Being a student can be stressful, especially when it comes to money management and budgeting your student loan, which is why it is important to keep track of your spending so you do not end up in financial difficulties which can cause anxiety and stress.
Here are our top tips for budgeting whilst at university and managing your student loan:
1.Have a savings account and a current account.
Keep your student loan in a savings account that you cannot access without physically moving the money over to your current account! This will make you think more about purchasing something that may not be necessary, and you will be able to keep track of where you’re spending your money. You can also give yourself a weekly or monthly allowance to make sure you can make your student loan last.
2. Work a part time job
Here at the university, we offer student working opportunities and this is a fantastic way to make some extra cash whilst at university, of course the less student loan you use, the less repayments you will have to make with your student debt, which will help you in the future, as well as having some extra money to enjoy yourself whilst at university! If there are no opportunities available at the university, there are plenty of bar and waiting jobs around Lincoln that you can apply for.
3. Create a spreadsheet / make notes
Keep track of your spending by creating a spreadsheet so you can easily see what is being spent and where. Having notes makes it less stressful if you are worried about where money has gone. Keeping everything organized can help you de-stress and make your student loan spending easier to track.
4. Plan ahead
Set your personal goals to help you budget your money. For example, if you spent £40 last month on chocolate, but your friend’s birthday is coming up, set yourself a goal to spend £20 on chocolate, so that you can have extra funds to enjoy your friend’s birthday. Make sure you plan ahead and are aware of any additional outgoings that you may come across in future weeks/ months, this way you can budget more for a previous month.
5. Watch what you finance
With finance payments easily available when online shopping for things such as clothes, it can be very tempting to use financing companies such as Klarna to buy luxuries you might not necessarily need. This can be bad because when it comes to paying off the balance, you may not have the funds to do this, which can lead to interest rates, fines and debt. Try to avoid buying things this way, especially on extra spending such as fashion.
We hope these tips were useful to help you manage your student loan!
Written by Holly Woollock, a Digital Content Creative Assistant on the OfS Transitional Mental Health Project.
- Topics
- OfS Mental Health Project
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