Wednesday 01-05-2019 - 14:02

Summer is almost in sight — and that means your loan needs to stretch a bit further than usual. Here are some tips to make sure you have a social life and enough to live on during the last term and summer break. 

Avoid any nasty surprises 

Write down all the costs you know you’re going to have and include anything that you think might surprise you – are there any exit fees for from your accommodation, broadband or bills? Will you have to travel back to University for anything? Will there be any moving or storage costs that you’ll need before your autumn term loan drops? 

Create a budget 

Figure out how much money you have coming in from your student loan, grants, any cash from parents and any work income. Then, figure out how much you’re already committed to spending like rent, council tax, bills, travel costs, credit card re-payments and so on. Add on anything you know you’ll spend money on, like food, travel, laundry etc. (If you need some help, have a look at the expenditure sheet in the Advice Centre booklet to help to get you started.)  

Use your lists of costs and income to figure out what you have left and work out how much you have left to play with. This is also a good time to see if you have any outgoings you can cut if you need to.  

Don’t have a big blowout 

Once your loan drops, it’s so tempting spend your first week living like royalty then struggling to survive for the next few months. Try to keep in mind just how long it has to last — weigh up how much you want to go crazy vs how much you’d quite like to breathe out as well as breathing in later on. Do you really need to buy your entire society a round of drinks?

Get a student job 

If you’ve made a budget and it’s really looking bleak, you can try to get a job over the summer. Brush up that CV and get looking for summer opportunities. If you start looking early, there will be lost more positions than if you leave it until most people realise they might need a job too. 

Make the most of being a student 

There are lots of unexpected ways that costs can be alleviated slightly for students, like you’re exempt from paying council tax, so make sure the council know you’re a student. Get the most from your student discount — for example, Amazon Prime and Microsoft Office to do a great student deals — and you can get a TOTUM card so you’re up-to-date with the best deals in your area. It’s always worth asking if a shop do student discount when you’re at the checkout, even if you don’t think they do. 
 
Get a student bank account 

Student bank accounts often come with freebies like railcards or vouchers. They often also come with a large, or interest-free, overdraft which can be good if you get really stuck and need a buffer — but remember this isn’t free money. Make sure you understand all the terms and conditions of the account when you open it. 

Contact the Advice Centre if it all goes wrong 

Your financial situation may not be plain-sailing while you’re at Uni, but there are services that can help you. Go to the Advice Centre on the second floor of The Union, they can offer you some free and independent advice on what to do next and how to get un-stuck.