Wellbeing

Your Student Loan: A Budgeting Guide

By Halls 05 Oct 2023

When you're no longer living at home you have to take on a lot more responsibility and independence, which includes handling your finances.

Working out how to manage your student budget can be a bit tricky at first but with some organisation, handy apps and student discounts to help you out you'll be a pro in no time. Here's a few tips and tricks to help plan your student budget:

1. Estimate your expenses

A good starting point is working out how much money you have to play with. Add up your student loan, any grants, bursaries or scholarships you have. This also includes any money from your family, income from a part-time job or any savings you might have. We estimate that you should need £1,200-£1,300 a month to live comfortably in London.

Once you have a total, you can break down what you'll need for the essentials such as travel, accommodation, food, study costs and any personal expenses. It would be great if you could leave yourself some extra cash to treat yourself!

2. Student discount

You won't be a student forever, so it's important to make the most of the student discount while you can. Getting yourself a Totum card or downloading student discount apps like Unidays and Student Beans will give you access to a wide range of student offers. This can save you a fortune on some of the most popular products.

3. Banking apps

If you struggle to separate your money into different categories, like savings or travel costs, banking apps can help you organise your budget visually and allow you to set aside money each week for the essentials. Not only can you organise your budget into distinct categories, you can also be notified when you're going over your budget. Here are some banking apps that can help you watch over your finances:

4. Work out what form of budgeting is best for you

Everyone manages their money differently in the same way that everyone has different learning styles. You have to work out which way works best for you so your budgeting can be effective. You might choose to create a weekly budget to keep a close eye on your money, or you could choose to budget monthly if you have monthly bill dates. There are lots of ways to organise your money too, from spreadsheets and banking apps to hand-written notes.

5. Set realistic goals

Once you know your average spendings, it'll become easier to set some goals you can stick to that reduce your spending and boost your savings. For example, if you're spending a fortune on travel when you're in walking distance of university you might want to reconsider paying for a travel pass and only catching the bus occasionally. You don't want to set unrealistic goals and be disappointed when you look at your bank account, so try to keep it simple and realistic.

For more information on managing your finances and finding out what finance support is available for you, get in touch with the Financial Support Office.