Money Money Money, in a student world

One thing I found challenging with attending university was budgeting. Being a student is difficult financially, which is why it is important to find student banking that helps you to budget effectively and may even offer benefits.

I personally choose to bank with Monzo. Monzo is an online banking service that allows you to separate your money using cash pots, so you don’t overspend on unnecessary things. I found this service helpful because I am I victim of overspending on things that I know I don’t need.

Monzo also allows you to track your spending by notifying you every time you spend. And as a student who had a very expensive gap year, I have many bills and debts to attend to, and Monzo keeps track of each month, so you know how much money you have to spend.

Although Monzo banking is an excellent service, they do not offer student specific accounts or any student premiums that I know students live for. In fact, the top-rated student banking service is Santander, with 60% of consumers rating their services great.

Santander offer a 0% interest rate £1500 overdraft to students and a free 16-25 four-year railcard, which even if you aren’t a commuting student is a great offer because that allows you to save 1/3 on your train fares so you could take a trip out of Birmingham or go back to your hometown to see family.

It’s all well and good having a bank account with excellent student benefits but if you’re lost on how to budget your money, those benefits aren’t going to be used effectively. So how to we create an effective budget?

1. Add together your total income –

this is your maintenance loan, part-time work and/or any benefits you may be entitled to.

2. Subtract Expenses –

this can be any bills (rent, gas and electric, phone contracts, Wi-Fi), subscriptions (Spotify, Netflix), travel costs (fuel, car expenses or train ticket costs).

3. Utilising Student Discount Offers –

there are many student discount apps available like Totum, Unidays and Student Beans that can provide discounts for things like online shopping, Uber eats, day trips, restaurants and travel. These are excellent to keep your daily costs to a minimum but don’t use and abuse them for things you don’t need.

4. Budget Food Shopping –

Bulk cooking and freezing simple and cheap meals saves costs on eating out and also electricity usage. It’s not just cost efficient; it’s also time efficient. You may want to consider shopping for own branded products to reduce food costs further.

Chose a supermarket or shop that provides good quality food but also for a good price. My personal favourite place to shop is Iceland: they have excellent deals on frozen food (like the 3 for £10 on frozen chicken, the £1 range and the 8 products for £10 deal).

5. Transport costs – I don’t currently drive, and I don’t think even if I did drive, I would drive into Birmingham. Why would I drive when Birmingham has an effective trainline? That being said there are a variety of railcards available to keep travel related costs to a minimum and some banks even off these with their student premium accounts, which saves you having to purchase one.

6. Do NOT rely on that credit card/overdraft –

I am guilty of this one and many articles online will recommend these options. Now, a credit card is effective if you use it correctly but when I was 19 a £3,500 limit was an exciting amount of money, and I wish I had someone teach me how to correctly use it.

Credit cards and arranged overdrafts are a good financial tool for emergency money and boosting your credit score. And fortunately, many student bank account benefits do include an interest free overdraft, which means you won’t be charged for using it. However, just because it is an option, doesn’t mean you should use either of these for unnecessary reasons because you do still have to pay the money back.

Stretching a maintenance loan across the term is possible if you know how to budget effectively. I hope this advice can help you to do so effectively and spend your money in the correct places, while still enjoying the ‘Uni life experience.’