On the Money

By Josie Deacon

Illustration by Ida Henrich

It’s Autumn! That means…Freshers!

Starting Uni can be trying and the last thing you want to worry about is money. Finances and budgeting can be stressful, especially if no one has taught you how to budget. I’ve compiled a list of money saving tips, plus how to create and maintain a budget, in the hope that it might help. Here’s how to start…

 

Create a budget

Step one:  Work out your monthly Income

(If you’re paid monthly you can skip to step two). Take your annual income and divide by 12. Easy enough.

Example: £12,000 / 12 = £1000 a month

 

Step two:

Deduct the cost of your bills. Example:

-£450 rent and -£172 bills = £378 left over

 

Step three:

Divide the left over amount by 4.

Example: £378 / 4 = £94.50 a week

I find it hard to estimate how much I will spend on a food shop, so I don’t. Instead, I tend to try and prioritise my food shop by getting it done at the start of my weekly budget.

If you end up having to buy something more expensive than your weekly budget all you have to do is deduct the cost from the monthly (or even yearly budget) and then update your month/week budgets accordingly.

I used an app for the first few months of university that did all this for me, but I moved onto a notebook because I love stationery. At the end of the day I would deduct my purchases from my weekly budget. I could then see on Thursday that I had £31.50 left. But don’t use that as an excuse to let too loose (unless you really need to treat yo’ self) — perhaps save that money for the next week, or if you’re able, put it in a savings account.

 

Love your Library

If you’re like me and love books, I would recommend signing up to your local library and checking out books from there. Or, if you really must own your books, visit charity shops first. There may even be an Oxfam Bookshop where you live!

 

Chop your Food Spend

Takeaways, cafés, and restaurants are pretty pricey. Sometimes we eat out because we don’t have the time or energy to cook, so make sure you prepare in advance by instead making or buying quick and easy meals and freezing them. They aren’t the cheapest, but even buy a few freezable ready meals — better that than a Domino’s!

 

Think Green and Local

You may think £1 for a pack of mushrooms from Tesco is cheap, but when in reality you don’t eat £1’s worth and end up chucking out most of them, it’s not. At the greengrocers you can buy just the amount you actually need. I was shocked when I managed to get all my weekly fruit and veg from for just £2! Plus, help save the planet by not using plastic bags.

 

Start Sharing

This sort of clashes with the above tip. However supermarkets have good family deals that aren’t worth it for individuals. You can share milk, veg, butter, eggs, bread, and other things you may not eat that much of on your own. This also saves on fridge space when you have one bottle of milk rather than four.

Only buy 3 for 2 or Buy 1 Get 1 Half Price if you need it

It really isn’t saving money if you weren’t going to buy that item in the first place.

 

Freecycle is your friend

Freecycle’s an amazing recycling website for people to give away furniture and other household items online that they don’t need anymore. Everything’s free. Yipee!

 

Think Ahead

A big money stress can be trying to find money for winter heating. Pay extra when your first few bills come, if you get a bill in the summer for £40 pay £60 (if you can afford it). This means you have £20 credit come winter, which will really help.