Lifestyle - How to manage your money as a student

As people as starting to go back to uni/just starting uni around this time of year I thought I'd do a couple of posts that will hopefully help people improve how they live or just give a little guidance to those of you who are just starting uni for the first time.

This time I'm just going to give a few money tips. A few of them may seem really obvious but sometime the most obvious things are forgotten about when you suddenly find yourself trying to manage your money and everything you have to buy by yourself.

My first and as far as I'm concerned most important point is to always buy what you need first. By that I don't mean things you think you need, I mean things like basic food essentials and toiletries etc. This way you always know how much money you have left to buy what you'd like to with it instead e.g a night out or a meal with your friends.

Always, always, always plan ahead. Know when you are next getting money and how long your money has to last you. This means you can work out how much money you have to live off in a certain period of time, Budgeting sucks but it's how you survive uni life sadly!

When your first lot of student loan goes in you may suddenly see a big number in your bank account that a lot of people haven't had before. Do not go crazy and buy a load of things you want and don't really need because soon there will be no money left and living on beans on toast for half a semester would not be fun for you or the people you have to live with *pong whiff!*.

If you cannot live off your loan alone and have no other source of income as much as you may not want to, sometimes finding work is the only way to solve this. Even just a few hours a week can earn you enough money to pay for your weeks food - pretty much an essential.

If you can, I'd advise trying to save a bit of money each time from your student loan as you never know what might happen - you may fall ill and need to pay for a prescription from the chemist or you may need new glasses or your teeth checking. These are all expenses people can easily forget about but are important to be able to afford.

Don't forget about any standing orders you have. Obvious things like rent need to go out on time to avoid extra costs but also if you have a phone contract or anything else like that don't forget having enough money to pay these on time is important now and for the future - you will need your credit rating soon to be able to grown up things like get a house!