How to get on top of your student finances from day 1

The months of waiting are over, you’ve got your results and now you know where you’re going to study for the next few years. Life is exciting right now and with gathering details on your new course, finding out where you’re going to live and trying to get in touch with new future flat- or house-mates, there’s a lot of fun stuff happening.

However, even though this is all very exciting (and nerve-wracking too), there’s another area of your imminent entry to life as a Uni student – money and budgeting.  We know, this is not the most enthralling topic for you to think about right now. However, it is one of the more important ones. Afterall, you need to know how you’re going to finance this first year in university and that means you need a plan.

Luckily, if you spend a little bit of time right now, you can have a good idea of where you’ll be, on a financial footing at least, by the end of your first year of studying and living away from home.

Uni Fees

After rising in recent years, the cost for studying at University now stands at £9,250 per year for most British and EU students studying in England and the UK. Lower charges can apply in some circumstances, for instance Scottish students remaining in Scotland and some EU students may be able to study in Scotland for free. However, in many cases, your annual Uni course fees will be a little over the £9,000 mark.

Student Finance provides a loan to cover this cost and means tests also give those students who are less well off the opportunity to get a grant to cover some of their fees and a smaller loan to cover the remainder. Another bit of good news is that your Student Finance loan isn’t repayable until after you’ve finished your course and you’re earning above a set threshold to begin making repayments.

While fees tend to be covered by Student Finance loans and grants, it’s still important to know when those fees are due and how the loan/grant is paid to you, so you can make the payments on time and as expected.

Rent and the cost of living

Rent isn’t covered by your initial Student Finance loan, but there are other loans, grants and bursaries available to help you pay for this. As one of our previous posts shows, the average cost of rent per year for UK students is £5,353. [please link to the Sunderland accommodation cheapest for students post] While it’s cheaper than if you were living in the private sector in your own property, it’s still a lot of money to find.

It’s also important to find out as soon as you can, exactly what your rent costs include. In many cases inclusive of bills usually means gas, electricity and water while you’ll need to pay for your own insurance and tv license. Then there’s food, personal hygiene and cleaning products to think about too. You may also need to pay for a rent guarantor service if your family and friends don’t live in the UK or you’d prefer not to ask them.

You don’t need to have an exact figure, but an estimate of how much you’ll spend per week on food and keeping yourself clean and presentable is helpful. That way you know that however tempting it might be to blow your student loan in freshers week and on new clothes or tech, you have to make sure you keep enough back so that you can pay for your accommodation, eat and stay clean.

Books and study equipment

Although studying might not be the first thing on your mind, even though that’s an important part of University, you still need to budget for it. Books can be expensive and even though you can make notes and do much of your work in a digital format, you will still need some paper and pen-type supplies.

If you can buy any of this at the beginning of the student year, then do so. That means its not something you need to worry too much about and that the money you have from work, savings, loans, bursaries, grants or kind parents and close family, can be put towards other areas of your new life.

Socialising

The social life at University is important and even for the least outgoing among you, you’ll probably find yourself attending a few parties and nights out. If money is tight then you need to plan sensibly and maybe even limit how often you can go out. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with your new friends.

Even if your funds aren’t too bad, other students might not be as well off as you, so it can be helpful to think of lower cost socialising options, ahead of time.

Type up a basic spreadsheet or list

To get the figures clear in your mind, it can help to create a basic spreadsheet or even a short list. Seeing the numbers and your upcoming costs written out in black and white makes it more real and should help you enjoy the year without worrying too much about money and also, ending the year no more in debt that you need to be.

Once you’ve done that and know where you stand from a financial perspective, you can go ahead and enjoy your course and all the other aspects of your new student life!