of a pint. Those people were probably students at some point. If you’re planning on going out (and most freshers are), then it’s important to know how much a night at a club or pub is going to cost. Older students will be more than happy to answer questions about the price of shots, how much entry into clubs costs, and how much taxis and buses back to halls will be. Make sure you’re clued up, and you’ve got enough leisure money to cover some well-deserved time off.

Textbooks

I made the rookie mistake of buying all of my textbooks before I even got to university, thinking it would make me well prepared for the year ahead. A much better idea is to wait until after your first lecture in each topic before rushing out to buy anything. Lecturers will sometimes recommend a different textbook to the one shown on the website, especially if they’ve just taken over the course. The textbooks are often available in the library or learning grid, and might not even be necessary if you’ve got a good set of notes. Again, older students will be happy to tell you whether or not a certain textbook is any good. Most importantly, unless you really need a specific edition, used books are the way to go. You can get £4 copies of £25 textbooks if you don’t mind a few scratches on the cover or a rip or two in the pages. The SU even has a book fair in the first few weeks for freshers to grab cheap copies of textbooks from students who no longer need them.

Spreadsheets are Your Best Friend

If it sounds a little bit geeky, that’s because it is. However, having a rough idea of incomings and outgoings is essential to make sure that you stay in the black (or at least stay within your interest free overdraft…) Noting down your essentials, like fees, rent and basic groceries will let you know how much you can spend on the things you really want to buy, and maybe you’ll even have some left over to put in a savings account. Having your budget planned out avoids a panic when you need to pay for lots of things at once.

If you follow these tips and do some research before coming to university, you should find yourself managing your money a little bit better. The university also offers free financial advice to students, so don’t be afraid to ask for some guidance if you find yourself struggling with budgeting.