There are many more university fees than people first realise. Yes there’s the basics: food, accommodation, course costs, transport fees etc.
But the real problem actually occurs when you get into university and you have no idea how to budget in anyway and half way through the year your finding that you have nothing in your pocket and your now attempting to love off off a credit card.
Planning for budget for university is essential if you honestly want to go through university without a ton of university debt, that will eventually lead you into a pit of nothing. We know students need a helping hand with budgeting and what better then to get advice from real students who’ve lived it?
With many thousands of pounds sitting in your bank account the usual student on a average student budget may feel the extreme temptation to spend.
What you must remember is that the money you have just got at the start of term may have to last throughout the term so u need to think responsibly well . . . . until you receive your next loan cheque or other income.
It’s a good idea to make a student budget plan and an even better one to stick to it. Totally new to this? Here are some top tips how to get started.
Planning For University
When planning for university fees there are a multitude of areas. This article specialises in planning for university fees in the area of student living costs whilst living at university. An in-depth guide to the costs you might experience and how to factor them in, in order to be in the best of minds when planning for university fees to use in conjunction with a student budget.
When planning for university fees and especially when your targeting the university fees associated with student living you have to consider a range of areas:
Accommodation itself
Food
T.V Licence
Travel
Socialising
The internet
Rental/Damage deposits
Laundry
Like I said planning for university fees is not the simplest of things and I would place a good bet down that a majority of students who decided to start planning out their university fees never put the before mentioned even into their equations.
1. Accommodation
Accommodation will be your biggest, or at least, should be your biggest cost. The amount a student has to pay year on year is dependant on a wide range of things such as; the level of ‘luxury’ the flat is, how many people are living inside, how far away form the university it is and who owns the place you’re living in.
When planning for university fees in this field you should get out all the universities you want to live at and list out the top 5 halls you want to live in and their costs and work on from there. If you want a better viewpoint maybe find a good top 3 of 5 universities and then add them and divide them to create and average to work by when planning for university fees.
2. Food
Food will probably be the second biggest cost and it will only increase depending on: Not only the amount you eat but also the type of food you eat. If you know you love the junk food from McDonalds find out how many time you eat there a month and jot it down. On a more personal note I would suggest checking out the section about student cooking on here, tasty and easy to cook meals that will defiantly save you money.
3. Other Costs
The rest of the before mentioned don’t really make up a major part of the planning form university fees so I’ll hand out the average costs you’re likely to expect per week:
Socialising £40
The internet £5
Rental/Damage deposits £400
Laundry £4
Creating Your Budget Plan
Make sure your plan is realistic – allowing a reasonable amount for going out as well as essentials like food and accommodation the key to this is writing it out in a table and sticking it in places around your room.
You need to decide whether you’re budgeting for term time spending only, or for the whole year. Some students, especially those living in halls of residence, may budget on a term basis if they plan to return home during the holidays and a good way to increase your spending power is a summer time job.
The best and most simplistic student budget calculator method is to take your total income over a set period of time and divide by the number of weeks or months. So, for example, if you want to work out a monthly budget for the whole year, you need to divide your expected yearly income by 12 to give you your monthly income (£0000/12 = £000).
Don’t build in income assumptions that may not come off. For example, don’t plan a yearly budget based on your income from the Student Loan Company with an assumption that you’ll earn ££s doing a summer, online job or part time work that you don’t already have its not realistic and could lead to problems down the line.
Once you’ve made your monthly income, you need to set out your spending (a student budget plan). Start with fixed and essential outgoings – like rent, bills and travel costs. Then list all your other, less fixed outgoings – food, clothes, groceries, entertainment and so on. Add up the outgoings and take them away from your total income.
If the balance is positive, you’ve established a budget that you can live within. But if the out goings are greater, then you then have a negative budget which means one of two things if you want to avoid running into more debt: You need to cut back on the non-essentials to make the budget balance
You need to find a way to increase your income; this site has a section on making easy money.
For many students balancing their budget causes as much stress as sitting finals. If you think you’ll be heading towards a significant budget deficit before your next income comes through, don’t ignore it. Talk to your bank, student union rep or parents.
Hopefully these budget planning recommendation for university have been helpful. Take your time and remember the ideas given, or favourite this page so you can come straight back if you begin to forget. Check out the other articles on our site for more tips too, including how to save money as a student.