By Elena Dimitrova
Have you ever looked at your bank account and found it emptier than expected? I hate to break it to you, but either someone has hacked your account, or the thief is really you. That food delivery app you have looks really nice when all you have is pasta in the kitchen, and that super cute dress in Primark you have been eyeing for a month is now on sale, right? Everyone has been stuck when it comes to budgeting at uni, so continue reading for advice.
Image via the University of Nottingham
All you need to do is get a blank piece of paper and follow these simple steps:
1. Choose a start date for your budget and write it down (this doesn't necessarily have to be the first or last day of the month.)
2. Make a FIXED EXPENSES column- this should include things which are the same
amount of money every month (rent, phone bill, gym, subscriptions etc.)
3. Make a NON-FIXED EXPENSES column- this is where your variables go (food, takeaways, Uber.)
4. After you have determined all of your non fixed expenses, add another column called OTHERS- this is where your non expectant things will go (your car breaking down, your best friend needing a loan, Christmas presents, etc.)
5. Log into your bank account and calculate your overall spending from last month, on all your non-fixed expenses and others, and write it down. Once you have established the mess of last month and categorised it, you can start to budget.
6. Set a budget for how much you would like to spend on each component of your non-
fixed expenses- make it reasonable, and most importantly achievable. Don’t try to limit
it too much, because when you spend over it at the end of the month, you’ll feel
discouraged and go wild on the spend again.
7. Write down your non-fixed expenses in a row and split them into columns. This
way, you can note down every time you spend money from each category, and
subtract to find out your remaining allowance.
8. Make the right choices for the rest of the month. Once you prove yourself you can
stick to a budget for a month, you’ll be able to remain consistent and even lower your
budget over time.
Good luck! And if you ever feel like giving up, just remember all the money you can be
saving!
About the Author: Elena Dimitrova
My name is Elena- a Bulgarian with a passion for fashion and writing. Growing up in a journalistic family I always knew that writing and the media were what I was going to pursue as a career. I began to experiment with content creation at age 14, which later led me to hosting my own podcast about loneliness called “For loners only” and having two blogs. I find peace in books (especially novels) and I aspire to write my own one soon.
(This piece was edited by Amber Turner-Brightman)
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