Watching your budget while studying
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Creating a budget
Begin with an honest analysis
of typical monthly expenditure. Track
every single item on a spreadsheet, or in a notebook or smartphone app. From the total available to spend, first set
aside funds for the major bills – tuition fees, books, accommodation costs,
meal tickets, etc. If there are large
amounts to be spent once or twice per year – for example, on travel if studying
abroad – make sure to include these.
What money is left after these entries represents the true budget figure
for the rest of the semester or the year, depending on the time scale chosen.
Make a plan
A spending plan is like any
other type of plan, except it is based on numbers. Start with income and use a notebook or
spreadsheet to list all the potential sources of funds that could go into the
income. There may be support from family
members or anticipated wages from a part-time job. Move on to expenditure and use another
worksheet or page in a notebook to revise the known expenses that were recorded
in the spending analysis. The simple act
of comparing the expenditure with the income will prompt what needs to be done
next.
Take action
If there is more income than
expenditure then there will be surplus funds to put aside as a contingency for
unplanned expenses, or to allocate as savings for a vacation, or maybe a purchase such as a new laptop or
tablet. If, on the other hand,
expenditure exceeds income then adjustments will have to be made – either to
reduce expenses, or to boost income, or both.
It may be worth investigating the possibility of a scholarship or grant,
or finding out about graduate student loans; there are websites that provide
this information, such as here.
Trimming expenditure
When a budget really needs to
be cut back, take an objective approach. Identify how much has to be trimmed from the
expenditure total, and then make a list of non-essential expense categories
such as entertainment, buying new clothes and snacks. If monthly expenditure has to be cut by, say
$120, and there are three items in the non-essential list, then aiming to save
$40 on each non-essential item will balance the budget.
Freebies and special
offers
One of the advantages of
being a student is that there are plenty of discount vouchers, good deals and
special offers that can help stretch that limited budget a little further. These might include two-for-the-price-of-one
meal deals – so share with a friend and save half the cost. Stay vigilant, check out online information,
and opportunities will present themselves for saving a good deal of money on
day-to-day living.
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