Weather its saving for a summer of fun or trying to keep enough money in your account for food, keeping control of your finances isn’t always easy.
Budgeting takes a fair amount of time and organisation. Here are 5 quick tips to make a budget that works for you.
Plan Your Budget
It may seem daunting or confusing, but getting a plan going is the quickest way to check your finances and asses what action is best for you.
Start by looking at what money is coming in. From student loans, grants, bursaries, any money form parents, income form a job and saving etc… This will help asses how much money is coming in and how often.
Then take out all of your outgoings that are essential. This will include your rent, bills, insurance, travel costs, phone bill, food etc…
Then you will have all of the information needed to calculate what money you have left for other things. This can include, books and uni equipment, household supplies, entertainment, social activities, shopping etc..
Get All of the Freebies
An upside to being a student means some things in life do come for free. For instance, students don’t have to pay for pay council tax of 16-18 year olds don’t pay for medical prescriptions.
However, if you’re 19 you can still apply for the NHS Low Income Scheme. If accepted, you can still get free prescriptions as well as dental treatment and eye tests.
There are also plenty of free rewards websites online that will pay your signing up for free trails and surveys. Even huge companies like Nike will send out fee samples of new products when you apply to be a product tester.
Get the most for Your Money
NUS cards are ideal for getting discounts both on the high street ad online. Plus, unadvertised perks are available, such as a free cheeseburger or Mcflurry when you buy a meal at McDonalds.
Sites like money advice service’s savings calculator can also help you be savvy when it comes to spending. Here you can input something you want to save for and it calculates how long it will take you to achieve it.
https://www.ucas.com/finance/managing-money/student-budgeting-tips
